Universal Music Group

History of UMG• Universal Music Group (UMG) is a multinational music company. It is the largest of

the "big four" record companies by its leading market share and its multitude of global operations. Universal Music Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of French media conglomerate Vivendi.

• Universal Music Group owns a music publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group, which became the world's largest following the 2007 acquisition of BMG Music Publishing.

• The UMG corporate headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California, United States. "Universal Music" was once the music company attached to film studio Universal Pictures. Its origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in 1934.The Decca Corporation of England spun American Decca off in 1939. MCA Inc. bought American Decca in 1962. The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram and merged it with Universal Music Group in 1998. However, the name first appeared in 1996 when MCA Music Entertainment Group was renamed Universal Music Group. The PolyGram acquisition included Deutsche Grammophon which traces its ancestry to Berliner Gramophone making Deutsche Grammophon UMG's oldest unit. UMG's Canadian unit traces its ancestry to a Berliner Gramophone breakaway firm the Compo Company.

Record Labels UMG own–  Geffen Records–  A&M Records–  A&M/Octone Records–  DGC Records –  Island Records– Def Jam Recordings–  Mercury Records–  Motown Records–  MCA Nashville Records–  Disa Records–  Machete Music–  Verve Records–  GRP Records–  Impulse! Records–  Verve Forecast Records–  Decca Records–  Universal Music Classical–  V2 Music–  Co-Operative Music–  Fontana North–  Universal Music TV (UMTV)–  Decca Records–  Geffen UK–  London Records

EMI

History of EMI• The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is

a British multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It was the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and was one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major publishing arm, EMI Music Publishing — also based in London with offices globally. The company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but since February 2011 it has been wholly owned by Citigroup (which took the then financially troubled company over because of more than $4 billion in debt it held). EMI is a member of the RIAA & IFPI.

• In November 2011 Citigroup announced a tentative deal to sell off pieces of the company with the music arm going to Vivendi's Universal Music Group for $1.9 billion and the publishing business going to a Sony/ATV consortium for around $2.2 billion. Other members of the Sony consortium include Blackstone and Abu Dhabi-owned investment fund Mubadala. Both before and after the sale announcement, Universal Music Group pledged to sell off EMI assets to the value of half a billion Euros.

Record labels owned by EMI

• Robbie Williams

• Kraftwerk

•  Queen

•  Olivia Newton-John

• Iron Maiden

•  Kate Bush

• Sheena Easton

• Australia's most prolific artist, Australian country music singer Slim Dusty, signed with the Columbia Graphophone Co. for the Regal Zonophone label in 1946 and remained with EMI until his death in 2003 - selling over 7 million records for the label in Australia by 2007.

Warner Music Group

History of WMG• Warner Music Group (WMG) is the third largest business group and family of record

labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies. For three decades the conglomerate was known as WEA, which stood for Warner Bros.-Elektra-Atlantic Records; three major record companies that signed and developed musical acts and, in turn, distributed product for subsidiaries and other record labels.

• The current incarnation of the company as Warner Music Group was formed in 2004 when it was spun off and made completely separate from Time Warner; as a result Time Warner no longer retains any ownership whatsoever in the Warner Music Group, despite its name. WMG also has a music publishing arm called Warner/Chappell Music which is one of the world's largest music-publishing companies.

• In May 2011, the company announced its sale to Access Industries, Inc. The purchase of the company was completed on July 20, 2011.

Record labels owned by WMG• Warner Bros. Records

• Asylum Records 

• 143 Records*

• Bad Boy Records

• Blacksmith Records*

• Maverick

• No Limit Forever Records

• Nonesuch Records

• Del-Fi Records

• Frank Sinatra Enterprises

• Rhino Records

– Born & Bred Records– Broken English– Ferret Music– Fearless Records– Floodgate Records

– Silent Majority Group– Tent Show– Triple Crown Records– Volcom Entertainment– We Put Out Records– Rhymesayers Entertainment