Total Experience Records
| Total Experience Records | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Universal Music (1979–1983 catalog) BMG Rights Management (1984–1987 catalog) |
| Founded | 1975 (as Total Experience Productions) 1981 (as a label) |
| Founder | Lonnie Simmons |
| Status | Defunct |
| Distributor(s) | PolyGram (1981–1984) RCA (1984–1987) |
| Genre | R&B Funk |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Beverly Hills, California |
Total Experience Records was a record label founded by Lonnie Simmons. Its two major acts were The Gap Band and Yarbrough & Peoples. It originally began in 1975 as a production company with the first release being a 45 with the Semper led group New Experience on Ariola Records. By the fall of 1978, the production company signed a label deal with Mercury Records, before Simmons decided to transform the production company into a label in 1981. From its inception in 1981 to late 1983, Total Experience was a subsidiary label of Mercury's parent company, PolyGram. In 1984, the label became independent, changing its distribution from PolyGram to RCA Records.