The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 letter word MOTOWN
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
M
O
T
O
W
N
More clues leading to the result MOTOWN
- French word applied to personal musical style
- Test applied to personal form of music
- Cut sandwiches to music from America
- Detroit car test now having start postponed
- Cut down consuming to hit factory in America
- Cut sandwiches near Detroit
- Capital of Michigan, in retrospect, to have control over Detroit
- Cut tours to record company
- Word from Paris now devised for a style of music
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "record company" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case record company = motown.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.