After being fired from CBS Records, Clive Davis was hired by Columbia Pictures to be a consultant for the company’s record and music operations. Assuming the presidency of this division in late 1974, Davis would fold the various Columbia legacy labels (Colpix Records, Colgems Records, and Bell Records) into a new entity named Arista Records, ultimately buying a percentage of the company from Columbia. The label was named Arista after New York City's secondary school honor society (of which Davis was a member).

At the end of 2000, following its 25th anniversary, BMG pushed Davis out as label head and promoted L.A. Reid as its new President and CEO. Under Reid, the label continued to thrive—his extravagant spending, however, caused the company to lose money. After the merger of BMG with Sony Music Entertainment (ironically the successor to CBS Records) to form Sony BMG in 2004, Reid was terminated. Arista, always an independently managed label at BMG, was subsequently demoted to operate under the newly formed RCA Records Group (where Davis is now the CEO—and thus in control of Arista once more.) In August 2005, Arista's operations were merged with that of J Records. For the time being, the Arista imprint will continue to be used for new releases. Arista reissues will continued to be released through Sony BMG's Legacy Recordings. Also, with the Sony BMG joint venture, Arista is once again connected to Columbia Pictures, which is fully owned by Sony under its Sony Pictures Entertainment division.

The Arista artist roster includes mega stars such as Alicia Keys, Barry Manilow, Annie Lennox, Carlos Santana, Fantasia Barino, and Carrie Underwood.