2. Universal Music Group
• Universal Music Group is the largest music corporation in the world. It is an American-based, French- owned
multinational music corporation and currently works as a subsidiary of Paris- based media conglomerate Vivendi. The
music group also owns Universal Music Publishing Group (the second largest music publishing company in the world).
Universal Music Group's global corporate headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California.
• The music label was once the music company attached to the film studio Universal Pictures.
• It’s history goes back to the formation of Decca Records in 1934. MCA Inc. then merged with American Decca in 1962.
The present organization was formed when it’s parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram and merged with
Universal Music Group in 1998 however the name of the music company didn’t first appear until 1996.
• On 21st of September 2012 the sale of EMI to Universal Music Group was approved in Europe and the United States and
Universal Music Group divested Mute Records, Parlophone, Roxy Recordings and more…
• In 2014, the music label announced the disbandment of Island Def Jam Music. Islam Records and Def Jam will now work
as autonomous record labels.
• Universal Music Group also co-developed Vevo, a site designed for music videos inspired by Hulu.com.
• The music label’s headquarters are across many other locations including Hollywood, Universal City, New York and
London.
• In 2006, an investigation was taken out regarding the music label bribing radio stations to play songs from certain artists.
• Some of the universal music group artists include Cheryl Cole, Eminem, Fall Out Boy and The Killers.
3. Warner Music Group
• Warner Music Group is an American major global record company headquartered in New York City. It is one of the 'big
three' recording companies as it is the third largest in the global music industry.
• The company operates some of the largest and most successful recording labels in the world including Warner Bros.
The music group also owns Warner/Chappell Music - one of the world's largest music-publishing companies.
• It was owned by Time Warner (the world's largest media conglomerate). After, the company was publicly traded on
the New York Stock Exchange until May 2011, when it announced its privatization and sale to Access Industries.
• The music group was founded in 1958 as Warner Bros. Records.
• Warner Music Group got its start as a branch of a movie studio. Warner Bros movie studio started the label to release
soundtracks attached to their motion pictures. The timing for starting a label was great, thanks to increasing
popularity of rock'n'roll music and pop music radio, and it didn't take long for the Warner record label to become a
going concern in its own right.
• It is the distributor of Bad Boy Records, Atlantic Records, Geffen Records, Roadrunner etc.
• The company is headquartered in New York City.
• The company has over 3,500 employees.
• Some of the Warner Music Group artists include Coldplay, Jason Derulo, Flor Rida, Katy Perry and Oasis.
• Those artists that are signed to Warner Music Group play at major music festivals like Reading, Leeds and V Festival.
4. Sony BMG
• Sony BMG began as a joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment and Bertelsmann Music Group which
finished in 2004.
• The merger affected all of Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group companies however Japan felt it would
reduce competition in the music industry other there significantly.
• The company also signed a deal with YouTube (the popular music sharing website).
• In 2008, Sony Corp agreed to buy BerteLsmann AG’S 50% music stake for $1.3 billion in order to get full control.
This was how they changed their name to Sony Music Entertainment Inc., becoming a part of the Sony American
Cooperation.
• The company was founded in 2004 and is also headquartered in New York City.
• It’s key people include the chairman David Gordon.
• Some of it’s subsidiaries include Arista Records, Jive Records, Masterworks and J Records.
• Some of Sony BMG’s current artists include Alicia Keys, Leona Lewis, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Beyoncé and
Christina Aguilera.
• However, some of the controversies surrounding Sony BMG was when they were fined 10 million dollars after the
New York Attorney General's office determined that they had been practicing payola (the illegal practice of
payment) mostly in the form of direct payments to radio stations and bribes to disc jockeys to promote various
artists including Franz Ferdinand, Audioslave, and mainly Jessica Simpson.
