Jordan Nettley

Sony Music - Research

Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Inc., is one of the so called "Big
Four" record companies, along with EMI, Warner Music Group,
and Atlantic Music Groups. Sony BMG, who holds a 25% share of
the music market, was born out of the merger of two music
industry giants, Sony Music and BMG Music.

Founded in: 1929, New York City, New York, United States

The company offers various musical genre, including popular,
rock, jazz, blues, R&B, folk, country, gospel, Broadway musicals,
movie soundtracks, ethnic, world music, classical, comedy, and
others.

The Merger:
The merger of Sony and BMG became legal in August, 2004, but getting there was an uphill battle.
The labels faced charges that the merger violated monopoly and anti-trust laws, and independent
record labels in most major music markets banded together to protest the merger. When the deal
finally went through, Sony and BMG each held a 50% stake in the company.
Some of the loudest voices of protest to the merger were in the European Union, and thanks to a case
brought by IMPALA, an independent label lobbying group, the EU withdrew their approval of the deal
in July, 2006. The case is pending.

Company Structure:
Sony BMG has offices in more than 30 countries worldwide, and several thousand employees.

Sony BMG Labels:
Under the huge umbrella of Sony BMG, there are more than 20 labels that are owned and distributed
by the corporation. Sony BMG labels include some of the biggest names in the business, like:
Epic
Jive
Columbia
RCA
Arista
LaFace
Zomba Music Group (including Rough Trade and Pinnacle)
SoSo Def
Legacy
J Records
Red Music Distribution
Sony BMG also distribution and partial ownership deals with five indie labels:
Independiente
GOOD Music
Nick Records
Wind Up Records

Jordan Nettley




Sony BMG Artists:
As you might imagine of a company who is responsible for 25% of all music sales, Sony BMG represent
some of the biggest names in music. Some of the company's top selling artists are:
Britney Spears
Jessica Simpson
Celine Dion
Franz Ferdinand
The Fray
Belle and Sebastian
Justin Timberlake
Kelis