Universal Music Group
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Universal Music Group logo |
Universal Music Group (UMG), formerly
MCA Music Entertainment (see
Music Corporation of America), is the largest
business group and family of
record labels in the
record industry. With a 25.5% market share, it is one of the
Big Four record labels. In February 2006, the group became 100% owned by
French media conglomerate
Vivendi SA when Vivendi purchased the last 20% from
Matsushita, the group's sole owner from 1990 to 1995 and co-owner from 1995 to 2006. UMG's record labels have some of the world's biggest artists including
Bon Jovi,
Jay-Z,
Mariah Carey,
Eminem,
Luciano Pavarotti,
Slipknot (through a joint sharing in ownership of
Roadrunner Records),
U2,
Kanye West, and
50 Cent. It also owns one of the largest
music publishing businesses of the world, the
Universal Music Publishing Group.
"Universal Music" was originally the music company attached to
film studio Universal Pictures; its history is long and complex [
1], but the present organisation was formed when its parent company
Seagram purchased
PolyGram and merged it with UMG in
1998. Seagram merged with Vivendi SA in 2000 to form Vivendi Universal (now Vivendi SA).
In the
United States UMG is located in
Santa Monica, California, and
New York City, New YorkUMG owns, or has a joint share in, a large number of
record labels, including:
*
Show Dog Records*
A&M Records*
Geffen Records*
Interscope Records**
Aftermath Entertainment**
Cherrytree Records**
G-Unit Records**
Kickball Records**
Fort Plains Recordings**
Maloof Music**
Mosley Music Group**
Nothing Records**
Shady Records**
Star Trak Entertainment**
Tiny Evil Records**
Vagrant Records**
The Black Wall Street Records*
Def Jam Recordings**
Dame Dash Music Group**
Def Soul Records**
Disturbing tha Peace Records**
The Inc. Records**
Roc-A-Fella Records**
Russell Simmons Music Group**
Desert Storm Records*
Island Records**
Lost Highway Records**
Roadrunner Records**
Decaydance Records*
Universal Motown Records**
Blackground Records**
Cash Money Records**
Motown Records**
Street Records Corporation*
Universal Republic Records**
Brushfire Records**
Casablanca Records**
Next Plateau Records**
Republic Records**
Rowdy Records**
Tuff Gong Records**
Universal South Records**
Uptown Records*
Blue Thumb Records*
Brunswick Records*
Commodore Records*
Coral Records*
Decca Records (Its jazz holdings only.)
*
GRP Records*
EmArcy Records*
Impulse! Records*
Verve Records**
Verve ForecastOther
*
Barclay Records*
Bite Records*
Cinepoly*
Decca Records (Its classics holdings only)
*
Go East Entertainment*
Hip-O Records*
Hollywood Records (Owned by
The Walt Disney Company, distributed by UMVD in the
United States,
Canada,
Mexico and the rest of
Latin America only)
*
Impact Records*
Isadora Records - Canadian imprint, run by
Hawksley Workman*
Jazzland Records*
MCA Nashville Records*
Mercury Records**
Mercury Nashville Records**
Vertigo Records*
Motor Music Records*
Nhi Le Records*
Philips Records*
Polar Music*
Polydor Records**
Fascination Records*
Radioactive Records*
RMM Records*
Stockholm Records*
Urban Records*
Universal Classics Group*
Universal Music Group Nashville*
UMTV/ Universal Music TV
*
Universal Music Limited*
UCJ Universal Classics & Jazz
Independent labels distributed by Universal
*
MySpace Records*
Weapons of Mass Entertainment*
Concord Records*
Hollywood Records*
19 EntertainmentUniversal Music Group also owns local "Universal" labels in
Australia,
Brazil,
Canada,
Colombia, the
Czech Republic,
Finland,
Germany,
Hong Kong,
Hungary,
Ireland,
India,
Italy,
Japan,
Korea,
Mexico, the
Netherlands,
Norway,
Poland,
Portugal,
Russia,
Spain,
Switzerland and
Turkey.
In May 2006, an investigation led by
New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer concluded with a determination that Universal
bribed radio stations to play songs from
Ashlee Simpson,
Brian McKnight,
Big Tymers,
Lindsay Lohan and other performers working for Universal labels. The company paid $12 million to the state in settlement.
*
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