Types of Music Companies

The Majors: The Big 3

Big 4 become the Big 3As of November 2011 the big 4 became the big 3.

EMI had huge debts and were unable to restructure these.

On 12 November 2011, it was announced that EMI would sell its recorded music operations to Universal Music Group and its music publishing to Sony. This is

called consolidation of media ownership

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/21/universal-emi-takeover-approved

Sony Music Entertainment

The Sony group based in Japan works in a range of markets including;

• Financial Services• Electronics and

Communications• Film Production and

Distribution• Games hardware and

software development• Interactive Services• TV Production and

Distribution

Formerly owned by Time Warner, the worlds largest media conglomerate. It was traded on the New York stock exchange until May 2011, when it announced its

privatisation.

The creation of Warner music is what we call a spin off. It was spun off from Time Warner.

Sony and BMG is an example of a Joint Venture!

GO Research

Create a detailed case study of the big 3.Find out:What labels they ownWhat artists they have signed to themHow many global stars they haveWhat genre of music they deal withContracts they have provided artists with