Sony Music Masterworks (Sony Masterworks) is a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

, the result of a restructuring of

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

's classical music division. Before the acquisition of

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's shares in the former Sony BMG, the label was known as Sony BMG Masterworks. Its formation marked the merger of the Sony Classical and BMG Classics (including RCA Red Seal) product lines. Gilbert Hetherwick was the president of the label from January 2005 through November 2006, displacing Peter Gelb who was the head of Sony Classical before the merger. Hetherwick claimed (as of 2005) the label may reissue between one hundred and two hundred historical recordings per year. Hetherwick left in November 2006, to be replaced by Alex Miller, a former BMG Employee. The label owns rights to famous recordings originally issued by the

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RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

dating from the early to mid 20th century, by artists such as

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Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

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, Mario Lanza, Fritz Reiner, Artur Rubinstein,

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, Vladimir Horowitz, Eugene Ormandy and Van Cliburn as well as from more recent performers such as Yo-Yo Ma, and Joshua Bell. It is also responsible for Sony BMG's immense archives of film scores (including ''

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'', '' The Phantom of the Opera'', ''

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'' among others). Sony Masterworks maintains the archive of theater soundtracks, via its Masterworks Broadway imprint. It issues jazz recordings through its

Okeh Records Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

imprint. Sony Masterworks also handles the

Portrait Records Portrait Records was a sister label of Epic Records and later of Columbia Records. Notable artists Cyndi Lauper and Sade signed with Portrait, but their contracts were absorbed by Epic after that incarnation of the label was shuttered. Histo ...

and Flying Buddha Records imprints. In July 2019, Masterworks acquired the soundtrack label Milan Records. The merged label's name echoes the moniker used by Sony Classical's predecessor, Columbia Masterworks (later CBS Masterworks). The name was changed when CBS sold its records division to Sony in the late 1980s. Sony Masterworks has several imprints, used for newer recordings on its own imprints, and compilations and reissues for releases in conjunction with

Legacy Recordings Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 2 ...

. In November 2022, it was announced Sony Music Masterworks had acquired a majority stake in the

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

-based concert promotion, talent management, events and production company, MAC Global.

References

Sony BMG announces new classical division
* Kozinn, A. (2005, April 12). In restructuring, Sony BMG introduces classical label. In ''The New York Times, CLIV'', B1, B7.

External links

*
Sony Masterworks Broadway Official Site

Sony Masterworks Official Blog

Sony Masterworks Podcasts
{{Authority control American record labels Classical music record labels Jazz record labels Musical theatre record labels Sony Music Soundtrack record labels

See also

References

External links