1. Types of Music Companies
The Majors: The Big 3

2. Big 4 become the Big 3
As of November 2011 the big 4 became the big 3.
EMI had huge debts and were unable to restructure these.
On 12 November 2011, it was announced that EMI would sell its
recorded music operations to Universal Music Group and its music
publishing to Sony. This is called consolidation of media ownership
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/21/universal-emi-
takeover-approved

3. Sony Music
Entertainment
The Sony group based in
Japan works in a range of
markets including;
• Financial Services
• Electronics and
Communications
• Film Production and
Distribution
• Games hardware and
software development
• Interactive Services
• TV Production and
Distribution

4. Formerly owned by Time Warner, the worlds largest media conglomerate. It was
traded on the New York stock exchange until May 2011, when it announced its
privatisation.
The creation of Warner music is what we call a spin off. It was spun off from Time
Warner.

8. Sony and BMG is an example of a Joint Venture!

9. GO Research
Create a detailed case study of the big 3.
Find out:
What labels they own
What artists they have signed to them
How many global stars they have
What genre of music they deal with
Contracts they have provided artists with