Universal Music Group
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| Type | Subsidiary of Vivendi |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music & Entertainment |
| Founded | 1934 (as Decca Records USA) 1989 (MCA Music Entertainment Group formed) 1996 (first UMG incarnation) 1998 (second UMG incarnation) |
| Headquarters | New York City, NY, United States |
| Key people | Doug Morris: Chairman and co-CEO Lucian Grainge: co-CEO |
| Revenue |  $6.14 billion (2007) |
| Parent | Universal (1996-2006) Vivendi (100%) |
| Subsidiaries | Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Group Distribution Interscope-Geffen-A&M Island Def Jam Music Group Universal Motown Republic Group Universal Music Group Nashville Verve Music Group Decca Label Group Universal Music Latin Entertainment Universal Music Enterprises Show Dog-Universal Music Fontana Distribution V2/Co-operative Music Polydor Records Mercury Music Group Island Records Group Universal Music TV Universal Classics and Jazz |
| Website | Universal Music |
Universal Music Group (UMG) is the largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry. It is the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations. Universal Music Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of international French media conglomerate Vivendi.
Universal Music Group owns a music publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group, which became the world's largest following the acquisition of BMG Music Publishing in May 2007.
Vivendi's headquarters are in Paris, France. The UMG global headquarters are located New York City. Other major offices are located in Universal City and Santa Monica, along with Universal Music Group Nashville in Nashville; in the UK the group has a number of offices in London and Romford, and in Japan the group has a office in Minato, Tokyo.
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History
"Universal Music" was once the music company attached to film studio Universal Pictures. Its origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in 1934.[1] The Decca Corporation of England spun American Decca off in 1946. MCA Inc. bought American Decca in 1962. The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram and merged it with Universal Music Group in 1998. However, the name first appeared in 1996 when MCA Music Entertainment Group was renamed Universal Music Group. The PolyGram acquisition included Deutsche Grammophon which traces its ancestry to Berliner Gramophone making Deutsche Grammophon UMG's oldest unit. UMG's Canadian unit traces its ancestry to a Berliner Gramophone breakaway firm the Compo Company.
With the 2004 acquisition of Vivendi's Vivendi Universal Entertainment by General Electric's NBC, Universal Music Group was separated entirely from its film studio namesake for the first time.
In February 2006, the group became 100% owned by French media conglomerate Vivendi SA when Vivendi purchased the last 20% from Matsushita, the group's sole owner from 1990 to 1995 and co-owner from 1995 to 2006.
On May 25, 2007, Vivendi completed its €1.63 billion ($2.4 billion) purchase of BMG Music Publishing, after receiving European Union regulatory approval, having announced the acquisition on September 6, 2006.[2][3]
CEO Doug Morris is planning on stepping down from his position in the summer of 2010. UMG Is expected to promote its Chairman/CEO of Universal Music International Lucian Grainge to CEO of the company next year. Morris, who turned 71 in December 2009, is not expected to retire and will likely retain his title as chairman of UMG and remains a member of Vivendi's management board.
Starting in 2011 UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records will be signing contestants from American Idol.
Labels
Artists
Multimedia content delivery
Universal Music Group co-developed Vevo, a site designed for music videos inspired by Hulu.com, which similarly, will allow for free, ad-supported streaming of music videos and other music content. The music videos are shown in better quality than the original ones on Youtube. [4]
Controversy
Payola
In May 2006, an investigation led by then New York attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, concluded with a determination that Universal Music Group 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.[5]
YouTube
In May 2007, UMG was accused of abusing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in order to squelch criticism, by forcing YouTube to remove a Michelle Malkin video critical of singer Akon.[6][7] Eventually, UMG backed off its claims after being challenged by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.[8][9] In the same year, UMG was accused of using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to indiscriminately remove content related to the artist Prince, most notably a twenty-nine second home video in which children danced to one of Prince's songs.[10]
YouTube is also used for A&R scouts of major labels such as (UMG) scout artist to sign. There has been criticism and labels have come under fire in regards to labels using YouTube to scout Talent. This can start label wars when different labels are pitching for the same artist or band.
Universal's Music Group channel was the first to get 1 billion views.It also got 1 million subscribers.The 4th channel to get that number.
MySpace.com
In December 2007, Colbie Caillat inadvertently announced that The Universal Music Group recently enacted a new policy on MySpace.com that will reduce all songs from artists within The Universal Music Group to 90 seconds.[11]
Imeem.com
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.[12] Two weeks after the deal was announced Michael Robertson speculated on the secret terms of the deal and argued that ultimately this was a bad deal for imeem. This speculation lead to a flame war on the Pho digital media email list as imeem representatives denied his claims and dismissed his theories as unfounded.[13] Imeem is a defunct website and all traffic was deferred to MySpace.
See also
- List of RIAA member labels
- List of record labels
References
- ↑ "US Decca LP Labels". HeroInc.0Catch.com. Daniels, Frank. 2003. http://heroinc.0catch.com/decca/. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
- ↑ Adegoke, Yinka (25 May 2007). "Universal Music closes on BMG". Reuters.com. Thomson Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/industryNews/idUSN2524635320070528. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
- ↑ "Universal to buy BMG publishing". News.BBC.co.uk. BBC News. 6 September 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5319050.stm. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
- ↑ Exclaim News: Universal to Create Hulu-like Music Video Site
- ↑ Garrity, Brian (11 May 2006). "UMG Settles With Spitzer". Billboard.biz. MediaWeek. http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/tvstations/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002501367. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
- ↑ Michelle Malkin » Akon’s record company abuses DMCA to stifle criticism on YouTube
- ↑ Press Releases: May, 2007 | Electronic Frontier Foundation
- ↑ Press Releases: May, 2007 | Electronic Frontier Foundation
- ↑ Michelle Malkin » UMG & YouTube retreat over Akon report
- ↑ Lenz v. Universal Music Corp.
- ↑ MySpace Sensation Colbie Caillat Inadvertently Announces Universal’s New MySpace Policy: Ninety-Second Song Clips
- ↑ [1] (Internet Archive of original link)
- ↑ Digital Music War Gets Dirtier - News Blog - Daily Brief - Portfolio.com
External links
- Official commercial site
- Official corporate site
- UMG History page
- Universal Music Group channel at YouTube
- Vivendi Entertainment
- Universal Music Group Career Opportunities listed on EntertainmentCareers.Net
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