Bertelsmann Music Group

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.

Acquisition

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.

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

Now part of Sony Music Entertainment after the buyout of Bertelsmann AG's 50% stake in Sony BMG.

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

BMG Music Publishing

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. The company had been headquartered at 245 Fifth Avenue in New York City, and had 36 offices in 25 countries.

Artists

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

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