Smokey Robinson's songs seem to be the first that were specifically composed for the three-minute record. Sheet music is rather impersonal; anyone may play it, with virtually any combination of voices or instruments. Motown compositions, on the other hand, are designed for performance by a specific group, in a particular way, to achieve maximum impact on a three-minute side.
This is why it is necessary to talk about Motown music and not merely about a 'Motown sound'. From the beginning Motown established on Jobete an extensive repertoire of its own music. Berry Gordy, a songwriter himself, has always known the importance of good material. Also, Motown discs have been characterised by the deep involvement of their songwriter-producers - Smokey Robinson, Holland and Dozier, Norman Whitfield, Henry Cosby. The keynote has been adaptability. Eddie Holland and Barrett Strong are singers who have concentrated on songwriting, while songwriter Freddie Gorman has become a member ofThe Originals. This versatility - in the early days an economic policy - has meant that the best Motown discs reflect a concept of music as a whole, not merely one, like Spector's, of 'sound'.
In 1964-5 Motown was far ahead of the rest of the music business, and it has taken some sections of it a long while to catch up, especially in respect of the decentralisation, personal attention and continuity that Motown took for granted. The notion that making a record was simply slotting together tune, singer and arrangement in a one-shot operation has been discredited.
