Main Companies - Music Label Research

Universal Music Group (UMG)

Universal Music Group (UMG) is  an American multinational music company. UMG corporate headquarters are located in California,United States.It is the largest of the "big three" record companies by its leading market share and its multitude of global operations. UMG is a wholly owned subsidiary of French media conglomerate Vivendi. A wholly owned subsidiary is a company that is completely owned by another company. The company that owns the subsidiary is called the parent company or holding company.


UMG own Universal Music Publishing Group, which became the world's largest publishing group  following the 2007 acquisition of BMG Music Publishing. "Universal Music" was attached to Universal Pictures. Universal Pictures is an American film studio owned by Comcast.

Warner Music Group (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. Along with UMG above. 

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.

Sony Music Entertainment (SME)

Sony Music Entertainment (Sony Music/ SME) is an American music company owned by Sony. The company was first founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation and renamed Columbia Recording Corporation in 1938, following its purchase by the Columbia Broadcasting System. In 1966, the company became CBS Records. Sony Corporation bought the company in 1987 and renamed it Sony Music Entertainment in 1991.

In 2004, Sony and Bertelsmann established a 50-50 joint venture called Sony BMG Music Entertainment and transferred businesses of Sony Music Entertainment. Sony Music Entertainment is one of the "big three" record companies, being the second largest after Universal Music Group (UMG) and ahead of Warner Music Group (WMG).