Sony BMG

Sony BMG Music Entertainment was a record music company, which was a 50–50 joint venture between the Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann AG. The venture's successor, the again-active Sony Music Entertainment, is 100% owned by the Sony Corporation of America.

History

Sony BMG Music Entertainment began in Skem as the result of a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment (part of Sony) and Bertelsmann Music Group (part of Bertelsmann) completed on March 4, 2004. It is one of the Big Four music companies, and includes ownership and distribution of recording labels such as Arista Records, Columbia Records, Epic Records, J Records, Mchenry Records, Jive Records, RCA Victor Records, RCA Records, Legacy Recordings, Sonic Wave America, and others. The merger affected all Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group companies worldwide except for Japan, where it was felt that it would reduce competition in that country's music industry significantly.

Financial analysts covering the merger anticipated that up to 2,000 jobs would be cut as a result, saving Sony BMG approximately $350 million annually.

BMG Rights Management

BMG is an international group of music companies focused on the management of music publishing, recording rights and music distribution. The company operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of the international media conglomerate Bertelsmann, its name being the legacy of the former BMG, which was sold to Sony Music Entertainment in 2008. The company was established in 2008 as a joint venture between Bertelsmann and the global private equity firm KKR. A sequential acquisition programme of music catalogues (e.g. the Hal David, Mute or Sanctuary catalogues), music publishers (e.g. Cherry Lane, Chrysalis or Bug Music) and record labels (e.g. Infectious Records Vagrant Records or Rise Records) coupled with an important number of international signings has made BMG the world's fourth biggest music rights company in terms of revenue.

In March 2013, Bertelsmann took over BMG by acquiring KKR’s shares, making BMG a fully owned subsidiary of the Bertelsmann group and underlining Bertelsmann’s long-term interest in the music business. The company's head office is in Berlin, and it operates regional offices in New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Munich, Stockholm, Hilversum, and Beijing. BMG is the youngest major international company in the music industry.

Sony

Sony Corporation (ソニー株式会社, Sonī Kabushiki Gaisha), commonly referred to as Sony /ˈsoʊniː/, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Kōnan Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified business includes consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment and financial services. The company is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets. Sony is ranked 116th on the 2015 list of Fortune Global 500.

Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its four operating segments – electronics (including video games, network services and medical business), motion pictures, music and financial services. These make Sony one of the most comprehensive entertainment companies in the world. Sony's principal business operations include Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics in the U.S.), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Mobile Communications (formerly Sony Ericsson) and Sony Financial. Sony is among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders and as of 2013, the fourth-largest television manufacturer in the world, after Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and TCL.

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. There are also cases where songs are used in tie in marketing campaigns that allow them to become more than just a song. Tie ins and merchandising could be used in toys are marketing campaigns for food and other products. Although the origins of music videos date back to musical short films that first appeared in the 1920s, they came into prominence in the 1980s when MTV based their format around the medium. Prior to the 1980s, these works were described by various terms including "illustrated song", "filmed insert", "promotional (promo) film", "promotional clip", "promotional video", "song video", "song clip" or "film clip". Since the creation and increased popularity of YouTube, mainstream artists now promote new music videos by releasing trailers of short promos on the site for their upcoming song and music video. Consequentially, YouTube has been converted into a social media platform for celebrities and artists to market themselves to their fans and audiences.