Bertelsmann Music GroupBertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of German media company Bertelsmann. It relaunched as BMG Rights Management after the sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. Although established in 1987, BMG 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.
Milli VanilliMilli Vanilli () was a pop act from Munich, Germany, founded in 1988 by the producer Frank Farian. They combined pop, rap, R&B, disco and dance music. Farian hired Brad Howell, John Davis, Charles Shaw, Jodie Rocco and Linda Rocco to sing on the records, and had Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus dance and lip-sync for performances.
Sony MusicAmerican multinational music recording companySony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American, Japanese-owned, multinational music company owned by Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the publishing division, Sony Music Publishing. Founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation, it was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1938 and renamed Columbia Recording Corporation.
Columbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Music Group, an American subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. Founded on January 15, 1889, Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records after Edison Phonograph Company.Record label"Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it.
Columbia PicturesAmerican film production and distribution companyColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc., also referred to as Columbia Pictures, is an American filmproduction and distribution company. It is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the major film studios and a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation.RCA RecordsRCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Music Group, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's flagship labels, alongside RCA's former longtime rival Columbia Records. The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop, classical, rock, hip hop, afrobeat, electronic, R&B, blues, jazz, and country.
Clive DavisClive Jay Davis (April 4, 1932 – June 22, 2026) was an American record executive, A&R executive, record producer and lawyer. He won four Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer in 2000. From 1967 to 1973, Davis was the president of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1974 through 2000 until founding J Records.
BertelsmannGerman media conglomerateBertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Bertelsmann (German pronunciation:), is a German privatemultinationalconglomeratecorporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates and is active in the service sector and education. Bertelsmann was founded as a publishing house by Carl Bertelsmann in 1835.
Epic RecordsEpic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Music Group, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953, but later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of genres, including pop, R&B, rock, and hip-hop.Sony Music GroupSony Music Group (SMG) is an American, Japanese-owned, multinational music company which is a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. Sony Music Group is one of the "Big Three" major music companies. It was established on August 1, 2019, with headquarters in New York City and an office in Culver City, California. It controls Sony's entire music business outside of Japan through its American subsidiaries Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Music Publishing.
SonyJapanese multinational corporationSony Group Corporation is a Japanese multinationalconglomerate headquartered at the Sony City building in Minato, Tokyo. The Sony Group is a highly diversified global conglomerate with businesses spanning video games, music, film and television, consumer electronics, imaging and sensing, semiconductors, financial services and others. Sony was founded in 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. by Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.