"Universal Records" redirects here. For one of the Group's former pre-eminent labels, see Universal Records (defunct record label). For other uses, see Universal Records (disambiguation).

Universal Music Group (also known in the United States as UMG Recordings, Inc. and abbreviated as UMG) is an American-French global music corporation that is a subsidiary of the Paris-based French media conglomerate Vivendi. UMG's global corporate headquarters are in Santa Monica, California. It is considered one of the "Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music and Warner Music Group.

Early history 

Universal Music was once the record company attached to film studio Universal Pictures. Its origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in September 1934.[1][2] The Decca Record Co. Ltd. of England spun American Decca off in 1939.[3] MCA Inc. merged with American Decca in 1962. The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram in May 1998 and merged it with Universal Music Group in early 1999. However, the name had 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.

Acquisition by Vivendi

With the 2004 acquisition of Universal Studios by General Electric and merging with GE's NBC, Universal Music Group was cast under separate management from the eponymous film studio. This is the second time a music company has done so, the first being the separation of Time Warner and Warner Music Group. In February 2006, the label became 100% owned by French media conglomerate Vivendi when Vivendi purchased the last 20% from Matsushita (renamed as Panasonic Corporation in 2008), the group's sole owner from 1990 to 1995 and co-owner from 1995 to 2006. On June 25, 2007, Vivendi completed its €1.63 billion ($2.4 billion) purchase of BMG Music Publishing, after receiving European Union regulatory approval, having announced the acquisition on September 6, 2006.[4][5]

2010s and EMI purchase

Doug Morris stepped down from his position as CEO on January 1, 2011. Former chairman/CEO of Universal Music International Lucian Grainge was promoted to CEO of the company. Grainge later replaced him as chairman on March 9, 2011.[6] Morris became the next chairman of Sony Music Entertainment on July 1, 2011.[7] With Grainge's appointment as CEO at UMG, Max Hole was promoted to COO of UMGI, effective July 1, 2010.[8] Starting in 2011 UMG's Interscope Geffen A&M Records will be signing contestants from American Idol/Idol series. On January 2011, UMG announced it was donating 200,000 master recordings from the 1920s to 1940s to the Library of Congress for preservation.[9]

In March 2011, Barry Weiss became chairman & CEO of The Island Def Jam Music Group & Universal Republic Records.[10] Both companies are restructuring under Weiss.[11] In December 2011, David Foster was named Chairman of Verve Music Group.

On November 12, 2011, it was announced EMI would sell its recorded music operations to Universal Music Group for £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion) and its music publishing operations to a Sony-led consortium for $2.2 billion.[12] Among the other companies that had competed for the recorded music business was Warner Music Group which was reported to have made a $2 billion bid.[13] However, IMPALA has said it would fight the merger.[14] In March 2012, the European Union opened an investigation into Universal's purchase of EMI's recorded music division[15] and has asked rivals and consumer groups whether the deal will result in higher prices and shut out competitors.[16] Coincidentally, UMG sister company StudioCanal has owned the EMI Films library for several years.

On September 21, 2012, the sale of EMI to UMG was approved in Europe and the United States by the European Commission and Federal Trade Commission respectively.[17] However, the European Commission approved the deal only under the condition the merged company divest one third of its total operations to other companies with "a proven track record in the music industry". UMG divested Mute Records, Parlophone, Roxy Recordings, MPS Records, Cooperative Music, Now That's What I Call Music!, Jazzland, Universal Greece, Sanctuary Records, Chrysalis Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics and EMI's European regional labels to comply with this condition. The Beatles' recorded music library was allowed to remain with UMG despite being considered part of Parlophone and is now managed by UMG's reorganized Capitol Music Group worldwide.[18][19] Robbie Williams, who had recorded for Chrysalis, had his catalogue transferred to Universal's Island Records.

2012–present: EMI integration and divisions reorganization

Universal Music Group completed their acquisition of EMI on September 28, 2012.[20] In November 2012, Steve Barnett was appointed chairman & CEO of Capitol Music Group. He formerly served as COO of Columbia Records.[21] In compliance the conditions of the European Commission after purchase of EMI, Universal Music Group sold the Mute catalogue to the German-based BMG Rights Management on December 22, 2012.[22] Two months later, BMG acquired Sanctuary Records for close to 50 million euros.[23]

On November 8, 2012, Universal Music and Hewlett-Packard launched a marketing operation: with a HP connected Music computer, the customer can access music from Universal artists, as well as exclusive content.[24]

On February 8, 2013, UMG sold to Warner Music Group the Parlophone Music Group consisting of Parlophone Records, Chrysalis Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics and EMI Records' Belgian, Czech, Danish, French, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Slovak and Swedish divisions, to a value of $765 million (£487 million).[25][26] Play It Again Sam acquired Co-Operative Music for £500,000 in March 2013.[27] The previous month, Sony Music Entertainment acquired Universal's European share in Now That's What I Call Music for approximately $60 million.[28] With EMI's absorption into Universal Music complete, its British operations will consist of five label units: Island, Polydor, Decca, Virgin EMI and Capitol.[29] Edel AG acquired the MPS catalogue from Universal in January 2014.[30]

On March 20, 2013, UMG announced the worldwide extension of their exclusive distribution deal with the Disney Music Group, excluding Japan and Russia. As a result of this deal DMG's labels and artists have access to UMG's roster of multiplatinum and Grammy Award-winning producers and songwriters on a worldwide basis.[31] The exclusive deal also saw UMG granted unlimited access to all rights pertaining to Disney's 85-year back catalog of soundtracks and albums.[32]

On April 2, 2013, the gospel music divisions of Motown Records and EMI merged to form a new label called Motown Gospel.[33] In May 2013, Japanese company SoftBank offered 8.5 billion US dollars to Vivendi for the acquisition of UMG, but Vivendi rejected it.[34]As of November 14, 2013, Universal Music will now distribute Warner Music Group's releases in the Middle East as a result of the integration of EMI's branch in the said region.[35][better source needed]

On April 1, 2014, Universal Music announced the disbandment of Island Def Jam Music, one of four operational umbrella groups within Universal Music. Universal CEO Lucian Grainge said of the closure, "No matter how much we might work to build 'IDJ' as a brand, that brand could never be as powerful as each of IDJ's constituent parts."[36] Effective on the day of the announcement, Island Records and Def Jam will now operate as autonomous record labels. David Massey and Bartels, who worked respectively at Island and Def Jam Records, will lead the new record labels independently.[36] Barry Weiss who previously moved from Sony Music to head up Island Def Jam Music back in 2012 when Motown Records was incorporated into Island Def Jam has stepped down from Universal Music. Additionally, as part of the changes to the labels, Motown Records will be transferred to Los Angeles to become part of the Capitol Music Group—previous Vice President Ethiopia Habtemariam was promoted to Label President for Motown Records.[36]Republic Records now operates independently while the Interscope Geffen A&M group remains unchanged.[36]

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Music_Group