Bertelsmann Music Group

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
For the current music company called BMG, see BMG Rights Management.
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this
article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Bertelsmann Music
Group" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (September 2014) (Learn how and
when to remove this template message)

Bertelsmann Music Group

Formerly RCA Victor (1929–1968)

RCA Records (1968–1985)
Ariola Eurodisc (1958–1984)
RCA/Ariola International (1985–1987)
BMG-Ariola (1987–1995)

Type Division

Industry Music

Founded 1929; 93 years ago (RCA Victor)

1958; 64 years ago (Ariola Records)

Founder RCA (RCA Victor)

Bertelsmann (Ariola Records)

Defunct 1 October 2008

Fate Assets sold to Sony Corporation of America

 Sony Music
Successors
 BMG Rights Management
 Headquarters New York City
, 
United States

Area served Worldwide

Products Music and entertainment

Owner Bertelsmann Stiftung

(1987–2008)

Parent RCA
(1929–1986)
General Electric
(1986–1987)
Bertelsmann
(1987–2008)

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, which established the German
American Sony BMG from 2004 to 2008.

Contents

 1Acquisition
 2Subsidiaries
 3BMG Music Publishing
o 3.1Artists
o 3.2Catalogues owned
 4BMG Rights Management
 5Criticism
o 5.1CD price fixing
 6See also
 7References
 8External links

Acquisition[edit]
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.[1]
The joint venture between Sony Corporation 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 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. 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 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[edit]
Now part of Sony Music Entertainment after the buyout of Bertelsmann AG's 50% stake
in Sony BMG.

 Ariola Records
 RCA Music Group
o RCA Records
 RCA Victor Group
 The Windham Hill Group
 Bluebird Records
o Arista Records
o J Records
 Full Surface Records
 US Records
 Arista Nashville
  RCA Nashville
 BNA Records
 BMG Kidz
 Zomba Music Group
o Battery Records
o Epidemic Records
o LaFace Records
o Jive Records
o Music for Nations Records
o Multitone Records
o Pinnacle Records
o Scotti Brothers Records
o Silvertone Records
o Verity Records
o Volcano Entertainment
o Zoo Entertainment
o X-Cell Records

BMG Music Publishing[edit]

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 for €1.63 billion in 2007. Universal then folded the
company into Universal Music Publishing Group, and the BMG name was retired.[2] The
company had been headquartered at 245 Fifth Avenue in New York City, and had 36
offices in 25 countries.
Artists[edit]
BMG Music Publishing controlled over one million copyrights. Writers/artists signed to
the company included: Elvis Presley, Ann Wilson, Elia Alberghini, Anastacia, Kylie
Minogue, Jaguares, Diana Yukawa, Kent, Alcazar, Gloria Trevi, Angélica
María, Dido, Lee Ryan, Ai Uemura, Julieta Venegas, The
Troubadours, Powderfinger, Nelly, Rammstein, Milli Vanilli, Modern
Talking, Slayer, Shania Twain, Nikki Webster, Ville Valo, Christina Aguilera, Kelly
Clarkson, 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, 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.[3]
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, Elvis
Presley, 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[edit]
Through international subpublishing 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. [4]
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[edit]

Main article: 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[edit]
CD 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 in order to end price wars by discounters such as Best Buy and Target in the early
1990s.[5]
A settlement in 2002 included the 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. [6] It is
estimated customers were overcharged by nearly $500 million and up to $5 per album. [5]
 See also[edit]
 List of record labels
 Sony BMG Music Entertainment
 RCA Records
 RCA/Jive Label Group

References[edit]
1. ^ "Telecompaper".
2. ^ "Universal to buy BMG publishing". News.bbc.co.uk. 6 September 2006.
3. ^ "Imagem Music Group Buys R&H".
4. ^ "BMG Music Publishing Acquires Complete Music".  Billboard. 20 July 2006. Retrieved  30
December 2020.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b Stephen Labaton (11 May 2011). "5 Music Companies Settle Federal Case
On CD Price-Fixing". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April  2016.
6. ^ David Lieberman (30 September 2002).  "States settle CD price-fixing case". USA Today.
Retrieved 26 April  2016.

External links[edit]
 Official Bertelsmann Music Group website
o Bertelsmann Music Group (mbge.com) at the Wayback
Machine (archive index)
 Official Bertelsmann website
 BMG publishing catalog at MusicBrainz 
show
 v

 t

 e
Bertelsmann

show
 v

 t

 e
Sony

show
Authority control 
Categories: 
 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