Universal Music Group N.V.
(often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
–
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
multinational
music corporation under
Dutch law
The Netherlands uses civil law. The role of case law is small in theory, although in practice it is impossible to understand the law in many fields without also taking into account the relevant case law. The Dutch system of law is based on the Fr ...
. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in
Hilversum
Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...
, Netherlands and its operational headquarters are located in
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the "
Big Three" record labels, along with
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 Entertainment ...
and
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
.
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021.
Pershing Square Holdings
Pershing Square Holdings is a large British investment trust dedicated to long-term investments in North American companies. Established in 2012, the company is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The chairman is Anne Farlow. The fund is managed ...
later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its
IPO
An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
on the
Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The company went public on September 21, 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion.
In 2019, ''
Fast Company
''Fast Company'' is a monthly American business magazine published in print and online that focuses on technology, business, and design. It publishes six print issues per year.
History
''Fast Company'' was launched in November 1995 by Alan Web ...
'' named Universal Music Group the most innovative music company and listed UMG among the Top 50 most innovative companies in the world
and "amid the music industry's digital transformation, Universal is redefining what a modern label should look like."
UMG has signed licensing agreements with more than 400 platforms worldwide.
History
Early history
The company's origins go back to the formation of the American branch of
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...
in September 1934 and its name and company logo originates from
Carl Laemmle
Carl Laemmle (; born Karl Lämmle; January 17, 1867 – September 24, 1939) was a film producer and the co-founder and, until 1934, owner of Universal Pictures. He produced or worked on over 400 films.
Regarded as one of the most important o ...
's
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
. Although the movie studio and the music business share a common history, today the former is part of
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primari ...
and the latter an independent commercial entity. The Decca Record Co. Ltd. of England spun American Decca off in 1939.
MCA Inc.
MCA Inc. (originally an initialism for Music Corporation of America) was an American media conglomerate founded in 1924. Originally a talent agency with artists in the music business as clients, the company became a major force in the film ind ...
merged with American Decca in 1962.
In November 1990, Japanese multinational conglomerate
Matsushita Electric agreed to acquire MCA for $6.59 billion. In 1995,
Seagram
The Seagram Company Ltd. (which traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Originally a distiller of Canadian whisky based in Waterloo, Ontario, it was once (in the 1990s) the lar ...
acquired 80 percent of MCA from Matsushita. On December 9, 1996, the company was renamed
Universal Studios, Inc., and its music division was renamed Universal Music Group; MCA Records continued as a label within the Universal Music Group. In May 1998, Seagram purchased
PolyGram
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
and merged it with Universal Music Group in early 1999.
2004: Consolidating into a Vivendi subsidiary
In May 2004, Universal Music Group was cast under separate management from Universal Studios, when
French media conglomerate
Vivendi
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
sold 80% of the latter to
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
, who subsequently merged it with
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
to form
NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States.
NBCUniversal is primari ...
. This came two months after the separation of
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
from
Time Warner
Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States.
It was originally established in 1972 by ...
. In February 2006, Vivendi (which own UMG since 2000) purchased the remaining 20 percent of UMG from Matsushita Electric.
On September 6, 2006, Vivendi announced its €1.63 billion ($2.4 billion) purchase of
BMG Music Publishing
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 co ...
; after receiving European Union regulatory approval, the acquisition was completed on June 25, 2007.
2007–2012: UMG acquisitions and EMI purchase
In June 2007, UMG acquired Sanctuary, which eventually became UMG's entertainment merchandising and brand management division, Bravado. The company represents artists such as Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Kanye West, and has partnered with retailers including
Barneys
Barneys New York Inc. is an American luxury brand founded in New York City in 1923. It has introduced major designers including Armani, Azzedine Alaïa, Comme des Garçons, Christian Louboutin, and Ermenegildo Zegna to the US market.
Barneys N ...
,
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. Bloomingdale, Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the bus ...
and
Selfridges
Selfridges, also known as Selfridges & Co., is a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom that is operated by Selfridges Retail Limited, part of the Selfridges Group of department stores. It was founded by Harry Gordon Selfridg ...
.
In 2008, Universal Music Group agreed to make its catalog available to
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
, then a new streaming service, for use outside the U.S. on a limited basis.
Doug Morris
Doug Morris (born November 23, 1938) is an American record executive. He is the current chairman of 12Tone Music Group. He previously served as chairman and CEO of the Universal Music Group from 1995 to 2011 and Sony Music Entertainment from 20 ...
stepped down from his position as CEO on January 1, 2011. Former chairman/CEO of Universal Music International
Lucian Grainge
Sir Lucian Charles Grainge (born 29 February 1960) is the chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Music Group. Grainge has worked in the music business for his entire career. ''Billboard'' magazine named Grainge as the most powerful ...
was promoted to CEO of the company. Grainge later replaced him as chairman on March 9, 2011. Morris became the next chairman of
Sony Music Entertainment
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 Entertainment ...
on July 1, 2011. With Grainge's appointment as CEO at UMG,
Max Hole
Christopher Charles Maximilian Hole CBE (born 26 May 1951) is chairman and CEO of UMGI (International division of Universal Music Group) since 1 January 2013. He previously held the role of chief operating officer for UMGI (International division ...
was promoted to COO of UMGI, effective July 1, 2010. Starting in 2011 UMG's
Interscope Geffen A&M Records
Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA), is an American umbrella label owned by Universal Music Group, consisting of record labels Interscope Records, Geffen Records, and A&M Records.
History
Interscope Geffen A&M Records was established in 1999, ...
began signing contestants from ''
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
''. In January 2011, UMG announced it was donating 200,000 master recordings from the 1920s to 1940s to the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
for preservation.
In 2011, EMI agreed to sell its recorded music operations to Universal Music Group for £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion) and its music publishing operations to a
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...
-led consortium for $2.2 billion. Among the other companies that had competed for the recorded music business was
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
which was reported to have made a $2 billion bid.
IMPALA opposed the merger. In March 2012, the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
opened an investigation into the acquisition The EU asked rivals and consumer groups whether the deal would result in higher prices and shut out competitors.
On September 21, 2012, the sale of EMI to UMG was approved in the European Union and the United States by the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
and
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
respectively. However, the European Commission approved the deal only under the condition the merged company divest one third of its total operations to other companies with a proven track record in the music industry. UMG divested
Mute Records,
Parlophone
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...
,
Roxy Recordings
King Island Roxystars Recordings AB, more known as Roxy Recordings, or Roxy is an independent record label based in Kungsholmen, Stockholm, Sweden where their office is the former site of Cheiron Studios and its successor The Location. It was ...
,
MPS Records
MPS Records was a German jazz record company and label founded in 1968 by Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer. MPS stands for "Musik Produktion Schwarzwald" (Music Production Black Forest).
History
Originally based in Villingen, MPS was founded as the su ...
,
Cooperative Music
IASCooperative, formerly Cooperative Music, often referred to as Co-Op, is a group of indie labels based in the UK but that have offices around the world, owned by IAS
Through their partner labels IASCooperative work with artists such as iama ...
,
Now That's What I Call Music!
''Now That's What I Call Music!'' (often shortened to ''Now!'') is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Sony Music and Universal Music (Universal/Sony Music) which began in 1983. Spinoff ...
,
Jazzland, Universal Greece,
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...
,
Chrysalis Records,
EMI Classics
EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded mus ...
,
Virgin Classics
Virgin Classics was a record label founded in 1988 as part of Richard Branson's Virgin Records.
The unit, along with EMI Classics, was acquired by Universal Music in 2012 as part of the takeover of the EMI Group, however the terms of the Europea ...
, and
EMI's European regional labels
This is a list of labels that were owned or distributed by EMI before its dismantling in 2013.
Blue Note Label Group
*Angel Records
**Seraphim Records
**Guardian Records
*Blue Note Records
**Metro Blue
**Pacific Jazz Records, Pacific Jazz/World Pa ...
to comply with this condition. UMG retained
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
(formerly of Parlophone) and
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
(formerly of Chrysalis). The Beatles catalogue was transferred to UMG's newly formed
Calderstone Productions
Calderstone Productions is the London-based subsidiary of the Universal Music Group that administers the Beatles' recorded music output that was originally owned by EMI and released on EMI's Parlophone Records (in the United Kingdom)/Capitol Recor ...
, while Williams' catalogue was transferred to
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
.
2012–2017: EMI integration and divisions reorganization
Universal Music Group completed their acquisition of
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
on September 28, 2012. In November 2012,
Steve Barnett was appointed chairman and CEO of
Capitol Music Group. He formerly served as COO of
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. In compliance the conditions of the European Commission after purchase of EMI, Universal Music Group sold the Mute catalogue to the German-based
BMG Rights Management
BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label.
BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its ...
on December 22, 2012. Two months later, BMG acquired
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...
for €50 million ($58 million).
On February 8, 2013,
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...
acquired the Parlophone Label Group (consisting of
Parlophone Records
Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...
,
Chrysalis Records,
EMI Classics
EMI Classics was a record label founded by Thorn EMI in 1990 to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogues for internationally distributed classical music releases. After Thorn EMI demerged in 1996, its recorded mus ...
,
Virgin Classics
Virgin Classics was a record label founded in 1988 as part of Richard Branson's Virgin Records.
The unit, along with EMI Classics, was acquired by Universal Music in 2012 as part of the takeover of the EMI Group, however the terms of the Europea ...
and EMI Records' Belgian, Czech, Danish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Slovak and Swedish divisions) for $765 million (£487 million). Later in February,
Sony Music Entertainment
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 Entertainment ...
acquired UMG's European share in ''
Now That's What I Call Music
''Now That's What I Call Music!'' (often shortened to ''Now!'') is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Sony Music and Universal Music (Universal/Sony Music) which began in 1983. Spinoff ...
'' for approximately $60 million.
Play It Again Sam acquired Co-Operative Music for £500,000 in March 2013. With EMI's absorption into Universal Music complete, its British operations consist of five label units: Island, Polydor, Decca, Virgin EMI and Capitol. In the Greek market, as part of its divesture plans, Universal Music retained Minos EMI and sold Universal Music Greece to Greek investors who renamed it Cobalt Music.
Edel AG
Edel SE & Co. KGaA is a German independent media company based in Hamburg. As a label and publishing group, it also operates marketing and sales for artists and smaller music labels. The repertoire of the Edel labels includes dance, rock and po ...
acquired the MPS catalogue from Universal in January 2014.
On March 20, 2013, UMG announced the worldwide extension of their exclusive distribution deal with the
Disney Music Group
Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording arm of Disney Platform Distribution, a division of The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The division's subsidiaries consist of two owned record ...
, excluding Japan. As a result of this deal DMG's labels and artists have access to UMG's roster of producers and songwriters on a worldwide basis. The exclusive deal also saw UMG granted unlimited access to all rights pertaining to Disney's 85-year back catalog of soundtracks and albums.
On April 2, 2013, the gospel music divisions of
Motown Records
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...
and EMI merged to form a new label called Motown Gospel. In May 2013, Japanese company
SoftBank
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The Group primarily invests in companies operating in technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the ...
offered $8.5 billion to Vivendi for the acquisition of UMG, but Vivendi rejected it. In July 2018, JPMorgan said that UMG could be worth as much as $40 billion and then increased the valuation to $50 billion in 2019.
In August 2013, UMG became the first company in the US to have nine of the Top 10 songs on the digital charts, according to
SoundScan
Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
and weeks later, became the first company to hold all 10 of the Top 10 spots on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 Chart.
In September 2013, UMG received a
SAG-AFTRA
The Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA, stylized as SAG·AFTRA ) is an American labor union representing approximately 160,000 film and television actors, journalists, radio personalities, record ...
American Scene Award for the company's commitment to diversity as exemplified by its "entire catalog and roster of artists."
On April 1, 2014, Universal Music announced the disbandment of
Island Def Jam Music, one of four operational umbrella groups within Universal Music. Universal CEO
Lucian Grainge
Sir Lucian Charles Grainge (born 29 February 1960) is the chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Music Group. Grainge has worked in the music business for his entire career. ''Billboard'' magazine named Grainge as the most powerful ...
said of the closure, "No matter how much we might work to build 'IDJ' as a brand, that brand could never be as powerful as each of IDJ's constituent parts."
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
and
Def Jam
Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The ...
now operate as autonomous record labels. David Massey and Bartels, who worked respectively at Island and Def Jam Records, were named to the new record labels independently.
Barry Weiss
Barry Weiss (born February 11, 1959) is an American music executive and producer who is currently an executive with RECORDS, a label he co-founded. He got his start at Clive Calder's Jive Records before working his way up to the head of the ...
, who previously moved from
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 Entertainment ...
to lead Island Def Jam Music in 2012 when
Motown Records
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...
was incorporated into Island Def Jam, stepped down from Universal Music. Additionally, as part of the changes to the labels, Motown Records transferred to Los Angeles to become part of the
Capitol Music Group and previous Vice President Ethiopia Habtemariam was promoted to Label President for Motown Records.
Universal Music Group entered into film and TV production with the 2014 purchase of
Eagle Rock Entertainment
Eagle Rock Entertainment is an international producer and distributor of music films and programming. It operates two record labels (Eagle Records and Armoury Records), a full-service production company (Eagle Rock Productions) and a music publis ...
. UMG's first major film production was ''
Amy'', which won an Oscar for Best Documentary, while taking part in ''
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck'' and ''
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week'' documentaries. In January 2016, UMG hired David Blackman from Laurence Mark Production where he was president of production as head of film and television development and production, and theater producer Scott Landis as special advisor on theatrical development and production. UMG Executive Vice President Michele Anthony and Universal Music Publishing Group Chairman and CEO Jody Gerson have oversight of the pair. On February 11, 2017,
PolyGram Entertainment
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...
was relaunched as a film and television unit of Universal Music Group under David Blackman.
In 2015, UMG's
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
earned all the major
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
for the year, with
Sam Smith
Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...
receiving
Best New Artist
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...
,
Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...
and
Song of the Year awards and
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...
winning
Album of the Year.
In March 2016, Universal Music Canada donated the archives of EMI Music Canada to the
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...
.
In May 2016, UMG acquired Famehouse, a digital marketing agency. That same year,
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
and the
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees
were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...
both signed to UMG's Capitol Records, including their catalog releases.
In April 2017, UMG signed a new multi-year licensing agreement with
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
, the world's leading streaming service, and in May 2017, UMG signed a deal with
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
, China's biggest gaming and social media firm.
In July 2017, "
Despacito
"Despacito" (; "Slowly") is a song by Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi featuring Puerto Rican rapper and singer Daddy Yankee as the lead single from Fonsi's 2019 studio album '' Vida''. Released on January 12, 2017, the song was written by Fonsi ...
" by
Luis Fonsi
Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero (born April 15, 1978), known by his stage name Luis Fonsi (), is a Puerto Rican singer. He is known for multiple songs, one of them being " Despacito" featuring rapper Daddy Yankee.
Fonsi received his first ...
,
Daddy Yankee
Ramón Luis Ayala Rodríguez (born February 3, 1976), known professionally as Daddy Yankee, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, composer, and actor. Known as the " King of Reggaetón" by music critics and fans alike, he is the artist who coined ...
and featuring
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...
, became the most streamed track of all time. By 2018, the song had broken several ''
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'', including Most Weeks at Number 1 on Hot Latin Songs, Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart and most-viewed video online.
In August 2017, UMG and Beyond International Group, Grace/Beyond agreed to develop three new music-based television series, ''27'', ''Melody Island'' and ''Mixtape''. ''27'' would focus on musicians at the age of 27, an age at which 27 Club, several iconic musicians died. ''Melody Island'' was an animated series based on tropical island music with live craft segments. ''Mixtape'' had twelve episodes, with each episode connected to a song.
In October 2017, UMG announced the launch of its Accelerator Engagement Network, an initiative aimed to help develop music-based startups around the world.
In November 2017, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, USC Annenberg announced UMG's partnership in the "Annenberg Inclusion Initiative", becoming the first music company to do so. The initiative is meant to create change for representation of women and underrepresented racial and ethnic groups in the media industry.
In December 2017, Universal Music Group acquired Stiff Records, Stiff and ZTT Records, ZTT labels, along with Perfect Songs Publishing, from Trevor Horn's SPZ Group;
BMG Rights Management
BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label.
BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its ...
, through Union Square Music subsidiary, retained its back catalogues. That same month, UMG signed a global, multi-year agreement with Facebook becoming the first of The "
Big Three" to license its recorded music and publishing catalogs for video and other social experiences across Facebook, Instagram and Oculus (brand), Oculus. Sony and Warner signed similar contracts with Facebook the following year. Furthermore, on December 19, 2017, UMG signed a multi-year licensing agreement with YouTube.
2018–present: Continued growth and public trading
In June 2018, Universal Music Japan announced an exclusive license agreement with
Disney Music Group
Disney Music Group (DMG) is the music recording arm of Disney Platform Distribution, a division of The Walt Disney Company. It is located at the studio's headquarters in Burbank, California. The division's subsidiaries consist of two owned record ...
. With the addition of Japan, UMG distributes releases from Disney Music Group globally.
In July, The Rolling Stones signed a worldwide agreement with UMG covering the band's recorded music and audio-visual catalogues, archival support, global merchandising and brand management. That same month, Vivendi announced it would explore selling as much as half of Universal Music Group to one or more investors.
In Nielsen Holdings, Nielsen's 2018 US Music Mid-Year report, UMG made history with eight of the Top 10 artists, including all of the top five, as well as all of the top eight artists ranked by on-demand audio streams. In August 2018, UMG announced a strategic expansion in Africa, opening an office in Abidjan to oversee French-speaking Africa, and also unveiling a Universal Music Nigera office in Lagos to focus on signing local artists and taking them global. In September 2018, singer Elton John signed a global partnership agreement with UMG across recorded music, music publishing, brand management, and licensing rights.
On November 19, 2018, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift signed a new multi-album deal with UMG, in the United States, her future releases will be promoted under the Republic Records imprint. In addition to the promised ownership of her master recordings, UMG agreed to, in case it sells portions of its stake in
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
, distribute proceeds among its artists and make them non-recoupable.
In December 2018, Queen (band), Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" became the most-streamed song from the pre-streaming era and the most-streamed classic rock song of all time. In February 2019, UMG fully acquired music distributor INgrooves.
UMG was named to ''Fast Company's'' annual list of the World's 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2019, the first major music company to be included on the list in a decade. UMG is also ranked number 1 in the music category.
UMG was named by ''Forbes'' as one of America's Best Midsize Employers in 2019.
In June, YouTube and UMG announced that they were upgrading more than 1,000 popular music videos to high definition, releasing them through 2020.
In August 2019,
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
and
Vivendi
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
started negotiation to sell 10% Vivendi's stake of Universal Music to Tencent. The deal is expected to be of $3.36 billion.
In February 2020,
Vivendi
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
announced it was planning to go public in an IPO within three years.
The company and Lego Group announced a music product partnership on April 26, 2020.
On June 16, 2020, Universal rebranded Virgin EMI Records as EMI Records and named Rebecca Allen (former president of UMG's Decca label) as the label's president, bringing back the EMI brand. The same day, UMG announced launch of its new affiliates in Morocco and Israel.
In July 2020, UMG signed a new multi-year licensing agreement with
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
to provide value for artists and immense experiences for music fans.
In June 2021, Pershing Square Holdings, Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, a special-purpose acquisition company run by investor Bill Ackman, announced it would acquire 10 percent of UMG before it went public, in a $4 billion transaction. The deal collapsed in July 2021 due to regulatory concerns, and it was announced that Ackman's
Pershing Square Holdings
Pershing Square Holdings is a large British investment trust dedicated to long-term investments in North American companies. Established in 2012, the company is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The chairman is Anne Farlow. The fund is managed ...
would complete the purchase instead.
In September 2021, initial public offering, IPO,
Euronext Amsterdam announces an introduction price of €18,50 and
Vivendi
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
set an initial valuation for UMG at €33 billion ($38.3 billion). Vivendi distributed 60% of its UMG shares and retaining 10%.
The family of French businessman Vincent Bolloré is revealed as the majority shareholder with 28% of UMG shares, through its holding company Bolloré (18%) and its subsidiary
Vivendi
Vivendi SE is a French mass media holding company headquartered in Paris. Widely known as the owner of Gameloft, Groupe Canal+, Havas, Editis, Prisma Media, Vivendi Village and Dailymotion, the company has activities in television, film, video ...
(10%), headed by his son Yannick Bolloré.
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
emerged as UMG's biggest corporate shareholder with 20% of shares.
Pershing Square Holdings
Pershing Square Holdings is a large British investment trust dedicated to long-term investments in North American companies. Established in 2012, the company is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The chairman is Anne Farlow. The fund is managed ...
held 10% of UMG shares. In its IPO, UMG hits €54 billion ($62.6 billion) valuation which is over a third bigger than initial valuation.
In January 2022, UMG acquired the Icelandic record label Alda Music, which owned the rights to nearly 80 percent of all music released in Iceland.
In February 2022, Universal Music Group announced a partnership with Curio, an NFT platform, to create NFT collections for its record labels and artists.
On May 31, 2022, Universal Music Group announced Baa1/BBB long-term credit ratings from Moody's and S&P.
In October 2022, Mercedes-Benz launched a new in-car audio collaboration with Apple Music and Universal Music Group. With this new audio standard, UMG allows its artists to base their song approval process on how the final mix sounds in a Mercedes‑Benz and introduced the “Approved in a Mercedes‑Benz” label as a standard.
Labels
Vevo
Universal Music Group co-developed with Google Vevo, a site designed for music videos inspired by Hulu, Hulu.com, which similarly allows free ad-supported streaming of videos and other music content.
On May 24, 2018, Vevo announced that it would no longer continue distributing videos to Vevo, Vevo.com, instead opting to primarily focus on YouTube syndication.
Locations
Los Angeles metropolitan area
Santa Monica
![Universalmusicpublishinggroup](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Universalmusicpublishinggroup.jpg)
UMG's operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica. Interscope-Geffen-A&M and Universal Music Enterprises (UME), the company's catalog division, are headquartered in Santa Monica.
Def Jam
Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The ...
, Island Records, Island and Republic Records also maintain offices there. UMG chairman & CEO
Lucian Grainge
Sir Lucian Charles Grainge (born 29 February 1960) is the chairman and chief executive officer of Universal Music Group. Grainge has worked in the music business for his entire career. ''Billboard'' magazine named Grainge as the most powerful ...
is based at the company's Santa Monica offices. Universal Music Publishing is also headquartered in the city.
Hollywood
Capitol Music Group is headquartered at the Capitol Records Building in Hollywood. Universal Music Latin Entertainment is also headquartered in Hollywood.
Woodland Hills
Universal Music Group operates a secondary office in Woodland Hills that includes finance, royalty, and operations functions.
Miami
Universal Music Latin Entertainment is headquartered in Miami, Florida.
Nashville
Universal Music Group Nashville is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee.
New York City
UMG has offices in New York City where
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
, Def Jam Recordings, Republic Records, Verve Label Group, and Spinefarm Records are headquartered.
Madrid
Universal Music Spain is based in Madrid, Spain.
London
Universal Music Group Global (formerly known as ''Universal Music Group International (UMGI)'') operates offices in London.
Berlin
![Berlin osthafen eierkuehlhaus 20050203 p1000092](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Berlin_osthafen_eierkuehlhaus_20050203_p1000092.jpg)
Universal Music GmbH, the German subsidiary, is headquartered in Berlin. It moved in 2002 from Hamburg to the district Friedrichshain at the river Spree (river), Spree.
Warsaw
Universal Music Group's Universal Music Polska is located in Warsaw.
Toronto
Universal Music Group's Universal Music Canada is located in Toronto.
Japan
Universal Music Japan is headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo.
Other locations
UMG operates in more than 60 territories around the world including Australia, Central America, Brazil, France, India, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, New Zealand, Russia, Ukraine, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and more.
Company's legal headquarters are in the Netherlands. Universal Music Group's largest corporate shareholder,
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
, is headquartered in Shenzhen, China. Tencent's ultimate largest controlling corporate shareholder, Naspers, is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa.
On March 8, 2022, UMG 2022 boycott of Russia and Belarus, suspended all its operations in Russia, 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, following the country's invasion of the Ukraine.
Financial information
Shareholders
In January 2022, the company's shareholding is:
* Vincent Bolloré: 28%
** Bolloré, Bolloré SE: 18%
** Vivendi, Vivendi SE: 10%
*
Tencent
Tencent Holdings Ltd. () is a Chinese multinational technology and entertainment conglomerate and holding company headquartered in Shenzhen. It is one of the highest grossing multimedia companies in the world based on revenue. It is also the w ...
: 20%
** Concerto Investment BV: 10%
** Scherzo Investment BV: 10%
*
Pershing Square Holdings
Pershing Square Holdings is a large British investment trust dedicated to long-term investments in North American companies. Established in 2012, the company is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The chairman is Anne Farlow. The fund is managed ...
: 10%
Legal issues
CD price fixing
In 2000, music companies including UMG entered into consent agreements with the
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
,
with no admission of liability,
whereby they agreed to discontinue the use of Minimum advertised price, Minimum Advertised Price programs under which subsidized cooperative advertising was provided to retailers that agreed to adhere to minimum advertised pricing.
In 2002, a similar settlement was entered into with music publishers and distributors
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 Entertainment ...
, Warner Music Group, Warner Music, Bertelsmann Music Group, EMI, EMI Music and Universal Music Group and certain retailers, without admission of liability or wrongdoing, with various states. In settlement of the claim, the companies collectively agreed to pay a $67.4 million fine and distribute $75.7 million in Compact disc, CDs to public and non-profit groups.
It was estimated that consumers were overcharged by $500 million and up to $5 per album.
Payola
In May 2006, an investigation led by then New York Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, concluded with a determination that Universal Music Group bribery, bribed radio stations to play songs from Ashlee Simpson, Brian McKnight, Big Tymers, Nick Lachey, Lindsay Lohan and other performers under Universal labels. The company paid $12 million to the state in settlement.
YouTube
In 2007, with the help of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Stephanie Lenz sued UMG's publishing company for allegedly improperly requesting that, pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, YouTube remove a 29-second home video in which Lenz's child danced to a recording of Prince (musician), Prince's song "Let's Go Crazy". After years of litigation, the suit settled in 2018, prior to the court holding a trial on whether UMG had a subjective belief that the video was infringing and not fair to use before sending its request to YouTube. In April 2016, UMG had the audio muted of a video clip showing Katherine Jenkins singing the British national anthem. They claimed that the recording of "God Save the Queen" was copyrighted, and YouTube initially complied with this request, but subsequently offered the video with the original audio track.
Imeem
In December 2007, UMG announced a deal with Imeem which allows users of the social network to listen to any track from Universal's catalogue for free with a portion of the advertising generated by the music being shared with the record label. All traffic was redirected to Myspace, MySpace after that company acquired Imeem on December 8, 2009.
Universal archive fire (2008)
According to Jody Rosen of ''The New York Times'', the fire which swept through Universal Studios Hollywood on June 1, 2008, caused "the biggest disaster in the history of the music business".
In space rented from NBCUniversal, according to an official document marked "Confidential", the fire destroyed at least 118,230 "assets" (master recordings), or about 500,000 song titles, owned by UMG. "The vault housed tape masters for Decca Records, Decca, the pop, jazz and classical powerhouse; it housed master tapes for the storied blues label Chess Records, Chess; it housed masters for Impulse! Records, Impulse!, the groundbreaking jazz label. The vault held masters for the MCA, ABC, A&M, Geffen and Interscope labels; as well as some smaller subsidiary labels. Nearly all of these masters—in some cases, the complete discographies of entire record labels—were wiped out in the fire."
In a statement issued on June 11, 2019, UMG said ''The New York Times'' article contained "numerous inaccuracies, misleading statements, contradictions and fundamental misunderstandings of the scope of the incident and affected assets."
Following the publication of the ''New York Times'' story, Questlove of The Roots confirmed that the master tapes for two of the band's albums, including unused material and multi-track recordings, were lost in the fire. Similarly, Nirvana (band), Nirvana bassist Krist Novoselic said he believed the masters for the band's 1991 album ''Nevermind'' were "gone forever" as a result of the fire. Representatives for R.E.M. announced they would investigate the effects the fire may have had on the band's archival materials, while Hole (band), Hole, Steely Dan, Rosanne Cash and Geoff Downes made statements on their possible losses from the fire.
A representative for Eminem confirmed that the rapper's master recordings were digitized months before the fire, but could not confirm whether the physical master reels of his recordings were affected. UMG archivist Patrick Kraus assured that the Impulse! Records, John Coltrane, Muddy Waters, Ahmad Jamal, Nashboro Records, and Chess Records masters survived the fire and were still in Universal's archive.
Howard King filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on June 21, 2019, on behalf of Soundgarden, Hole (band), Hole, Steve Earle, the estate of Tupac Shakur and a former wife of Tom Petty that seeks class action status for artists whose master recordings were believed to have been destroyed in the Universal Studios fire.
Megaupload
On December 9, 2011, Megaupload published a music video titled: "The Mega Song", showing artists including Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys and will.i.am endorsing the company. The music video was also uploaded to YouTube, but was removed following a takedown request by UMG. Megaupload said that the video contained no infringing content, commenting: "we have signed agreements with every featured artist for this campaign". Megaupload requested an apology from UMG, and filed a lawsuit against the company in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, on December 12, 2011.[Megaupload threatens to sue Universal over YouTube video](_blank)
''The Guardian'' (London), December 13, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2011.[Megaupload to Sue Universal, Joins Fight Against SOPA](_blank)
December 12, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2011.
UMG denied that the takedown was ordered under the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and said that the takedown was "pursuant to the UMG-YouTube agreement," which gives UMG "the right to block or remove user-posted videos through YouTube's CMS (Content Management System) based on a number of contractually specified criteria."[UMG claims "right to block or remove" YouTube videos it doesn't own](_blank)
Ars Technica, December 16, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2011. The video was subsequently returned to YouTube, with the reasons for the UMG takedown remaining unclear.[File-Sharing Company Sues Record Label, for a Change](_blank)
''The New York Times'', December 13, 2011. Retrieved December 16, 2011. Lawyers for will.i.am initially claimed that he had never agreed to the project, and on December 12, he denied any involvement in the takedown notice.[UMG, MegaUpload Case Gets Even Stranger; Will.i.am Says He Didn't Authorize A Takedown](_blank)
Techdirt. December 15, 2011. Retrieved December 17, 2011. Megaupload dismissed its case against UMG in January 2012.
Copyright termination lawsuit
On February 5, 2019, John Waite and Joe Ely filed a class-action lawsuit against UMG claiming the company is violating their right to terminate grants of copyright after 35 years in accordance with copyright law of the United States by ignoring Notices of Termination. On May 3, 2019, UMG filed a motion to dismiss the case, stating the Notices of Termination were not valid because the songs were not grants of copyright but work for hire, works for hire.
See also
* List of record labels
* List of Universal Music Group artists
* List of Universal Music Group labels
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control, state=expanded
Universal Music Group,
1934 establishments in California
2021 initial public offerings
American companies established in 1934
Companies based in Santa Monica, California
Companies listed on Euronext Amsterdam
Corporate spin-offs
Entertainment companies based in California
Entertainment companies established in 1934
IFPI members
Record label distributors
Recording Industry Association of America
Tencent
Former Vivendi subsidiaries
Vivendi
Bolloré