Sony Music Entertainment

Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (sometimes known as Sony Music or by the initials, SME) is an American music corporation managed and operated by Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony Corporation. In 1929, the enterprise was first founded as American Record Corporation (ARC) and, in 1938, was renamed Columbia Recording Corporation, following ARC's acquisition by CBS. In 1966, the company was reorganized to become CBS Records. In 1987, Sony Corporation of Japan bought the company, and in 1991, renamed it SME. It is the world's second largest recorded music company, after Universal Music Group.

In 2004, SME and Bertelsmann Music Group merged as Sony BMG Music Entertainment. When Sony acquired BMG's half of the conglomerate in 2008, Sony BMG reverted to the SME name. The buyout led to the dissolution of BMG, which then relaunched as BMG Rights Management. Out of the "Big Three" record companies, with Universal Music Group being the largest and Warner Music Group, SME is middle-sized.

Music Canada

Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, promote and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to some of Canada's leading independent record labels and distributors. Originally formed as the 10-member Canadian Record Manufacturer's Association, the association changed its name to Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) in 1972 and opened membership to other record industry companies. In 2011, it changed its name in Music Canada offering special benefits to some of the leading independent labels and distributors in Canada.

Music Canada is governed by a board of directors who are elected annually by association members. To be eligible for election a candidate for the board must be among the executive officers of the member companies. Graham Henderson of Universal Music Canada has been president since 15 November 2004; Brian Robertson previously held the position from 1974.

Canada

Coordinates: 60°N 95°W / 60°N 95°W / 60; -95

Canada (ⁱ/ˈkænədə/; French: [ka.na.da]) is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making it the world's second-largest country by total area and the fourth-largest country by land area. Canada's border with the United States is the world's longest land border. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land territory being dominated by forest and tundra and the Rocky Mountains; about four-fifths of the country's population of 35 million people live near the southern border. The majority of Canada has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer.

The land now called Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the 15th century, British and French colonies were established on the Atlantic coast, with the first establishment of a region called "Canada" occurring in 1537. As a consequence of various conflicts, the United Kingdom gained and lost territories within British North America until left, in the late 18th century, with what mostly geographically comprises Canada today. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1, 1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia joined to form the autonomous federal Dominion of Canada. This began an accretion of provinces and territories to the self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. In 1931, Canada achieved near total independence from the United Kingdom with the Statute of Westminster 1931, and full sovereignty was attained when the Canada Act 1982 removed the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the British parliament.

Gord Bamford

Gord Bamford (born April 17, 1976) is a Canadian country music singer. He has released five studio albums. Nine of his songs have charted on the Canadian Hot 100 chart, which began publication in 2007.

Biography

Early years

Bamford was born in Traralgon, Victoria, Australia. When Bamford was five years old, he moved with his mother, Marilyn, from Australia to Lacombe, Alberta, Canada after his parents' divorce. A singer who toured with an Australian country band, Bamford's mother encouraged him to pursue a career in music. In 1995, Bamford entered and won the Nornet Radio Network's "Search for the Stars." With Rob Bartlett from Sundae Sound producing, Bamford went to Calgary to record his debut single, "Forever Starts Today," written by Dean McTaggart. The song received a positive response from Canadian country radio the following year.

2000-2002: God's Green Earth and hiatus

In January 2001, Bamford released his debut album, God's Green Earth, on his own GWB Records. The album was produced by Bart McKay at Sound Edge Productions in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Bamford wrote two songs on the album. Five songs were released from the project - "God's Green Earth," "24 x 24," "Where a Cowboy Likes to Roam," "Man of the House" and "Classic Country Song." The album didn't do as well as Bamford had expected and left the business discouraged.