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Sony Music

February 05, 2023

For the Japanese operations using this name, see Sony Music Entertainment Japan.

Sony Music Entertainment (SME), simply known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Sony Entertainment and managed by the American umbrella division of Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony. It is the recording division half of the Sony Music Group, with the other half being the publishing division, Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV).[4]

Sony Music Holdings Inc.
Sony Music Entertainment's headquarters in 25 Madison Avenue, New York City
Formerly
TypeSubsidiary (formerly incorporated as a general partnership)
IndustryMusic
GenreVarious
Predecessor
FoundedSeptember 9, 1929; 93 years ago (1929-09-09)
FounderLouis G. Sylvester
Headquarters25 Madison Avenue,
New York City
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Rob Stringer (CEO)
Products
Revenue US$8.86 billion [1] (FY 2020)
US$1.74 billion [1] (FY 2020)
OwnerSony Corporation of America
(Sony Group Corporation)
(1988–present)
Number of employees
8,500 (2019[2])
ParentSony Entertainment
(2012–present)[3]
DivisionsSee List of Sony Music Entertainment labels
Websitesonymusic.com

Founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation, it was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1938 and renamed Columbia Recording Corporation. In 1966, the company was reorganized to become CBS Records. Its ownership was transferred to Sony who renamed it to its current name in 1991. Sony and Bertelsmann established a 50-50 joint venture known as Sony BMG in 2004 to handle the operations of Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group, but Sony acquired Bertelsmann's stake 4 years later and reverted to using the 1991 company name branding. This buyout incorporated and eventually absorbed labels formerly under BMG ownership like Arista, Jive, LaFace and J Records into former BMG and currently Sony's co-flagship record label, RCA Records, in 2011 and led to the relaunch of BMG as BMG Rights Management. Arista Records would later be revived in 2018.

As of 2023, 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 Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV) is the largest music publisher in the world.[5][6]

On July 17, 2019, Sony announced a merger of Sony Music Entertainment and Sony/ATV to form the Sony Music Group.[7] The merger was completed on August 1, 2019.[8][9]

History

1929–1938: American Record Corporation

Main article: American Record Corporation

The American Record Corporation (ARC) was founded in 1929 through a merger of several record companies.[10] The company grew for the next several years, acquiring other brands such as the Columbia Phonograph Company, including its Okeh Records subsidiary, in 1934.[11]

1938–1970: Columbia/CBS Records

In 1938, ARC was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) under the guidance of chief executive William S. Paley. The company was later renamed Columbia Recording Corporation,[12] and changed again to Columbia Records Inc. in 1947.[13] 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.[14] Columbia's success continued through the 1950s with the launch of Epic Records in 1953[15] and Date Records in 1958.[16] 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.[17]

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.[18] In 1964, the company began acquiring record companies in other countries for its CBS Records International unit[19] and established its own UK distribution outfit with the acquisition of Oriole Records.[20]

By 1966, Columbia was renamed as CBS Records and was a separate unit of the parent company, CBS-Columbia Group.[21][22] In March 1968, CBS and Sony formed CBS/Sony Records, a Japanese business joint venture.[23]

1971–1991: CBS Records Group

Main article: CBS Records International

In 1971, CBS Records was expanded into its own "CBS Records Group", with Clive Davis as its administrative vice president and general manager.[24] In the 1980s to the early 1990s, the company managed several successful labels, including CBS Associated Records,[25] which signed artists including Ozzy Osbourne, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Electric Light Orchestra, Joan Jett, and Henry Lee Summer.[26] In 1983, CBS expanded its music publishing business by acquiring the music publishing arm of MGM/UA Communications Co.[27] (CBS later sold the print music arm to Columbia Pictures.[28]) By 1987, CBS was the only "big three" American TV network to have a co-owned record company.[29] With Sony being one of the developers behind the compact disc digital music media, a compact disc production plant was constructed in Japan under the joint venture, allowing CBS to begin supplying some of the first compact disc releases for the American market in 1983.[30]

In 1986, CBS sold its music publishing division, CBS Songs, to SBK Entertainment[31] On November 17, 1987, Sony acquired CBS Records for US$2 billion. CBS Inc., now Paramount Global, retained the rights to the CBS name for music recordings but granted Sony a temporary license to use the CBS name.[32] The sale was completed on January 5, 1988.[33] CBS Corporation founded a new CBS Records in 2006, which was distributed by Sony through its RED subsidiary.[34]

In 1989, CBS Records re-entered the music publishing business by acquiring Nashville-based Tree International Publishing.[31]

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.[35] The CBS Associated label was renamed Epic Associated.[36] Also on January 1, 1991, to replace the CBS label, Sony reintroduced the Columbia 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.[35] 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.[37] 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.[38]

In 1995, Sony and Michael Jackson formed a joint venture which merged Sony's music publishing operations with Jackson's ATV Music to form Sony/ATV Music Publishing.[39]

2004–2008: Sony BMG: Joint venture with Bertelsmann

Main article: Sony BMG
 

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.[40] However Sony continued to operate its Japanese music business independently from Sony BMG while BMG Japan was made part of the merger.[41]

The merger made Columbia and Epic sister labels to RCA Records, which was once owned by CBS rival, NBC.[42] It also started the process of bringing BMG's Arista Records back under common ownership with its former parent Columbia Pictures, a Sony division since 1989, and also brought Arista founder Clive Davis back into the fold.[43] As of 2017, Davis was still with Sony Music as chief creative officer.[44]

2008–present: Sony Music revival, 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.[45] On July 1, 2009, SME and IODA announced a strategic partnership to leverage worldwide online retail distribution networks and complementary technologies to support independent labels and music rights holders.[46][47] 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.[48]

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 and The X Factor with Simon Cowell. Cowell acquired Sony's stake in 2020.[49]

Doug Morris, who was head of Warner Music Group, and later Universal Music, became chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment on July 1, 2011.[50] Sony Music underwent restructuring upon Morris' arrival; with some artists switching labels while other labels were eliminated altogether.[51][52][53][54]

In June 2012, a consortium led by Sony/ATV acquired EMI Music Publishing, making Sony/ATV the world's largest music publisher at the time.[55] 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.[56]

Sony has experienced a number of changes with its international labels. In February 2012, Sony Music reportedly closed its Filipino office due to piracy, and Ivory Music and Video had been handling distribution for its catalog a few months earlier in July 2011.[57] 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.[58] In July 2013, Sony Music withdrew from the Greek market due to an economic crisis.[59] Albums released by Sony Music in Greece from domestic and foreign artists would then be carried by Feelgood Records.[60]

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.[61] 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".[62]

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.[63] 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.[64] 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.[63]

In April 2021, the Brazilian media company Grupo Globo sold its domestic record label Som Livre to Sony Music for an undisclosed amount.[65] It was approved by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense on November 4, 2021.

In 2022, Sony Music Entertainment acquired boutique branding and merchandising agency, Ceremony of Roses(CoR). The newly acquired 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.[66]

In January 2023, Sony Music and Alamo Records founder Todd Moscowitz launched Santa Anna, an artist and label services company.[67]

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.[68]

In June 2017, it was announced that Sony would be merging its two independent distribution companies The Orchard and Red Essential.[69]

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's "Uptown Funk", which picked up Best British Single. Several other of the label's artists - Foo Fighters, One Direction and Pharrell Williams - also collected awards.[70][71]

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.[72]

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, who released his 11th album The Heavy Entertainment Show in 2016. Jason Iley commented that the agreement was "a once in a lifetime signing with the biggest male solo artist of our generation".[73][74]

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.[75][76]

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.[77]

In 2021, Sony agreed to buy Kobalt neighboring rights division and independent distribution company AWAL, from the Kobalt Music Group for $430 million.[78]

The UK media company Somethin' Else was acquired outright by Sony Music in 2021, to form a podcast division.[79][80][81]

Controversies

CD price fixing

Main article: 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. This was done in order to end price wars of the early 1990s among discounters such as Best Buy and Target.[82] A settlement was reached in 2002 that included music publishers and distributors Sony Music, Warner Music, Bertelsmann Music Group, EMI Music 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.[83] It is estimated that customers were overcharged by nearly $500 million overall and up to $5 per album.[82]

George Michael

Main article: Panayiotou v. Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.

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.[84]

Michael Jackson and Tommy Mottola

The release of Invincible was preceded by a dispute between Michael Jackson 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.[85] 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.[86] Jackson sought an early exit from his contract.[85]

In July 2002, Jackson alleged that the then-Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola was a "devil" and "racist" who did not support his African-American artists, using them merely for his own gain.[86] He charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a "fat nigger".[87] Sony refused to renew Jackson's contract, and claimed that a $25 million promotional campaign had failed because Jackson refused to tour in the United States.[88]

Prosecution of copyright infringement

In May 2012, Sony Music filed charges against the website IsoHunt.[89] 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."[90] 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.[91]

2016 boycott

Main article: Kesha v. Dr. Luke

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 Supreme Court to free her from her contract with Sony Music, but the court denied the request, prompting a widespread public and media response.[92]

List of Sony Music Entertainment labels

Main article: List of Sony Music labels

Flagship record labels

Genre-limited record labels

Country music
Dance/electronic music
Christian/gospel music
Latin
Classical/jazz music
Metal music
Progressive music

Others

Sony Music UK[96][97]
Distributed labels
Catalog
International
Independent music distribution

Previously affiliated labels

See also

References

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External links

  • Official website
  • via Yahoo! Business
  • Sony Music's channel on YouTube
  • Sony Music publishing catalog at MusicBrainz

February 05, 2023
sony, music, japanese, operations, using, this, name, entertainment, japan, entertainment, simply, known, american, multinational, music, company, owned, sony, entertainment, managed, american, umbrella, division, japanese, multinational, conglomerate, sony, r. For the Japanese operations using this name see Sony Music Entertainment Japan Sony Music Entertainment SME simply known as Sony Music is an American multinational music company owned by Sony Entertainment and managed by the American umbrella division of Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony It is the recording division half of the Sony Music Group with the other half being the publishing division Sony Music Publishing formerly Sony ATV 4 Sony Music Holdings Inc Sony Music Entertainment s headquarters in 25 Madison Avenue New York CityFormerlyAmerican Record Corporation 1929 1938 Columbia Records USA 1938 1966 CBS Records 1966 1991 Sony Music Entertainment Inc first incarnation 1991 2004 Sony BMG Music Entertainment 2004 2008 TypeSubsidiary formerly incorporated as a general partnership IndustryMusicGenreVariousPredecessorVictor Talking Machine 1906 1924 RCA Victor 1924 1985 Ariola Records 1937 1985 RCA Ariola 1985 1988 BMG Ariola 1988 1994 BMG Music 1994 2004 FoundedSeptember 9 1929 93 years ago 1929 09 09 FounderLouis G SylvesterHeadquarters25 Madison Avenue New York City United StatesArea servedWorldwideKey peopleRob Stringer CEO ProductsMusicEntertainmentRevenueUS 8 86 billion 1 FY 2020 Operating incomeUS 1 74 billion 1 FY 2020 OwnerSony Corporation of America Sony Group Corporation 1988 present Number of employees8 500 2019 2 ParentSony Entertainment 2012 present 3 DivisionsSee List of Sony Music Entertainment labelsWebsitesonymusic wbr comFounded in 1929 as American Record Corporation it was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1938 and renamed Columbia Recording Corporation In 1966 the company was reorganized to become CBS Records Its ownership was transferred to Sony who renamed it to its current name in 1991 Sony and Bertelsmann established a 50 50 joint venture known as Sony BMG in 2004 to handle the operations of Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group but Sony acquired Bertelsmann s stake 4 years later and reverted to using the 1991 company name branding This buyout incorporated and eventually absorbed labels formerly under BMG ownership like Arista Jive LaFace and J Records into former BMG and currently Sony s co flagship record label RCA Records in 2011 and led to the relaunch of BMG as BMG Rights Management Arista Records would later be revived in 2018 As of 2023 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 Music Publishing formerly Sony ATV is the largest music publisher in the world 5 6 On July 17 2019 Sony announced a merger of Sony Music Entertainment and Sony ATV to form the Sony Music Group 7 The merger was completed on August 1 2019 8 9 Contents 1 History 1 1 1929 1938 American Record Corporation 1 2 1938 1970 Columbia CBS Records 1 3 1971 1991 CBS Records Group 1 4 1991 2004 Birth of Sony Music Entertainment 1 5 2004 2008 Sony BMG Joint venture with Bertelsmann 1 6 2008 present Sony Music revival restructuring and recent developments 2 Sony Music UK 3 Controversies 3 1 CD price fixing 3 2 George Michael 3 3 Michael Jackson and Tommy Mottola 3 4 Prosecution of copyright infringement 3 5 2016 boycott 4 List of Sony Music Entertainment labels 4 1 Flagship record labels 4 2 Genre limited record labels 4 3 Others 4 4 Previously affiliated labels 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory Edit1929 1938 American Record Corporation Edit Main article American Record Corporation The American Record Corporation ARC was founded in 1929 through a merger of several record companies 10 The company grew for the next several years acquiring other brands such as the Columbia Phonograph Company including its Okeh Records subsidiary in 1934 11 1938 1970 Columbia CBS Records Edit In 1938 ARC was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System CBS under the guidance of chief executive William S Paley The company was later renamed Columbia Recording Corporation 12 and changed again to Columbia Records Inc in 1947 13 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 14 Columbia s success continued through the 1950s with the launch of Epic Records in 1953 15 and Date Records in 1958 16 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 17 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 18 In 1964 the company began acquiring record companies in other countries for its CBS Records International unit 19 and established its own UK distribution outfit with the acquisition of Oriole Records 20 By 1966 Columbia was renamed as CBS Records and was a separate unit of the parent company CBS Columbia Group 21 22 In March 1968 CBS and Sony formed CBS Sony Records a Japanese business joint venture 23 1971 1991 CBS Records Group Edit Main article CBS Records International In 1971 CBS Records was expanded into its own CBS Records Group with Clive Davis as its administrative vice president and general manager 24 In the 1980s to the early 1990s the company managed several successful labels including CBS Associated Records 25 which signed artists including Ozzy Osbourne the Fabulous Thunderbirds Electric Light Orchestra Joan Jett and Henry Lee Summer 26 In 1983 CBS expanded its music publishing business by acquiring the music publishing arm of MGM UA Communications Co 27 CBS later sold the print music arm to Columbia Pictures 28 By 1987 CBS was the only big three American TV network to have a co owned record company 29 With Sony being one of the developers behind the compact disc digital music media a compact disc production plant was constructed in Japan under the joint venture allowing CBS to begin supplying some of the first compact disc releases for the American market in 1983 30 In 1986 CBS sold its music publishing division CBS Songs to SBK Entertainment 31 On November 17 1987 Sony acquired CBS Records for US 2 billion CBS Inc now Paramount Global retained the rights to the CBS name for music recordings but granted Sony a temporary license to use the CBS name 32 The sale was completed on January 5 1988 33 CBS Corporation founded a new CBS Records in 2006 which was distributed by Sony through its RED subsidiary 34 In 1989 CBS Records re entered the music publishing business by acquiring Nashville based Tree International Publishing 31 1991 2004 Birth of Sony Music Entertainment Edit 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 35 The CBS Associated label was renamed Epic Associated 36 Also on January 1 1991 to replace the CBS label Sony reintroduced the Columbia 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 35 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 37 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 38 In 1995 Sony and Michael Jackson formed a joint venture which merged Sony s music publishing operations with Jackson s ATV Music to form Sony ATV Music Publishing 39 2004 2008 Sony BMG Joint venture with Bertelsmann Edit Main article Sony BMG 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 40 However Sony continued to operate its Japanese music business independently from Sony BMG while BMG Japan was made part of the merger 41 The merger made Columbia and Epic sister labels to RCA Records which was once owned by CBS rival NBC 42 It also started the process of bringing BMG s Arista Records back under common ownership with its former parent Columbia Pictures a Sony division since 1989 and also brought Arista founder Clive Davis back into the fold 43 As of 2017 Davis was still with Sony Music as chief creative officer 44 2008 present Sony Music revival restructuring and recent developments Edit 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 45 On July 1 2009 SME and IODA announced a strategic partnership to leverage worldwide online retail distribution networks and complementary technologies to support independent labels and music rights holders 46 47 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 48 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 and The X Factor with Simon Cowell Cowell acquired Sony s stake in 2020 49 Doug Morris who was head of Warner Music Group and later Universal Music became chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment on July 1 2011 50 Sony Music underwent restructuring upon Morris arrival with some artists switching labels while other labels were eliminated altogether 51 52 53 54 In June 2012 a consortium led by Sony ATV acquired EMI Music Publishing making Sony ATV the world s largest music publisher at the time 55 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 56 Sony has experienced a number of changes with its international labels In February 2012 Sony Music reportedly closed its Filipino office due to piracy and Ivory Music and Video had been handling distribution for its catalog a few months earlier in July 2011 57 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 58 In July 2013 Sony Music withdrew from the Greek market due to an economic crisis 59 Albums released by Sony Music in Greece from domestic and foreign artists would then be carried by Feelgood Records 60 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 61 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 62 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 63 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 64 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 63 In April 2021 the Brazilian media company Grupo Globo sold its domestic record label Som Livre to Sony Music for an undisclosed amount 65 It was approved by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense on November 4 2021 In 2022 Sony Music Entertainment acquired boutique branding and merchandising agency Ceremony of Roses CoR The newly acquired 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 66 In January 2023 Sony Music and Alamo Records founder Todd Moscowitz launched Santa Anna an artist and label services company 67 Sony Music UK EditSony 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 68 In June 2017 it was announced that Sony would be merging its two independent distribution companies The Orchard and Red Essential 69 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 s Uptown Funk which picked up Best British Single Several other of the label s artists Foo Fighters One Direction and Pharrell Williams also collected awards 70 71 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 72 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 who released his 11th album The Heavy Entertainment Show in 2016 Jason Iley commented that the agreement was a once in a lifetime signing with the biggest male solo artist of our generation 73 74 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 75 76 On April 5 2017 two of Sony Music UK s labels won awards at the annual Music Week Awards Columbia Records received the A amp R of the Year Award while Syco were awarded the Record Company of the Year Award 77 In 2021 Sony agreed to buy Kobalt neighboring rights division and independent distribution company AWAL from the Kobalt Music Group for 430 million 78 The UK media company Somethin Else was acquired outright by Sony Music in 2021 to form a podcast division 79 80 81 Controversies EditCD price fixing Edit Main article 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 This was done in order to end price wars of the early 1990s among discounters such as Best Buy and Target 82 A settlement was reached in 2002 that included music publishers and distributors Sony Music Warner Music Bertelsmann Music Group EMI Music 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 83 It is estimated that customers were overcharged by nearly 500 million overall and up to 5 per album 82 George Michael Edit Main article Panayiotou v Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd 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 84 Michael Jackson and Tommy Mottola Edit The release of Invincible was preceded by a dispute between Michael Jackson 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 85 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 86 Jackson sought an early exit from his contract 85 In July 2002 Jackson alleged that the then Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola was a devil and racist who did not support his African American artists using them merely for his own gain 86 He charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti a fat nigger 87 Sony refused to renew Jackson s contract and claimed that a 25 million promotional campaign had failed because Jackson refused to tour in the United States 88 Prosecution of copyright infringement Edit In May 2012 Sony Music filed charges against the website IsoHunt 89 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 90 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 91 2016 boycott Edit Main article Kesha v Dr Luke 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 Supreme Court to free her from her contract with Sony Music but the court denied the request prompting a widespread public and media response 92 List of Sony Music Entertainment labels EditMain article List of Sony Music labels Flagship record labels Edit Columbia Records RCA Records Epic Records Arista RecordsGenre limited record labels Edit Country musicSony Music Nashville Columbia Nashville Arista Nashville RCA Records NashvilleDance electronic musicEpic Amsterdam 93 Stmpd Rcrds EEM Records Ultra Music Ministry of Sound 94 Liquid State joint venture 95 Christian gospel musicProvident Label Group RCA Inspiration Kingdom Life Records DeJountae RecordsLatinSony Music LatinClassical jazz musicSony Masterworks Sony Classical Records Milan Records Portrait Records RCA Red Seal Records Okeh Records Flying Buddha Masterworks BroadwayMetal musicCentury Media RecordsProgressive musicInside Out Music Others Edit Sony Music UK 96 97 Columbia Records UK 98 Relentless Records 5K Records 99 Black Butter Records joint venture 100 Dream Life Records 101 Insanity Records joint venture 102 Magic Star 103 Robots Humans 104 Since 93 105 Sony Music Nashville UK 106 WEAREBLK joint venture 107 District 18 Entertainment joint venture Distributed labelsRobbins Entertainment Syco Music Nick RecordsCatalogLegacy Recordings Follow That Dream Records Louder Than Life RecordsInternationalAriola Records Intl Defstar Records Intl Relentless Records Som LivreIndependent music distributionThe Orchard RED Music IODA AWAL Previously affiliated labels Edit 19 Recordings 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 1958 1970 previously through Columbia Records now dissolved Aware Records 1997 2010 now part of Universal Music Group through Republic Records PiperWorld Entertainment 2008 2013 previously through 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April 11 2017 Retrieved April 12 2017 Not for Sale After Unloading AWAL Kobalt Says It s Off the Block Billboard February 2 2021 Archived from the original on March 9 2021 Retrieved March 5 2021 Somethin else and Sony Music launch podcast partnership Sony acquires Somethin else to expand global podcast division June 16 2021 Somethin else appoints Head of Branded Podcasts for the UK January 10 2022 a b Labaton Stephen May 11 2000 5 Music Companies Settle Federal Case On CD Price Fixing The New York Times Archived from the original on May 30 2016 Retrieved April 26 2016 Lieberman David September 30 2002 5 Music Companies Settle Federal Case On CD Price Fixing USA Today Archived from the original on February 7 2016 Retrieved April 26 2016 Coulthard Alan September 1995 George Michael v Sony Music A Challenge to Artistic Freedom The Modern Law Review 58 5 731 744 doi 10 1111 j 1468 2230 1995 tb02047 x ISSN 0026 7961 a b Taraborrelli J Randy July 15 2009 Michael Jackson The Magic The Madness The Whole Story 1958 2009 Grand Central pp 610 611 ISBN 978 0 4465 6568 4 a b Taraborrelli 2009 pp 614 7 Jermaine Jackson Connie Chung December 31 2002 Interview with Jermaine Jackson Connie Chung Tonight CNN Archived from the original on November 5 2015 Retrieved July 2 2008 Burkeman Oliver July 7 2002 Jackon gets tough but is he a race crusader or just a falling star The Guardian London Archived from the original on July 2 2015 Retrieved May 31 2015 Van der Sar Ernesto February 29 2012 Record Labels Threaten the Open Internet isoHunt Tells Court TorrentFreak Archived from the original on February 15 2013 Retrieved February 28 2013 Isohunt scbc Scribd com February 29 2012 Archived from the original on January 23 2013 Retrieved February 28 2013 Sony Music sues Universal sister company Radionomy Music Business Worldwide March 2 2016 Archived from the original on May 3 2016 Retrieved January 2 2021 Over 100 000 Kesha supporters call for Sony Music boycott after judge rules she must honor contract despite Dr Luke rape allegations New York Daily News February 20 2016 Archived from the original on February 21 2016 Retrieved February 20 2016 Epic Amsterdam Archived from the original on November 3 2017 Retrieved October 31 2017 Smirke Richard August 10 2016 Sony Music UK Acquires Ministry of Sound Billboard Archived from the original on March 22 2019 Retrieved April 17 2020 Schultz Rob January 31 2018 Sony Music amp Tencent Launch Dance Music Label Liquid State Billboard Archived from the original on January 23 2021 Retrieved March 19 2021 Sony Music UK Official Website Sony Music UK Archived from the original on March 8 2021 Retrieved March 10 2021 Sony Music UK Labels amp Partners Sony Music UK Archived from the original on February 4 2021 Retrieved March 10 2021 Sony Music UK Columbia Records Sony Music UK Retrieved October 26 2021 Sony Music UK 5K Records Sony Music UK Archived from the original on January 25 2021 Retrieved March 10 2021 Sony Music UK Black Butter Sony Music UK Archived from the original on March 29 2021 Retrieved March 10 2021 Sony Music UK Dream Life Records Sony Music UK Archived from the original on January 18 2021 Retrieved March 10 2021 Sony Music UK Insanity Records Sony Music UK Archived from the original on December 5 2020 Retrieved March 10 2021 Sony Music UK Magic Star Sony Music UK Archived from the original on January 20 2021 Retrieved March 10 2021 Sony Music UK Robots Humans Sony Music UK Archived from the original on January 25 2021 Retrieved March 10 2021 Sony Music UK Since 93 Sony Music UK Archived from the original on February 4 2021 Retrieved March 10 2021 Sony Music UK Sony Music Nashville Sony Music UK Archived from the original on November 26 2020 Retrieved March 10 2021 Sony Music UK WEAREBLK Sony Music UK Archived from the original on December 1 2020 Retrieved March 10 2021 Sisari Ben April 8 2013 Jay Z s Entertainment Company Makes Music Deal With Universal The New York Times Retrieved April 13 2013 External links EditOfficial website Yahoo Sony Music Entertainment Company Profile via Yahoo Business Sony Music s channel on YouTube Sony Music TV Sony Music publishing catalog at MusicBrainz Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Sony Music amp oldid 1137356712, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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