BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany. It combines the activities of a

music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectu ...

and a

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

. BMG was formed in October 2008 after

Bertelsmann The Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (), is a German privately held company, private multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, ...

sold its stake in

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

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 ...

. From 2009 to 2013, the investment firm KKR held 51% of the company, which became one of the world's largest music publishers during that time. BMG is 100% owned by Bertelsmann and one of the group's eight business divisions.

History

Music at Bertelsmann

In the 1950s, Bertelsmann entered the music business when it added music to its book club. Ariola, a record label, was launched and Sonopress, a pressing plant, was established. In 1975, Ariola opened an office in the United States. Bertelsmann acquired

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

in 1979 and half ownership of

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

in 1985, thereby becoming one of the world's largest music companies. After the full acquisition of RCA Records in 1987, Bertelsmann's various subsidiaries were brought together to form

Bertelsmann Music Group 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 c ...

(BMG), which covered a number of genres, including folk, pop, and especially

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. In response to declining sales in the overall music market, Bertelsmann agreed to merge its record label interests with

in 2003; the company was called Sony BMG. Furthermore, in 2006, Bertelsmann sold its subsidiary BMG Music Publishing 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, ...

. Having reached the conclusion that established music publishing companies and record labels were not appropriate for an increasingly digital music business, Bertelsmann sold its stake in the Sony BMG joint venture in 2008. The company was subsequently renamed

Sony Music Entertainment 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 ...

Launch of the new BMG

In October 2008, Bertelsmann launched the new BMG with a small portfolio of recorded music rights of around 200 artists it retained from Sony BMG. It declared it would pursue a business model focused on fairness, service and transparency. The launch of the new BMG came amidst the 2008 financial crisis, and within two weeks of the collapse of

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

. Since Bertelsmann could not supply the required funds on its own, a 51% stake was sold to financial investor KKR in 2009. Bertelsmann retained 49% and the right to appoint the company's management. The transaction allowed BMG to increase its equity ratio.

International expansion

Initially, Bertelsmann had announced that the new BMG would focus on the European broadcast market. After KKR became the majority shareholder, the company set its sights on expanding internationally. A key step towards achieving this goal was acquiring Cherry Lane Music Publishing in 2009, which provided BMG with its first foothold in the United States. BMG made several other purchases in 2010, including Evergreen Copyright Acquisitions. In 2011, Bug Music was bought by BMG, followed by music publisher R2M Music in 2012. Bertelsmann was also reported to be interested in buying EMI, but EMI was ultimately acquired by

and

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

(record labels) and

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing LLC (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021, it is part of Sony ...

(songwriters). The regulatory authorities approved the deal subject to some conditions, including the sale of several labels. BMG was thus able to acquire

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller (music producer), Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure (duo), Erasure, Einstürze ...

(2012) and Sanctuary Records (2013), as well as the publishing catalogues of EMI Virgin Music and Famous Music UK from Sony/ATV.

Becoming a group division

In 2013, KKR sold its stake in BMG to Bertelsmann, making it the sole shareholder of the company. Under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Thomas Rabe, who had been a key driver of BMG's expansion during his time as Chief Financial Officer, Bertelsmann again cited music as one of its strategic growth areas. In 2013, the company began to represent rights to songs by

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, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

and the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. Record labels were also added to the portfolio including Union Square Music (distributor of

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

's ZTT Records and Stiff Records), Vagrant Music and Infectious Music (2014), as well as S-Curve Records and Rise Records (2015). Other acquisitions followed in 2016, including the label ARC Music and the catalog of The End Records. By acquiring Basement, BMG entered the market in Brazil, one of Bertelsmann's growth regions. In 2016, the company also signed an agreement with Warner Music's Alternative Distribution Alliance for the physical and digital distribution of music, allowing BMG to consolidate its longstanding sales structures. BMG further expanded by entering the Chinese market in cooperation with Alibaba, allowing the online company to distribute the work of musicians and composers via its web channels while securing copyrights. In the 2015 financial year, BMG was part of the Corporate Investments division at Bertelsmann. In 2016, the media group turned the subsidiary into a stand-alone division. Today, BMG is considered a prime example of how growth platforms are created and leveraged at Bertelsmann.

Acquisition of BBR Music and new labels

In 2017, BMG announced the purchase of BBR Music Group, including the labels Broken Bow Records, Red Bow Records, Stoney Creek Records, Wheelhouse Records and the music publisher Magic Mustang Music. With a value of more than 100 million dollars, the transaction was the largest recorded music acquisition in the company's history. BMG thus improved its position in the

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

segment and ensured its long-term presence in the

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

music industry and its overall impact on the United States market. In 2022, BMG announced its first new British record label within the group since 2009, Tag8 Music. This label was set up in association with ex-Bros member Craig Logan and his management company Logan Media Entertainment, with Tag8 Music featuring established acts such as Pixie Lott, Roachford, and Louise Redknapp as part of its roster. On the Official Albums Chart of 4 November 2022, the label charted its first hit album in the form of Blue's ''Heart & Soul''. In October 2023, BMG signed with

for physical distribution, and started self-distributing its own catalog on digital platforms, thus ending their partnership with Warner Music. The transition of physical distribution to Universal took place over the course of 2024 and is set to officially change over in October of 2024.

Corporate structure

BMG's parent enterprise is BMG Rights Management GmbH, a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

according to German law. The company's objective is "the marketing of music, as well as its development and delivery" for use in media, at concerts and for other purposes. BMG has numerous

subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...

and shareholdings, for example, BMG Rights Management (Europe) GmbH. In addition to Germany, BMG is present in Australia, Brazil, China, France, Italy, Spain, the UK, the Benelux countries, the United States, Canada, and Scandinavia. BMG's senior management includes Thomas Coesfeld (

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

), Mathis Wolter (

Chief Financial Officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

), Ama Walton (

General Counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

and Chief Human Resources Officer) and Ben Katovsky (

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer (COO), also called chief operations officer, is an executive in charge of the daily operations of an organization (i.e. personnel, resources, and logistics). COOs are usually second-in-command immediately after the C ...

). Masuch has been a member of Bertelsmann's Group Management Committee since 2013. In the 2018 financial year, BMG posted revenues of €545 million. Rights and licenses accounted for 91.1% and products and merchandise 8.9%. Almost half of its revenues (44.1%) were generated in the United States. Other important markets were the United Kingdom (24.7%), Germany (6.3%) and France (3.9%).

Business model

BMG offers musicians the services generally provided by music publishers and record labels. Unlike its major competitors, it runs them under the same roof and on the same technology platform. More recently, it has added film, television, and books to its roster of services.

Publishing

BMG publishing represents the rights of songwriters.

Production music

BMG has a significant library of

production music Production music (also known as stock music or library music) is recorded music that can be music licensing, licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Often, the music is produced and owned by production music libra ...

(library music), for use in films, television, advertising, and other media. These catalogues include MusicDirector (part of Talpa Music), Human Music, Music Beyond, X-Ray Dog, Beds & Beats, Valentino Production Music, Immediate Music, AXS Music, Altitude Music, and Must Save Jane.

Labels

* 19 Records *43B *Too Lost LLC * BBR Music Group **Broken Bow Records **Stoney Creek Records **Wheelhouse Records * Rise Records * S-Curve Records (back catalogue) * Infectious Music * Vagrant Records * BMG Chrysalis ** The Echo Label ** Go-Feet Records ** MAM Records *

(pre-2010 catalogue) *Union Square Music **Salvo **Metro * Skint Records ** Loaded Records ** Skyblaze Recordings * Sanctuary Records Group ** Castle Communications ** Pye Records **Precision Records and Tapes ** Transatlantic Records ** Sugar Hill Records ** CMC International **Mayan Records ** Neat Records ** Noise Records ** RAS Records **

Trojan Records Trojan Records is a British record label founded by Jamaican Duke Reid, Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. Th ...

***

Jet Records Jet Records was a British record label started by Don Arden in 1974, featuring musicians such as Lynsey de Paul, Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), Roy Wood, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Alan Price, Adrian Gurvitz, Riot (band), Riot, Magnum (band ...

*** Upsetter Records **

Urban Records Urban Records is a German record label subsidiary of Universal Music Group. The label was founded in 1993 by Sascha Basler as a sub-label of Polydor Germany. In 1994, Urban became a sub-label of Motor Music and in 1995 Urban was Germany's most suc ...

*Countdown Media ** Alshire/Somerset ** Everest Records **Mediaphon ** Dobre Records **SRP Records **Glove Music **Alto Records * RAM Records * RBC Records * World Circuit Records * Disques Dreyfus * Albert Music **

Albert Productions Albert Productions, a division of music publishing and recording company Albert Music, is one of Australia's longest established independent record labels to specialise in rock and roll music. The label was founded in 1963 by Ted Albert, wh ...

* The End Records *

Verse Music Group Verse Music Group is an entertainment company founded by Curtis Frasca and Sabelle Breer with offices in New York City and Los Angeles. Since its inauguration in 2010, Verse has licensed 25,000 copyrights through the acquisition of catalogs and ...

** Golden Records ** Bethlehem Records ** Salsoul Records **

West End Records West End Records is an American music record label based in New York City. Led by co-founder Mel Cheren, West End was one of the most prominent labels in dance music's history, along with Prelude Records, Salsoul Records, and Casablanca Records. ...

* Pete Waterman Entertainment * Paracadute * Strictly Rhythm (back catalogue) * Dark Horse Records *Cavalcade Recordings *BMG Talpa Music (Netherlands) *BMG Production Music *Cheyenne Records *Intertwine (joint venture with Eshy Gazit) *Modern Recordings *Telamo *Renew Records *OM Records (joint-venture with

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

) *Tag8 Music *Queenie Records

Awards

*2016, 2017, 2018: "Independent Publisher of the Year" by

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

*2018: "Production Music Awards" for BMG Production Music *2018: "Publisher of the Year", A&R Awards, United Kingdom

References

External links

Official website
of BMG {{Authority control Bertelsmann subsidiaries Entertainment companies established in 2008 German companies established in 2008 German record labels Kohlberg Kravis Roberts companies Mass media companies established in 2008 Music publishing companies of Germany Record label distributors Record labels established in 2008