| Fate | Assets sold to Sony Corporation of America |
|---|---|
| Successor | Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Defunct | October 1, 2008 |
| Headquarters | Gütersloh, Germany |
Bertelsmann Music Group, (BMG), was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann. It consisted of the BMG Music Publishing company, the world's third largest music publisher and the world's largest independent music publisher, and the 50% share of the joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Sony BMG).
The joint venture with Sony Music 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.[1] Sony Music and BMG remained separate in Japan, although BMG Music Japan was wholly owned by Sony BMG.
On March 27, 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 focused mainly in BMG's European stronghold 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.
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Office of the Chairman
Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Member of the Board, Bertelsmann AG CEO
Michael Smellie, Chief Operating Officer COO
Tim Prescott, Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer CMO
Joe Gorman, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer CFO
Patrick Reilly, Vice President, Corporate Communications
Ira Sallen, Senior Vice President, Human Resources
Tim Bowen, Chairman, UK and Ireland, Australia/New Zealand/South Africa
Clive Davis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BMG North America CEO
Nicholas Firth, Chairman, BMG Music Publishing Worldwide, Chairman, BMG Classics, Executive Vice President, Corporate Operations
Joe Galante, Chairman, RCA Label Group - Nashville
Charles Goldstuck, President and Chief Operating Officer, BMG North America COO
Jordan Katz, Executive Vice President and General Manager, BMG Distribution
Maarten Steinkamp, President, BMG International and Germany/Switzerland/Austria
Hidehiko Tashiro, President and Chief Executive Officer, BMG Japan CEO
Barry Weiss, President and Chief Executive Officer, Zomba Label Group CEO
Now part of Sony Music Entertainment after the buyout of Bertelsmann AG's 50% stake in Sony BMG.
BMG 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.[2] The company was headquartered at 245 Fifth Avenue, 8th Floor New York, New York 10016 and had operations in 36 offices in 25 countries.
BMG Music publishing controlled over one million copyrights. Writers/artists signed to the company included Jaguares, Diana Yukawa, Alcazar, Gloria Trevi, Angélica María, Dido, Avril Lavigne, Lee Ryan, Ai Uemura, Coldplay, The Troubadours, Shakira, Powderfinger, Nelly, Britney Spears, Rammstein, Modern Talking, R. Kelly, Shania Twain, Nikki Webster, Ville Valo, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Clannad, Linkin Park, Maroon5, Backyard Babies, Hipster Daddy-O and the Handgrenades, Keane, HARD-Fi, Justin Timberlake, Joss Stone, Elvis Costello, Paul Weller, Sara Evans, Ne-Yo, Take That (1991-1996), Chad Hugo, Westlife and The Wanted
The company's songwriters have written chart-topping hits for Mariah Carey, The Black Eyed Peas, Kenny Chesney, The Game, Mario, Rascal Flatts, No Doubt, Thomas Anders, Jessica Simpson and 50 Cent as well as legends like Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Roselyn Sánchez.
BMG Music Publishing was the global leader in Classical music and was number one in Contemporary Christian music.
Through international subpublishing deals, BMG Music Publishing represents the catalogues of Famous Music Publishing, Walt Disney, Leiber & Stoller, Pete Waterman, and Malaco Records in various territories.
Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing is BMG Music Publishing's Christian publisher and owns over 60,000 copyrights.
BMG Music Publishing and its assets have now been completely absorbed and folded into Universal Music Publishing Group.
BMG Rights Management now serves as a division within Bertelsmann and as a replacement to the defunct Bertelsmann Music Group. Therefore, there is a continuity of the BMG brand with this Bertelsmann division in music rights management.
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