Sony Music

Sony Music Entertainment, often simply called Sony Music, is a large American company that creates and sells music worldwide. It is part of the bigger Sony Group Corporation. The company began a long time ago, in 1929, under a different name. Over the years, it changed names many times and was owned by different companies before Sony bought it in 1988.

In 2004, Sony joined forces with another music company called Bertelsmann to create a new business together. But in 2008, Sony bought the part that belonged to Bertelsmann and went back to using its old name. This brought many famous music labels together under one roof.

As of 2025, Sony Music is one of the biggest music companies in the world. It is the second largest behind Universal Music Group and ahead of Warner Music Group. The company not only records music but also helps write and publish songs, making it very important in the music world today.

History

1929–1938: American Record Corporation

Main article: American Record Corporation

The American Record Corporation began in 1929 when music companies joined together. It grew by buying other music brands, like the Columbia Phonograph Company and Okeh Records in 1934.

1938–1970: Columbia/CBS Records

In 1938, a big company called the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) bought American Record Corporation. The company changed its name several times and became Columbia Records in 1947. An important moment was when they introduced the LP record, which changed how people listened to music. In the 1950s, they started new music brands like Epic Records in 1953 and Date Records in 1958. By 1962, they had factories in places like Los Angeles, California; Terre Haute, Indiana; Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Pitman, New Jersey.

In 1962, they began using the name “CBS Records” outside North America. They bought more music companies in different countries and set up their own way to send music in the UK by buying Oriole Records.

By 1966, the company was called CBS Records and was part of CBS-Columbia Group. In 1968, CBS and Sony started working together in Japan with CBS/Sony Records.

1971–1991: CBS Records Group

Main article: CBS Records International

In 1971, CBS Records became its own group called “CBS Records Group,” with Clive Davis helping to manage it. In the 1980s and early 1990s, they had many successful music brands and signed popular artists like Ozzy Osbourne, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Electric Light Orchestra, Joan Jett, and Henry Lee Summer. In 1983, they started making compact disc players in Japan, which helped bring CDs to America.

In 1986, CBS sold part of its music business. Then, in 1987, Sony bought CBS Records for a lot of money. The sale finished in 1988. In 1989, CBS Records started buying music publishing companies again.

1991–2004: Sony Music Entertainment

Sony changed the company’s name to Sony Music Entertainment (SME) on January 1, 1991. They also brought back the Columbia name for their music labels around the world, except in Japan. In 1995, Sony and famous singer Michael Jackson worked together to combine their music publishing businesses.

2004–2008: Sony BMG

Main article: Sony BMG

In 2004, Sony joined with another big company called Bertelsmann to create Sony BMG Music Entertainment. This brought together many music brands under one roof. Sony kept its Japanese music business separate.

2008–present: Sony Music revival and restructuring

On August 5, 2008, Sony bought the rest of Sony BMG from Bertelsmann. After that, Sony made many changes to its music business. In 2012, they stopped working in the Philippines because of problems with illegal copying of music but started again in 2018. They also stopped working in Greece for a while but started again in 2024.

In 2011, Doug Morris became the leader of Sony Music. He made many changes to how the company worked. In 2017, Rob Stringer took over as the leader.

In 2022, Sony bought a company that makes podcasts and another company that helps create branding for music artists. In 2023, they started a new company to help artists grow their careers.

Sony Music Canada

Sony Music Canada began in 1990 when Sony Music bought the Canadian parts of CBS Records. Before this, they were called Columbia Records Canada since 1954.

Sony Music Canada is managed by Sony Canada. This company grew from General Distributors, or Gendis. It started in Winnipeg in 1954 by Albert D. Cohen. He made an agreement with Sony to sell their transistor radios that year.

Sony Music UK

Sony Music UK started in January 1980 and is part of Sony Music Entertainment in the United Kingdom. Since 2014, Jason Iley has been the chairman and CEO of Sony Music UK. Even though it belongs to Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music UK works independently in the UK to support local musicians.

In 2014, Sony Music UK had a very successful year for singles, with 11 songs reaching the top spot. At the BRITs in 2015, Sony Music artists won five awards, including Best Female Solo Artist for Paloma Faith and Best British Single for Mark Ronson’s "Uptown Funk". Other famous artists like Foo Fighters, One Direction, and Pharrell Williams also won awards that year. In 2017, Sony Music UK had its best BRIT Awards ever, winning seven out of eleven awards.

Sony Music UK has worked with many companies and signed many well-known artists, including Craig David and Robbie Williams. In 2016, they acquired Ministry of Sound Recordings, which includes artists like London Grammar. In 2021, Sony bought a music rights division and distribution company called AWAL. In 2024, Sony purchased the entire catalog of the band Pink Floyd and also acquired the catalog and rights of Queen. Sony will begin distributing Queen’s music worldwide (except North America) by 2026.

Sony Music Russia

Sony Music Entertainment Russia was the Russian part of Sony Music. It started in 1999 and signed its first big agreement with the Russian group Bi-2 in 2000.

In March 2022, because of the conflict in Ukraine, Sony Music stopped working in Russia. They also stopped new music releases there. In September 2022, Sony left Russia completely. They took their international music off Russian services like Yandex Music, Zvooq, and VK Music. Artists such as AC/DC, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, and Bring Me the Horizon were no longer available.

The Russian part of Sony Music became its own company, focusing only on local musicians under a new name, Kiss Koala. This company was later bought by some former leaders of Warner Music Russia.

Sony Music Israel

Sony Music began working in Israel in late 2022. They worked with a local record label called Oneway Records. In September 2025, some people asked Sony Music to stop working there because of problems in a place called Gaza.

Criticism and controversies

CD price fixing

Main article: CD price fixing

From 1995 to 2000, some music companies, including Sony Music, were found to have kept CD prices high using unfair methods. They did this to stop price wars among stores like Best Buy and Target. In 2002, these companies agreed to pay a fine and give away many CDs to public groups, but they did not admit to doing anything wrong. It is thought that customers paid too much for CDs during this time.

George Michael

Main article: Panayiotou v Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.

British singer George Michael had a big disagreement with Sony Music in the early 1990s. He told Sony he would not make music videos for his album and felt they were not helping to promote it. George Michael sued Sony in the UK to end his contract, but the courts ruled against him. Later, other music labels bought his contract, and years after, he allowed Sony to release some of his songs.

Michael Jackson and Tommy Mottola

Michael Jackson had problems with Sony Music over his contract. He thought he would get back the rights to his old albums sooner, but the contract said otherwise. Jackson also found out that the lawyer who helped him with the contract was also working for Sony. In 2002, Jackson made strong claims about the head of Sony Music at the time, saying he was unfair to Black artists. Sony did not renew Jackson’s contract.

Prosecution of copyright infringement

In 2012, Sony Music took action against a website called IsoHunt for helping people break copyright laws. In 2016, Sony also took action against another service, Radionomy, for similar reasons.

Kesha v. Dr. Luke and 2016 boycott

Main article: Kesha v. Dr. Luke

In 2016, many people signed a petition asking for a boycott of Sony Music after Kesha made serious claims against a music producer named Dr. Luke. Kesha asked a court in New York City to let her leave her contract with Sony Music, but the court did not agree. This led to a lot of public attention.

List of Sony Music Entertainment labels

Main article: List of Sony Music labels

Sony Music has many different labels that make music for many kinds of fans. Some of the most well-known labels include Columbia Records, RCA Records, Epic Records, Arista Records, and Jive Records.

There are also labels that focus on specific kinds of music, such as country, dance, Christian/gospel, Latin, classical/jazz, blues, pop, rock, metal, and progressive music. Sony Music works with labels in the UK, India, and around the world to share music with listeners everywhere.