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Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent
conglomerate Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to: * Conglomerate (company) * Conglomerate (geology) * Conglomerate (mathematics) In popular culture: * The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes ** ...
Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by
Sony Entertainment Sony Entertainment, Inc. is an American entertainment company established in 2012. It focuses on most of Sony's motion picture, television and music businesses. It is a subsidiary of the Japanese Sony Group Corporation, managed by Sony's Americ ...
and managed by the American umbrella division of Sony. It was originally founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation and renamed as Columbia Recording Corporation in 1938, following its acquisition by the Columbia Broadcasting System. In 1966, the company was reorganized to become CBS Records, and Sony Corporation bought the company in 1988, renaming it under its current name in 1991. In 2004, Sony and Bertelsmann established a 50-50 joint venture known as Sony BMG, which transferred the businesses of Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group into one entity. However, in 2008, Sony acquired Bertelsmann's stake, and the company reverted to the Sony Music name shortly after; the buyout allowed Sony to acquire all of BMG's labels, which led to the relaunch of BMG, as BMG Rights Management. All of BMG's former labels ( Arista, Jive,
LaFace LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achie ...
, J, etc.) would eventually be absorbed into RCA Records (also formerly owned by BMG) in 2011. Arista Records would later go on to be revived in 2018. As of 2020, Sony Music Entertainment is the second largest of the " Big Three" record companies, behind Universal Music Group and followed by Warner Music Group. Its music publishing division Sony/ATV (now known as Sony Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world. On July 17, 2019, Sony announced that Sony Music Entertainment and Sony/ATV would merge to become Sony Music Group. The merger was completed on August 1, 2019.


History


1929–1938: American Record Corporation

The American Record Corporation (ARC) was founded in 1929 through a merger of several record companies. The company grew for the next several years, acquiring other brands such as the Columbia Phonograph Company, including its Okeh Records subsidiary, in 1934.


1938–1970: Columbia/CBS Records

In 1938, ARC was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) under the guidance of the chief executive William S. Paley. The company was later renamed Columbia Recording Corporation, and changed again to Columbia Records Inc. in 1947. Edward Wallerstein, who served as the head of Columbia Records since the late 1930s, helped establish the company as a leader in the record industry by spearheading the successful introduction of the LP record. Columbia's success continued through the 1950s with the launch of
Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...
in 1953 and
Date Records Date Records was a sub-label of Columbia Records which had two different incarnations. The first incarnation was a short-lived rockabilly label in 1958 which included a release by Billy "Crash" Craddock. The more significant incarnation was relau ...
in 1958. By 1962, the Columbia Records productions unit was operating four plants around the United States located in Los Angeles, California; Terre Haute, Indiana; Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Pitman, New Jersey. Columbia's international arm was launched in 1962 under the name "CBS Records", as the company only owned the rights to the Columbia name in North America. In 1964, the company began acquiring record companies in other countries for its CBS Records International unit and established its own UK distribution outfit with the acquisition of Oriole Records. By 1966, Columbia was renamed as CBS Records and was a separate unit of the parent company, CBS-Columbia Group. In March 1968, CBS and
Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
formed CBS/Sony Records, a Japanese business joint venture.


1971–1991: CBS Records Group

In 1971, CBS Records was expanded into its own "CBS Records Group", with Clive Davis as its administrative vice president and general manager. In the 1980s to the early 1990s, the company managed several successful labels, including CBS Associated Records, which signed artists including
Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...
, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Electric Light Orchestra, Joan Jett, and Henry Lee Summer. In 1983, CBS expanded its music publishing business by acquiring the music publishing arm of MGM/UA Communications Co. (CBS later sold the print music arm to
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
.) By 1987, CBS was the only " big three" American TV network to have a co-owned record company. With Sony being one of the developers behind the compact disc digital music media, a
compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...
production plant was constructed in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
under the joint venture, allowing CBS to begin supplying some of the first compact disc releases for the American market in 1983. In 1986, CBS sold its music publishing division, CBS Songs, to SBK Entertainment On November 17, 1987, Sony acquired CBS Records for US$2 billion. CBS Inc., now
Paramount Global Paramount Global ( doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. ...
, retained the rights to the CBS name for music recordings but granted Sony a temporary license to use the CBS name. The sale was completed on January 5, 1988.
CBS Corporation The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, an ...
founded a new CBS Records in 2006, which was distributed by Sony through its RED subsidiary. In 1989, CBS Records re-entered the music publishing business by acquiring Nashville-based Tree International Publishing.


1991–2004: Birth of Sony Music Entertainment

Sony renamed the record company Sony Music Entertainment (SME) on January 1, 1991, fulfilling the terms set under the 1988 buyout, which granted only a transitional license to the CBS trademark. The CBS Associated label was renamed Epic Associated. Also on January 1, 1991, to replace the CBS label, Sony reintroduced the
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...
label worldwide, which it previously held in the United States and Canada only, after it acquired the international rights to the trademark from EMI in 1990. Japan is the only country where Sony does not have rights to the Columbia name as it is controlled by Nippon Columbia, an unrelated company. Thus, Sony Music Entertainment Japan issues labels under Sony Records. The Columbia Records trademark's rightsholder in Spain was Bertelsmann Music Group, Germany, which Sony Music subsequently subsumed via a 2004 merger, and a subsequent 2008 buyout. In 1995, Sony and
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...
formed a joint venture which merged Sony's music publishing operations with Jackson's ATV Music to form Sony/ATV Music Publishing.


2004–2008: Sony BMG: Joint venture with Bertelsmann

In August 2004, Sony entered a joint venture with an equal partner Bertelsmann, by merging Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group, Germany, to establish Sony BMG Music Entertainment. However Sony continued to operate its Japanese music business independently from Sony BMG while BMG Japan was made part of the merger. The merger made Columbia and Epic sister labels to RCA Records, which was once owned by CBS rival, NBC. It also started the process of bringing BMG's Arista Records back under common ownership with its former parent
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
, a Sony division since 1989, and also brought Arista founder Clive Davis back into the fold. As of 2017, Davis was still with Sony Music as chief creative officer.


2008–present: Sony Music Entertainment, restructuring, and recent developments

On August 5, 2008, Sony Corporation of America (SCA) and Bertelsmann announced that Sony had agreed to acquire Bertelsmann's 50% stake in Sony BMG. The company completed the acquisition on October 1, 2008. On July 1, 2009, SME and
IODA The Orchard is an American music and entertainment company, specializing in media distribution, marketing, and sales. It is a subsidiary of Sony Music, based in New York City. In 2019, the company sold off its film and television division, whi ...
announced a strategic partnership to leverage worldwide online retail distribution networks and complementary technologies to support independent labels and music rights holders. In March 2010, Sony Corp partnered with The Michael Jackson Company in a contract of more than $250 million, the largest deal in recorded music history. From 2009 to 2020, Sony owned 50% of Syco Entertainment, which operates some of the world's most successful reality TV formats, including ''
Got Talent ''Got Talent'' is a British talent show TV format conceived and owned by Simon Cowell's SYCOtv company. It has spawned spin-offs in over 69 countries, in what is now referred to as the 'Got Talent' format, similar to that described by Fremantl ...
'' and '' The X Factor'' with Simon Cowell. Cowell acquired Sony's stake in 2020. Doug Morris, who was head of Warner Music Group, and later
Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and it ...
, became chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment on July 1, 2011. Sony Music underwent restructuring upon Morris' arrival; with some artists switching labels while other labels were eliminated altogether. In June 2012, a consortium led by
Sony/ATV Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest Music publisher (popular music), music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Mu ...
acquired
EMI Music Publishing EMI Music Publishing Ltd. is a British multinational music publishing company headquartered in London, owned by parent company Sony Corporation of America. In May 2018, Sony Music Publishing agreed to increase its stake in EMI to 90%, pendi ...
, making Sony/ATV the world's largest music publisher at the time. This acquisition also reunited the common ownership of pre-1986 CBS Songs (as SBK Songs) catalog to Sony/ATV. Rob Stringer became CEO of Sony Music Entertainment on April 1, 2017. He previously served as chairman and CEO of Columbia Records. Sony has experienced a number of changes with its international labels. In February 2012, Sony Music reportedly closed its Filipino office due to
piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
, and Ivory Music and Video had been handling distribution for its catalog a few months earlier in July 2011. In early 2018, their distribution deal with Ivory expired and SME resumed its operations in the Philippines, with the new offices still located in Ortigas Center,
Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasig), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 803,159 people. It is located along the ...
. In July 2013, Sony Music withdrew from the Greek market due to an economic crisis. Albums released by Sony Music in Greece from domestic and foreign artists would then be carried by Feelgood Records. In June 2017, Sony announced that by March 2018 it would be producing vinyl records in-house for the first time since ceasing their production in 1989. Reporting the decision, the BBC noted that, "Sony's move comes a few months after it equipped its Tokyo studio with a cutting lathe, used to produce the master discs needed for manufacturing vinyl records" but added that "Sony is even struggling to find older engineers who know how to make records". On February 5, 2019, a group of 1970s-era musicians including David Johansen and John Waite filed lawsuits accusing Sony Music Entertainment and UMG Recordings, Inc. of improperly refusing to let them reclaim the rights to songs they had signed away earlier in their careers. The lawsuit cites U.S. copyright law, which gives artists who formerly bargained away their rights on unfavorable terms a chance to reclaim those rights by filing termination notices after 35 years. The plaintiffs claim that Sony and UMG have “routinely and systematically” ignored hundreds of notices, having taken the position that recordings are “works made for hire” and are therefore not subject to being reclaimed. In April 2021, the
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian media company Grupo Globo sold its domestic record label Som Livre to Sony Music for an undisclosed amount. It was approved by the
Administrative Council for Economic Defense The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (in Portuguese, ''Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica'', often referred to as Cade or CADE) is Brazil's national competition regulator and an agency of the government of Brazil. Its stated goa ...
on November 4, 2021. In 2022, Sony Music Entertainment acquired boutique branding and merchandising agency, Ceremony of Roses(CoR). The newly aquired company would merge with Sony's existing merch division and continue under the CoR banner. The merger brought together artists like Lil Nas X, Olivia Rodrigo, and Adele under one merchandising house. According to Sony, the move will help expand their merchandising team and take artists' merch to the next level.


Sony Music UK

Sony Music UK (legal name ''Sony Music Entertainment UK Limited'') is owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment in the United Kingdom. Since 2014, Jason Iley has been chairman and CEO of Sony Music UK. Though owned by Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music UK has standalone operations in the UK to promote musicians within the UK. In June 2017, it was announced that Sony would be merging its two independent distribution companies The Orchard and Red Essential. 2014 saw Sony's best singles success for 33 years, with 11 number 1 singles. Sony Music artists won a total of five individual awards at the BRITs 2015, including Best Female Solo Artist for Paloma Faith, and
Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, R ...
's " Uptown Funk", which picked up Best British Single. Several other of the label's artists - Foo Fighters,
One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the g ...
and Pharrell Williams - also collected awards. Sony's performance at the BRITs 2015 was the label's best in nearly 20 years, winning a total of 5 awards. In 2017, Sony Music UK celebrated the most successful BRIT Awards in the company's history, winning seven of the 11 awards. In the last three years, Sony Music UK has made key acquisitions including forming Insanity Records with Insanity Management. Craig David became the first artist to sign an album deal with Insanity Records. Sony Music UK signed
Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
, who released his 11th album ''
The Heavy Entertainment Show ''The Heavy Entertainment Show'' is the eleventh studio album by English recording artist Robbie Williams. It was released on 4 November 2016 through Columbia Records. It features guest appearances from Rufus Wainwright and John Grant. The ...
'' in 2016. Jason Iley commented that the agreement was "a once in a lifetime signing with the biggest male solo artist of our generation". Sony Music UK also incorporated the independent sales and distribution company Essential Music and Marketing - renamed to Red Essential. In August 2016, Sony Music acquired Ministry of Sound Recordings, home to London Grammar, DJ Fresh and Sigala. On April 5, 2017, two of Sony Music UK's labels won awards at the annual Music Week Awards. Columbia Records received the 'A&R of the Year' Award, while Syco were awarded the 'Record Company of the Year' Award. In 2021, Sony agreed to buy Kobalt neighboring rights division and independent distribution company AWAL, from the Kobalt Music Group for $430 million. The UK media company Somethin' Else was acquired outright by Sony Music in 2021, to form a
podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
division.


Controversies


CD price fixing

Between 1995 and 2000, music companies were found to have used illegal marketing agreements such as minimum advertised pricing to artificially inflate prices of
compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in O ...
s. This was done in order to end price wars of the early 1990s among discounters such as Best Buy and
Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...
. A settlement was reached in 2002 that included music publishers and distributors Sony Music, Warner Music, Bertelsmann Music Group, EMI Music and
Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and it ...
. In restitution for price fixing, they agreed to pay a $67.4 million fine and distribute $75.7 million in CDs to public and non-profit groups but admitted no wrongdoing. It is estimated that customers were overcharged by nearly $500 million overall and up to $5 per album.


George Michael

The British artist, George Michael, signed to Columbia in the U.S. and Epic worldwide, advised Sony executives in 1990 that he would not be appearing in music videos to support his forthcoming album, Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1. Michael then accused Sony of not promoting the album at all. He sued in the UK in 1992, asking to be released from his contract. Sony ultimately prevailed in the courts in 1994, but Michael's contract was bought out by other labels. Some 11 years later, Michael licensed tracks to Sony for release.


Michael Jackson and Tommy Mottola

The release of '' Invincible'' was preceded by a dispute between
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...
and Sony Music Entertainment. Jackson had expected the licenses to the masters of his albums to revert to him sometime in the early 2000s, after which he would be able to promote the material however he pleased and keep the profits; however, clauses in the contract set the revert date years into the future. Jackson discovered that the attorney who had represented him in the deal had also been representing Sony. He was also concerned that for years Sony had been pressuring him to sell his share in its music catalog venture; he feared that Sony might have had a conflict of interest, since if Jackson's career failed, he would have had to sell his share of the catalog at a low price.Taraborrelli, 2009, pp. 614–7. Jackson sought an early exit from his contract. In July 2002, Jackson alleged that the then-Sony Music chairman
Tommy Mottola Thomas Daniel Mottola (born July 14, 1948) is an American music executive, producer and author. Mottola is currently the Chairman of Mottola Media Group and was previously the Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, parent of the Columb ...
was a "devil" and "racist" who did not support his African-American artists, using them merely for his own gain. He charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nigger". Sony refused to renew Jackson's contract, and claimed that a promotional campaign had failed because Jackson refused to tour in the United States.


Prosecution of copyright infringement

In May 2012, Sony Music filed charges against the website IsoHunt. The plaintiff's claims in the court document filed at the Supreme Court of British Columbia read: "The IsoHunt Websites have been designed and are operated by the defendants with the sole purpose of profiting from rampant copyright infringement which defendants actively encourage, promote, authorize, induce, aid, abet, materially contribute to and commercially profit from." In February 2016, in a lawsuit filed at a California federal court, Sony Music Entertainment and its associated brands ( Arista Records and LaFace Records, formerly owned by Bertelsmann Music Group) accused Belgian radio aggregator Radionomy (owned by Universal Music Group's parent Vivendi) of copyright infringement.


2016 boycott

In February 2016, 100,000 people signed an online petition in less than 24 hours, calling for a boycott of Sony Music and all other Sony-affiliated businesses after rape allegations against music producer Dr. Luke were made by musical artist Kesha. Kesha asked a
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
Supreme Court to free her from her contract with Sony Music, but the court denied the request, prompting a widespread public and media response.


List of Sony Music Entertainment labels


Flagship record labels

* Columbia Records *
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...
*
Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical m ...
* Arista Records


Genre-limited record labels

;Country music *
Sony Music Nashville Sony Music Nashville is the country music branch of the Sony Music Group. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Sony Music Nashville includes its three country recording labels Arista Nashville, Columbia Nashville, and RCA Nashville, as well as ...
**
Columbia Nashville Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the Ame ...
** Arista Nashville ** RCA Records Nashville ;Christian/gospel music * Provident Label Group * RCA Inspiration * Kingdom Life Records * DeJountae Records ;Dance/electronic music * Epic Amsterdam * Stmpd Rcrds * EEM Records * Ultra Music * Ministry of Sound * Liquid State (joint-venture) ;Latin * Sony Music Latin ;Classical/jazz music * Sony Masterworks ** Sony Classical Records ** Milan Records ** Portrait Records ** RCA Red Seal Records ** Okeh Records ** Flying Buddha ** Masterworks Broadway ;Metal music * Century Media Records ;Progressive music * Inside Out Music


Others

; Sony Music UK *Columbia Records UK * Relentless Records *5K Records *Black Butter Records (joint-venture) *Dream Life Records *Insanity Records (joint-venture) *Magic Star *Robots + Humans *Since ’93 *Sony Music Nashville UK *WEAREBLK (joint-venture) *District 18 Entertainment (joint-venture) ;Independent music distribution * The Orchard ** RED Music **
IODA The Orchard is an American music and entertainment company, specializing in media distribution, marketing, and sales. It is a subsidiary of Sony Music, based in New York City. In 2019, the company sold off its film and television division, whi ...
* AWAL ;Catalog * Legacy Recordings * Follow That Dream Records * Louder Than Life Records ;Distributed labels * Robbins Entertainment * Syco Music *
Nick Records Nickelodeon Records (formerly only known as Nick Records from 2001 to 2010) is the record label for the children's television channel Nickelodeon, which is owned by Paramount Global. The label featured new and emerging young musical artists, "trip ...
;International *
Ariola Records Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerat ...
Intl. * Defstar Records Intl. * Relentless Records * Som Livre


Previously affiliated labels

*
19 Recordings 19 Recordings Inc. (registered in the United Kingdom as 19 Recordings Ltd.) is a New York-based record label owned by 19 Entertainment. Founded in London by British entrepreneur Simon Fuller in 1999 as the music division of 19 Entertainment, the ...
(2001–2010) (previously through BMG and RCA Music Group, now distributed by BMG Rights Management) * Def Jam Recordings (1985–1994) (previously through Columbia Records, now part of Universal Music Group) * Loud Records (1992–2002) (previously through Zoo Entertainment, then RCA Records, and later Columbia Records, now a new company called SRC Records through Universal Music Group) * Chaos Recordings (1993–1995) (previously part of Columbia Records, now dissolved) * The Work Group (1993–2000) (previously through Epic Records, now dissolved) *
Date Records Date Records was a sub-label of Columbia Records which had two different incarnations. The first incarnation was a short-lived rockabilly label in 1958 which included a release by Billy "Crash" Craddock. The more significant incarnation was relau ...
(1958–1970) (previously through Columbia Records, now dissolved) *
Aware Records Aware Records is an American record label. The label has worked with a range of artists, including John Mayer, Train, Five for Fighting, Mat Kearney, and Guster. History Aware Records was founded in 1993 by Gregg Latterman with the simple ...
(1997–2010) (now part of Universal Music Group through Republic Records) * PiperWorld Entertainment (2008–2013) (previously through Columbia Records) * Roc Nation (2009–2013) (previously through Columbia Records; now distributed by Universal Music Group) * The Echo Label (2013–2017) (owned by BMG Chrysalis; now distributed by Warner Music Group) * Volcano Entertainment (1996–2019) (previously through Zomba Label Group and later
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...
, now dissolved)


See also

*
List of Sony Music artists This is a list of recording artists signed to Sony Music Entertainment. 0-9 * 12 Gauge *14 Bis *1976 * 24kGoldn *3rd Bass * 3rd Faze *4th Impact *50 Cent A * A1 * A-Lin * Aaron Carter *ABBA *AC/DC *Adam Harvey *Adam Lambert *Adam Sandler ...
* Sony Music Publishing * Sony BMG *
Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal A scandal erupted in 2005 regarding Sony BMG's implementation of copy protection measures on about 22 million CDs. When inserted into a computer, the CDs installed one of two pieces of software that provided a form of digital rights management ...
* Sony Music Entertainment Japan * Sony Music Australia *
Sony Music UK Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...
*
Sony Music India Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt. Ltd. is the record label operated by Sony in Chennai, India. The company began operation in 1997, and it was the first record company in India to be 100% foreign-owned, with Sony being a Japanese corporati ...
* Sony Music Entertainment Thailand *
List of record labels File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg File:Bingola1011b.jpg Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, b ...


References


External links

*
Yahoo! – Sony Music Entertainment Company Profile
*
Sony Music TV
* {{Authority control American companies established in 1929 Companies based in New York City IFPI members Record label distributors Entertainment companies established in 1929 Recording Industry Association of America American subsidiaries of foreign companies