media big3

THE MUSIC INDUSTRY:THE BIG THREE

• SONY BMG• UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP• WARNER MUSIC GROUP

SONY BMG• Holds a 25% share of the

music market.• Born out of the merger of

two music industry giants, Sony Music and BMG Music.

• The merger became legal in August 2004, getting there was a battle.

• The labels faced charges of violation and anti-trust laws.

• Independent record labels in most major markets banded together to protest the merger.

• After the merger was accepted, Sony and BMG each held a 50% stake in the company.

• Sony BMG was forced to pay a fine of $10million for being found guilty of engaging in Payola by the state of New York in June 2005.

• One bulk of the charges was the payment for playing Jessica Simpson tracks.

• They ran fake contests to cover up their payola.

Sony BMG has office in more than 30 countries worldwide and several thousand employees.

SONY BMG LABELS EPIC JIVE COLUMBIA RCA ARISTA LAFACE ZOMBA MUSIC GROUP SOSO DEF LEGACY

J RECORDS RED MUSIC

DISTRIBUTION INDEPENDIENTE GOOD MUSIC NICK RECORDS WIND UP RECORDS

NB : LABELS IN RED FONT ARE INDIE LABELS

SONY BMG ARTISTS BRITNEY SPEARS JESSICA SIMPSON CELINE DION FRANZ FERDINAND

THE FRAY BELLE AND SEBASTIAN JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE KELIS

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP• Owned by Vivendi SA• Company headquarters: -SANTA MONICA -CALIFORNIA -NEW YORK• Was an extension of the

Universal Pictures Group, one of the most successful movie studios in Hollywood.

• Was the label on which Universal Pictures would release soundtrack from their films.

• Vivendi took over ownership of the label in February,2006.

• Top selling label.• Owns well over 100 other

labels.

• Got caught up in the Payola investigation launched in 2005.

• Paid a $12million fine.• Paid overhead costs because of

some radio stations, bogus song requests and hotel bill paid for a DJ.

RECOGNISED SUBSDARY LABELS

• INTERSCOPE • GEFFEN

• MOTOWN

• DEF JAM

• ISLAND

• SO SO DEF

• ROC-A-FELLA

• VERVE

UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP ARTISTS

GWEN STEFANI

50 CENTMARIAH CAREY

U2

KANYE WEST

WARNER MUSIC GROUP• Chairman of label is Edgar

Bronfman, Jr.• Company headquarters in NY• Got it’s start as a branch of a

movie studio• Label started in 1958 for

releasing soundtracks attached to their motion pictures.

• They acquired Atlantic Records label in 1968 and shortly bought Elektra Records.

• Changed their name to Warner Communications but became better known in the industry as WEA(Warner Elektra Atlantic).

• Merged with the Time corporation in 1987 forming Time Warner.

• Time Warner sold Warner Music for $2.3billion in 2003.

• Affiliated the most powerful publishing companies in the world, Warner Chappell Music.

• Warner Chappell was also founded by Warner Bros movie studio, who started the company to cut down on the fill music licensing costs.

WARNER MUSIC LABELSATLANTIC RECORDS

BAD BOYROADRUNNER RECORDSEAST WEST RECORDS

RHINO RECORDS SUB POP RECORDS

RYKODISC RECORDS REPRISE RECORDS