Universal Music Group (UMG) is a multinational music company. It is the largest of the "big four" record companies by its leading market share and its multitude of global operations. Universal Music Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of French media conglomerate Vivendi.

Universal Music Group owns a music publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group, which became the world's largest following the 2007 acquisition of BMG Music Publishing.

The UMG corporate headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California, United States.

"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. The Decca Corporation of England spun American Decca off in 1939.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.

Kate Ryan (born Katrien Verbeeck on 22 July 1980) is a Belgian World Music Award winner. She began her singing career in 2001 and later found fame with a string of dance hits. These included covers, mostly of Mylène Farmer and France Gall, such as "Désenchantée", "Libertine", and "Ella, elle l'a" as well as new material. Ryan represented Belgium in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with "Je t'adore" coming in 12th place in the semi-final.

Ryan was born in the small village of Tessenderlo, Belgium. She grew up in a musical family, and reflected a talent for music at a very early age. At eight years old she learned to play piano and guitar. She received singing and piano lessons from her aunt who teaches at a conservatory. She studied at an art school, specialising in jewellery design. Ryan played frequently in bars and cafés as a teenager, and one night she was offered a recording deal. She became a member of a pop group called Melt at the age of 16. The group was active for two years, but they did not release any material commercially. When she met producer Andy Janssens, she left Melt and the pair began to write music together. Their debut single "Scream for More" was released in 2001, and it became a chart success. Later that year Ryan's second single, "UR (My Love)", cemented her position in Belgian charts.

Scot Project (born Frank Zenker, 29 May 1973, Frankfurt, Germany) is a German hard trance DJ and producer. He also produces musical pieces under aliases such as "Arome" and "TOCS."

Scot Project learned to mix techno at the age of 13, and he got his first break in 1986, playing break beat in a youth club in Frankfurt.^{[citation needed]} During the 1990s, he became resident DJ of several clubs in and around Frankfurt.^{[citation needed]}

Scot Project's success began in 1994, when his first track "X" was released; this was followed closely by "U I Got A Feeling," in 1995. The latter track peaked at #66 in the UK Singles Chart. It was followed by the 1998 UK hit, "Y (How Deep is Your Love)" which made #57.

In 2002, Frank Zenker and Kai Winter (Derb) created the Druck Records label.

In 2004, Scot's track "L (Want Your Love)" took over from Eric Prydz's "Call On Me" at #1 in the charts.^{[citation needed]}

Dulce María (born Dulce María Espinoza Saviñón, December 6, 1985) is a Mexican actress, singer, and songwriter. In October 2009 she signed a contract with Universal Music and recorded a solo album Extranjera, with its first part released in November 2010, and the second part in the summer of 2011.

Dulce María was born on December 6, 1985 in Mexico City, Federal District. She has two sisters, Blanca and Claudia. As a child, Dulce María began doing television commercials. In 1993, at the age of 8, she was cast on Plaza Sesamo, Mexico's equivalent to Sesame Street. She also appear in various mexican commercials during her young ages, including the mexican furniture store Viana, during mother's day. She was later cast in El Club de Gaby and participated in several specials on the Mexican Discovery Kids channel. She began to work in soap operas in Televisa but she discovered her real passion when she was given the opportunity to participate in a music project.

In 1996 Dulce joined the Mexican music group K.I.D.S.. They were very popular among children in Mexico and released two hit singles, La mejor de tus sonrisas and Prende el switch. In 1999, Dulce decided to leave the group due to personal reasons. After her departure from K.I.D.S., Dulce and her then boyfriend, Daniel Habif, also an ex-member of K.I.D.S., decided to start their own group called D&D. They recorded five songs, but for unknown reasons, split up. In early 2000, Dulce replaced Angie in Jeans, a female Latin pop group. She left after two years to film Clase 406.

Justin Drew Bieber ( /ˈbiːbər/ BEE-bər, born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian Pop/R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher, and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid. Bieber's debut single, "One Time", was released in 2009 and peaked in the top twenty in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut album, the seven-track EP My World, followed in November 2009, and was soon certified platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.