Here are the ten most prominent and influential music entertainment companies in America:
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Universal Music Group (UMG): One of the "Big Three" record labels, UMG is home to numerous major artists across various genres.
Universal Music Group N.V. is a multinational music corporation. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California.
Record labels founded: Island Def Jam Music Group, MORE
CEO: Lucian Grainge (2011–)
Subsidiaries: A&M Records, Republic Records, MORE
Date of establishment: September 1934 -
Sony Music Entertainment: Another of the Big Three, Sony Music represents a vast array of artists and owns multiple record labels.
Sony Music Entertainment is an American multinational global company specializing in the production of songs and singles, belonging to the famous Japanese technology company Sony, the company has been called Sony since 1991 and is current since 2008.
Record label established: Syco Music
Parent company: Sony, Sony Entertainment, Sony Corporation of America, Sony Music Group
Subsidiaries: Columbia Records, RCA Records, Sony Music India, MORE
CEO: Rob Stringer (April 1, 2017–)
Date of establishment: September 9, 1929, -
Warner Music Group (WMG): Completing the trio of major record labels, WMG has a strong presence in the global music industry.
Warner Music Group Corp. (d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the global music industry, after Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME). Formerly part of Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery), WMG was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange from 2005 until 2011, when it announced its privatization and sale to Access Industries. It later had its second IPO on Nasdaq in 2020, once again becoming a public company. With a multibillion-dollar annual turnover, WMG employs more than 3,500 people and has operations in more than 50 countries throughout the world -
Live Nation Entertainment: A leading live entertainment company, Live Nation is involved in concert promotion, venue operation, and artist management.
Live Nation Entertainment is an American multinational entertainment company founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It promotes, operates and manages ticket sales for live entertainment internationally.
Date of establishment: 1996, Beverly Hills, California, USA
Headquarters: Beverly Hills, California, USA -
Apple Inc. (Apple Music): Apple Music is a major player in the streaming industry, providing on-demand music and original content.
Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country, which are broadcast live to over 200 countries 24 hours a day. The service was announced on June 8, 2015, and launched on June 30, 2015. New subscribers get a one-month free or six months free trial with the purchase of select products before the service requires a monthly subscription. -
Spotify: A Swedish-founded company, Spotify is a dominant force in the music streaming market with a vast user base.
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BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.): As one of the largest performing rights organizations, BMI represents songwriters, composers, and music publishers.
Broadcast Music, Inc. is a performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BMI's repertoire of over 22.4 million musical works.
Date of establishment: 1939
Headquarters: New York City, New York State, United States -
ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers): Similar to BMI, ASCAP is a performing rights organization protecting the rights of its members.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is an American non-profit performing rights organization that generally licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works. for venues, broadcasters and digital streaming services.
Founders: Irvin Berlin, Victor Herbert, Louis Hirsch, Glen MacDonough, Gustave Kerker, Raymond Hubbell
Date of establishment: February 13, 1914
Ownership: New York City, New York State, United States -
Pandora Media: Offering personalized internet radio and on-demand streaming, Pandora has a significant presence in the digital music space.
Pandora Internet Radio is an automated music streaming and music recommendation service powered by the Genome Music project. Pandora Media, Inc. operates this service in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. The service selects music within a genre based on the best decision based on the user's choice of artist. Wikipedia
Available in English
Revenue: $920,800,000 (fiscal year 2014)
Type of business: Public
Founder: Will Glaser; Jon Kraft; Tim Westergren
Number of users: 250 million registered (2014), 79.4 million active (2015)
Established: January 2000; 23 years ago (as Savage Beast Technologies); Oakland, California, USA -
Atlantic Records: A major record label under the Warner Music Group, Atlantic Records has a storied history and represents artists across genres.
Atlantic Recording Corporation is a major American record company, known for its R&B, rock and roll, jazz, and hip hop recordings. Wikipedia
Founders: Ahmet Ertegun, Herb Abramson
Parent company: Warner Music Group, WMG Acquisition Corp
Date of establishment: 1947, New York City, New York State, United States
CEO: Craig Kallman (March 17, 2005–)
Ownership: New York City, New York State, United States
Please note that the rankings and influence of these companies may change and new entities may appear. This is just my personal assessment according to certain standards./.
FAQs:
Who are the Big Six music companies?
In the Bos there were six major record labels, known as the "Big Six"· Warner Music Group, EMI, Sony Music, BMG, Universal Music Group, and PolyGram. However, through mergers and acquisitions these six were condensed and became the "Big Three" are Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group.
What is the Big 4 music industry?
Major record labels make up over 85 percent of the music industry. Currently, the four major record labels (known as the Big Four) are EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group.
Who owns the Big 3 record labels?
The Big 3 are dominating the market
The most successful record labels in the U.S., Interscope, RCA, and Atlantic are owned by Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Music Group respectively. In fact, each of the top 10 most successful record labels is owned by one of the Big 3
Who are the kings of music industry?
Artist | Title | Country |
---|---|---|
Michael Jackson | King of Pop | United States |
Wanda Jackson | Queen of Rockabilly | United States |
Elmore James | King of the Slide Guitar | United States |
Rick James | King of Punk Funk | United States |