Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company
Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to
Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008.
Although it was established in 1987, the music company was formed as RCA/Ariola International in 1985 as a joint venture to combine the music label activities of
RCA's
RCA Records division and Bertelsmann's
Ariola Records and its associated labels which include
Arista Records. It consisted of the BMG Music Publishing company, the world's third largest music publisher and the world's largest independent music publisher and (since August 2004) the 50% share of the joint venture with
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
, which established the German American
Sony BMG from 2004 to 2008.
History
In 1994, BMG acquired Italian publisher
Casa Ricordi, which had been founded in 1808.
In March 1998, BMG sold its video game publisher BMG Interactive to
Take-Two Interactive, with Bertelsmann taking a 16 percent stake in Take-Two. BMG Interactive published the ''
Grand Theft Auto'' video game series.
The joint venture between
Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
and
Bertelsmann to merge both companies' music divisions was set up in August 2004. It reduced the Big Five record companies to the
Big Four record companies. At that time, the company had a 21.5% share in the global music market. Sony Music and BMG remained separate in Japan, although BMG Music Japan was wholly owned by Sony BMG.
On 27 March 2006, the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' reported that Bertelsmann was looking to raise money by leveraging some of its media assets and that executives from both companies were in talks about possibly altering the current venture. In 2008, Bertelsmann sold its 50% share of Sony BMG to Sony Corporation of America for a total of $1.5 billion and the company was renamed back to Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
While officially withdrawing from the business of recorded music, Bertelsmann continued its strong presence in other areas of the
music industry
The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...
by establishing BMG Rights Management, which specializes in
music rights management and by representing artists and authors. It is mainly active in European markets. The basis of the company was formed through BMG's decision to withhold selected European music catalogues from the former Sony BMG joint venture and the
BMG Publishing businesses.
Also kept separate from the acquisition by Sony Corporation of America was Sony BMG's wholly owned and operated BMG Japan.
Sony Music Japan remained independent from the Sony BMG joint venture, therefore BMG and Sony labelling were kept separate in Japan under the venture. During Sony BMG's buyout, BMG Japan was instead picked up by
Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It briefly continued to operate as a distinct entity until a reorganization in early 2009 folded the company into Sony Music Japan.
Subsidiaries
Now part of Sony Music Entertainment after the buyout of
Bertelsmann's 50% stake in Sony BMG.
*
Ariola Records
*
RCA Music Group
**
RCA Records
***
RCA Red Seal
***
RCA Victor Group
****
The Windham Hill Group
****
Bluebird Records
**
Arista Records
**
J Records
***
Full Surface Records
***
US Records
*
Arista Nashville
*
RCA Nashville
*
BNA Records
*
BMG Kidz
*
Zomba Music Group
**
Battery Records
**
Epidemic Records
**
LaFace Records
**
Jive Records
**
Music for Nations Records
**
Multitone Records
**
Pinnacle Records
**
Scotti Brothers Records
**
Silvertone Records
**
Verity Records
**
Volcano Entertainment
**
Zoo Entertainment
**
X-Cell Records
BMG Music Publishing
BMG Music Publishing (formerly known as RCA Music Publishing), which was not part of the
Sony BMG merger, was a business of the Bertelsmann Music Group until it was sold to
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
for €1.63 billion in 2007. Universal then folded the company into
Universal Music Publishing Group, and the BMG name was retired. The company had been headquartered at 245
Fifth Avenue in
New York, and had 36 offices in 25 countries.
Artists
BMG Music Publishing controlled over one million copyrights. Writers/artists signed to the company included:
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
,
Ann Wilson,
Todd Terry,
Julieta Venegas,
Anastacia,
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...
,
Jaguares,
Diana Yukawa,
Kent,
Alcazar,
Gloria Trevi
Gloria de los Ángeles Treviño Ruiz (born February 15, 1968), known professionally as Gloria Trevi, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and actress. She is known for her emotional lyrics, performances, and lasting influence on Latin music, being ...
,
Angélica María,
Dido,
Lee Ryan,
Ai Uemura,
Julieta Venegas,
the Troubadours,
Powderfinger,
Nelly,
Rammstein,
Milli Vanilli,
Modern Talking,
Slayer,
*NSYNC (1997-1999),
Shania Twain,
Nikki Webster,
Ville Valo,
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...
,
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne (born Kelly Brianne Clarkson, April 24, 1982), known professionally as Kelly Clarkson, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Rising to fame after winning the American Idol season 1, first season of ''Ameri ...
,
Coldplay,
Yellowcard,
Hum,
Rob Dougan,
the All-American Rejects,
Clannad,
Iron Maiden,
Maroon 5,
Mayra Verónica,
Backyard Babies,
Hipster Daddy-O and the Handgrenades,
Soda Stereo,
Gustavo Cerati,
Keane,
HARD-Fi,
Horace Andy,
the Cure,
the Killer Barbies,
Joss Stone,
Tom Jobim,
Vinícius de Moraes,
Elvis Costello,
Paul Weller,
Sara Evans,
Sneaker Pimps,
Take That (1991–1996),
Five,
Westlife, D-Pryde,
Louis Tomlinson,
Luke Friend and
Mikolas Josef.
Through
Zomba Music Publishing, BMG controlled the rights to
Linkin Park,
Britney Spears,
Iron Maiden,
30 Seconds to Mars,
R. Kelly,
Justin Timberlake,
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 Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
,
Bowling for Soup,
Daft Punk,
Katatonia,
Ne-Yo,
Anthrax,
Mudvayne, and
Poison. These artists' European rights are currently controlled by
Concord Music Publishing, through
Imagem.
The company's songwriters wrote chart-topping hits for
Mariah Carey,
the Black Eyed Peas,
Kenny Chesney,
The Game,
Mario,
Rascal Flatts,
Milli Vanilli,
No Doubt,
Thomas Anders,
Jessica Simpson and
50 Cent as well as legends like
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
,
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
,
Frank Sinatra and
Roselyn Sánchez.
BMG Music Publishing was the global leader in classical music and was number one in contemporary
Christian music.
Catalogues owned
Through international sub-publishing deals, BMG Music Publishing represented the catalogues of
Famous Music Publishing,
Walt Disney,
Roadrunner Records,
Leiber & Stoller,
Fremantle Media,
Pete Waterman, and
Malaco Records in various territories.
BMG Music Publishing acquired Complete Music in 2006.
Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing was BMG Music Publishing's Christian publisher and owned over 60,000 copyrights. Like with other assets of BMG Music Publishing acquired by Universal Music, it was renamed to Universal Music Brentwood-Benson. It is nowadays managed by Capitol CMG Publishing, Universal Music's christian publishing operations under
Capitol Christian Music Group.
BMG Rights Management
After Sony bought out Bertelsmann's share in Sony BMG, Bertelsmann was allowed to keep the rights to several recordings from the former joint venture and rights to BMG trademark. These songs served as the foundation to BMG Rights Management. The company was originally founded with capital support of
KKR, and later became a wholly owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann. It now serves as a division within Bertelsmann and as a replacement to the defunct Bertelsmann Music Group.
Criticism
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 discs in order to end price wars by discounters such as
Best Buy and
Target in the early 1990s.
A settlement in 2002 included the music publishers and distributors;
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
,
Warner Music, Bertelsmann Music Group,
EMI Music
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), c ...
and
Universal Music. 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 customers were overcharged by nearly $500 million and up to $5 per album.
See also
*
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, ...
*
Sony BMG Music Entertainment
*
RCA Records
*
RCA/Jive Label Group
References
External links
Official Bertelsmann Music Group website**
Official Bertelsmann website*
{{Authority control
Sony Music
Former Bertelsmann subsidiaries
Defunct record labels of the United States
Defunct record labels of Germany
Record labels established in 1987
Record labels disestablished in 2008
Defunct companies based in New York City
American companies established in 1987
Mass media companies established in 1987
Mass media companies disestablished in 2008
Record label distributors