1929–1938: American Record Corporation The American Record Corporation (ARC) was founded in 1929 through a merger of several record companies. The company grew over the next several years, acquiring other brands such as the
Columbia Phonograph Company, including its
Okeh Records subsidiary, in 1934.
1938–1970: Columbia/CBS Records In 1938, ARC was acquired by the
Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) under the guidance of chief executive
William S. Paley. The company was later renamed Columbia Recording Corporation, and changed again to
Columbia Records Inc. in 1947. Edward Wallerstein, who served as the head of Columbia Records since the late 1930s, helped establish the company as a leader in the record industry by spearheading the successful introduction of the
LP record. Columbia's success continued through the 1950s with the launch of
Epic Records in 1953 and
Date Records in 1958. By 1962, the Columbia Records productions unit was operating four plants around the United States located in
Los Angeles, California;
Terre Haute, Indiana;
Bridgeport, Connecticut; and
Pitman, New Jersey. Columbia's international arm was launched in 1962 under the name "CBS Records", as the company only owned the rights to the Columbia name in North America. In 1964, the company began acquiring record companies in other countries for its
CBS Records International unit and established its own UK distribution outfit with the acquisition of
Oriole Records. By 1966, Columbia was renamed CBS Records and was a separate unit of the parent company, CBS-Columbia Group. In March 1968,
CBS and
Sony formed
CBS/Sony Records, a Japanese business joint venture.
1971–1991: CBS Records Group In 1971, CBS Records was expanded into its own "CBS Records Group", with
Clive Davis as its administrative vice president and general manager. In the 1980s to the early 1990s, the company managed several successful labels, including CBS Associated Records, which signed artists including
Ozzy Osbourne,
the Fabulous Thunderbirds,
Electric Light Orchestra,
Joan Jett, and
Henry Lee Summer. In 1983, CBS expanded its music publishing business by acquiring the music publishing arm of
MGM/UA Entertainment Co. CBS later sold the print music arm to
Columbia Pictures. By 1987, CBS was the only "
big three" American TV network to have a co-owned record company. With Sony being one of the developers behind the compact disc digital music media, a
compact disc production plant was constructed in
Japan under the joint venture, allowing CBS to begin supplying some of the first compact disc releases for the American market in 1983. In 1986, CBS sold its music publishing division, CBS Songs, to
SBK Entertainment. On November 17, 1987, Sony acquired CBS Records for US$2 billion. CBS Inc., now the
Paramount Skydance Corporation, retained the rights to the CBS name for music recordings but granted Sony a temporary license to use the CBS name. The sale was completed on January 5, 1988.
CBS Corporation founded a new
CBS Records in 2006, which was distributed by Sony through its
RED subsidiary. In 1989, CBS Records re-entered the music publishing business by acquiring Nashville-based
Tree International Publishing. The CBS Associated label was renamed Epic Associated. Also on January 1, 1991, to replace the CBS label, Sony reintroduced the
Columbia label worldwide, which it previously held in the United States and Canada only, after it acquired the international rights to the trademark from
EMI in 1990. Thus,
Sony Music Entertainment Japan issues labels under Sony Records. The Columbia Records trademark's
rightsholder in Spain was
Bertelsmann Music Group, Germany, which Sony Music subsequently subsumed via a 2004 merger, and a subsequent 2008 buyout. In 1995, Sony and pop singer
Michael Jackson formed a joint venture which merged Sony's music publishing operations with Jackson's ATV Music to form
Sony/ATV Music Publishing.
2004–2008: Sony BMG logo used from 2002 to 2004 logo used from 2004 to 2008 In August 2004, Sony entered a joint venture with an equal partner
Bertelsmann, by merging Sony Music and
Bertelsmann Music Group, Germany, to establish
Sony BMG Music Entertainment. However, Sony continued to operate its
Japanese music business independently from Sony BMG and BMG Japan was made part of the merger. The merger made Columbia and Epic sister labels to RCA Records, which was once owned by CBS rival,
NBC. It also started the process of bringing BMG's
Arista Records back under common ownership with its former parent
Columbia Pictures, a Sony division since 1989, and brought Arista founder
Clive Davis back into the fold. As of 2017, Davis was still with Sony Music as a chief creative officer.
2008–present: Sony Music revival and restructuring On August 5, 2008,
Sony Corporation of America and
Bertelsmann announced that Sony had agreed to acquire Bertelsmann's 50% stake in
Sony BMG. The acquisition was completed on October 1, 2008. On July 1, 2009, SME and
IODA announced a strategic partnership to leverage worldwide online retail distribution networks and complementary technologies to support independent labels and music rights holders. In March 2010, Sony Corp partnered with The Michael Jackson Company in a contract of more than $250 million, the largest deal in recorded music history. In February 2012, Sony Music reportedly closed its
Filipino office due to
piracy. In early 2018, SME resumed its operations in the Philippines, with the new offices located in
Ortigas Center, Pasig. In July 2013, Sony Music withdrew from the Greek market due to an economic crisis. Albums released by Sony Music in Greece from domestic and foreign artists were carried by Feelgood Records. However, in 2024 Sony Music re-established direct operations in Greece after acquiring independent label which had previously been spun off from Universal Music Group after the latter's acquisition of
Minos EMI From 2009 to 2020, Sony owned 50% of
Syco Entertainment, which operates some of the world's most successful
reality TV formats, including
Got Talent and
The X Factor with
Simon Cowell. Cowell acquired Sony's stake in 2020.
Doug Morris, who was head of
Warner Music Group, and later
Universal Music, became chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment on July 1, 2011. Sony Music underwent restructuring upon Morris's arrival; with some artists switching labels and other labels eliminated. In June 2012, a consortium led by
Sony/ATV acquired
EMI Music Publishing, making Sony/ATV the world's largest music publisher at the time. This acquisition also reunited the common ownership of pre-1986 CBS Songs (as SBK Songs) catalog to Sony/ATV.
Rob Stringer became CEO of Sony Music Entertainment on April 1, 2017. He previously served as chairman and CEO of
Columbia Records. In June 2017, Sony announced that by March 2018 it would be producing vinyl records internally for the first time since ceasing its production in 1989. Reporting the decision, the
BBC noted that, "Sony's move comes a few months after it equipped its Tokyo studio with a
cutting lathe, used to produce the master discs needed for manufacturing vinyl records" but added that "Sony is even struggling to find older engineers who know how to make records". On February 5, 2019, a group of 1970s-era musicians including
David Johansen and
John Waite filed lawsuits accusing Sony Music Entertainment and
UMG Recordings, Inc. of improperly refusing to let them reclaim the rights to songs they had signed away earlier in their careers. The lawsuit cites U.S. copyright law, which gives artists who formerly bargained away their rights on unfavorable terms a chance to reclaim those rights by filing termination notices after 35 years. The plaintiffs claim that Sony and UMG have "routinely and systematically" ignored hundreds of notices, having taken the position that recordings are "works made for hire" and are therefore not subject to being reclaimed. In 2024, Neon Hum Media, a podcast production company, was acquired. In 2022, Sony Music Entertainment acquired boutique branding and merchandising agency, Ceremony of Roses (CoR). It was merged with Sony's existing merchandising division, which subsequently operated as CoR. In January 2023, Sony Music and Alamo Records founder
Todd Moscowitz launched Santa Anna, an artist and label services company. == Sony Music Canada ==