Universal Music Publishing Group

Last updated

Universal Music Publishing Group
Industry Music industry
PredecessorBMG Music Publishing
PolyGram Music Publishing
MCA Music Publishing
Founded1972;52 years ago (1972)
1999;25 years ago (1999)(Name change)
Headquarters
Santa Monica, California
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Jody Gerson (Chairman and CEO)
  • Marc Cimino (COO)
  • JW Beekman (CFO)
Services Music publishing
Parent Universal Music Group
Divisions
Website www.umusicpub.com

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a global music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Publishing has been ranked the #1 music publisher in market share by Billboard for multiple consecutive quarters. [1]

Contents

The company is home to major songwriters and artists, including Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, Rosalía, Steve Lacy, Elton John, Adele, SZA, Harry Styles, Post Malone and more. UMPG has recently made historic catalogue acquisitions, including Bob Dylan, Sting, and Neil Diamond. [2] UMPG's catalogue consists of over four million songs, with offices in 40 countries. [3] [4]

History

UMPG was formerly known as MCA Music Publishing until it merged with PolyGram in 1998 when Seagram acquired PolyGram for $10.4 billion. [5] PolyGram's music business was merged into Seagram's MCA Records. The merger was effected in January 1999, forming a new company named Universal Music Group. The merger also included both record labels' music publishers. [6] The PolyGram catalog included Dick James Music, Welk Music, Cedarwood Publishing, and Sweden Music. [7] MCA had been in the music publishing business since 1964, when it acquired Lou Levy's Leeds Music. [8]

In August 2000, UMPG acquired Rondor Music from Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss for roughly $400 million. It included former music publishing arms of A&M Records, I.R.S. Records, Stax Records, and Shelter Records, as well as Sea of Tunes. The purchase added 60,000 copyrights to Universal's library. [9]

In 2006, Universal Music Publishing Group acquired BMG Music Publishing from Bertelsmann Music Group for €1.63 billion, back then the third largest publishing group in the world, making Universal Music the largest music publisher in the world. It included the catalogs of Éditions Durand and Casa Ricordi and former music publishing arms of Benson Records and Zomba. As part of the acquisition of BMG Music Publishing, Universal divested the catalogues of Zomba UK (and the European rights to Zomba USA), Rondor UK, 19 Music and BBC to a new company named Imagem (now part of Concord Music Publishing). [10] Sony/ATV Music Publishing overtook Universal Music Publishing as the world's largest music publisher in 2013 after acquiring EMI Music Publishing. [11]

On May 7, 2013, UMPG acquired American music publisher Criterion Music Corporation. [12]

On January 1, 2015, Jody Gerson was named the chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group, becoming the first woman CEO of a global music company and the first female to run a major music publishing company. [13] [14] Gerson made history as the first publishing executive and first woman to be named Billboard's 'Executive of the Year' for their Power 100 list. [3] She was also named Variety Hitmakers' Executive of the Year in 2019. [15] In December 2015, she was named Executive of the Year by Billboard Magazine in its Women in Music issue. [16]

In March 2023, UMPG was ranked No. 1 on Billboard's Publishers Quarterly on the Hot 100 for the third consecutive quarter, which is taken from official Hot 100 chart data. Additionally, the portfolio publisher made history holding more than 30% market share for the past three quarters, a record that has not been achieved by any publisher since 2014. [1] [17]

On February 27, 2024, TikTok announced that its license to use UMPG's catalogue would expire on March 1. At the beginning of February 2024, Universal Music Group had removed its entire recorded catalogue from the app. [18]

Services

UMPG is the music publishing partner of many film/TV studios globally, including Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount, Disney Europe (and other territories), Viacom, Amazon, HBO, DreamWorks, DreamWorks Animation, Legendary Pictures, MarVista Entertainment, NBC, and Sesame Workshop, among many others. [19]

UMPG administers the 60,000 title Rondor Music Catalog and also owns or administers a multitude of others including: Interscope and Def Jam Music, WildBrain, Amazon MGM Studios and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, All Nations Music, Charlie Daniels, Casa Ricordi, Matraca Berg, DreamWorks Animation, HBO, Paramount Global (excluding CBS and Showtime Networks), Warner Bros., Sesame Street , Lionsgate, [20] Disney Music Group, [21] Forerunner Music, Epitaph Records, Greenwich/Barry, Momentum Publishing, and John Philips. UMPG also owns or administers the works of Leonard Bernstein and Henry Mancini, and Dsign Music.

International

UMPG has 48 offices across 40 countries around the world. [4] Universal Music Publishing Group Australia & NZ is based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. [22] Marianna Annas, former Head of ABC Music Publishing until January 2020, is as of June 2021 Vice President, Commercial & Creative at the company, [23] [24]

Related Research Articles

Geffen Records is an American record label, founded in 1980 by David Geffen. Originally a music subsidiary of the now-defunct Geffen Pictures, it is owned by the Interscope Geffen A&M (IGA) faction of Universal Music Group (UMG).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Decca Records</span> British record label

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its UK label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president too. In 1937, anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II, Lewis sold American Decca, and the link between the UK and US Decca label was broken for several decades. The British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MCA Records</span> American record label

MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1970s, often by acquiring other record labels, from ABC to Motown to Geffen. MCA Inc. became Universal Studios, Inc., in 1996, and the MCA record label was folded into Universal Music Group's Geffen Records in 2003, but Universal's MCA Nashville continues to use the moniker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Music Group</span> Dutch–American music corporation

Universal Music Group N.V. is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. The biggest music company in the world, it is one of the "Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music Group and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG prior to its IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The company went public on September 21, 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verve Records</span> American record label

Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Billie Holiday, Oscar Peterson, Jon Batiste, and Diana Krall among others as well as a diverse mix of other recordings that fall outside of jazz including albums from disparate artists like the Velvet Underground, Kurt Vile, Arooj Aftab, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and many more. It absorbed the catalogues of Granz's earlier label, Clef Records, founded in 1946; Norgran Records, founded in 1953; and material which was previously licensed to Mercury Records.

PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a holding for their record companies, and was renamed "PolyGram" in 1972. The name was chosen to reflect the Siemens interest Polydor Records and the Philips interest Phonogram Records. The company traced its origins through Deutsche Grammophon back to the inventor of the flat disc gramophone, Emil Berliner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warner Music Group</span> American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate

Warner Music Group Corp., 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, 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 4,500 people and has operations in more than 50 countries throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PolyGram Filmed Entertainment</span> British-American film studio and film production company

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment was a film production company founded in 1975 as an American film studio, which became a European competitor to Hollywood within two decades, but was eventually sold to Seagram Company Ltd. in 1998 and was folded a year later. Among its most successful and well known films were The Deep (1977), Midnight Express (1978), An American Werewolf in London (1981), Flashdance (1983), Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Dead Man Walking (1995), The Big Lebowski (1998), Fargo (1996), The Usual Suspects (1995), The Game (1997), Barney's Great Adventure (1998) and Notting Hill (1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DGC Records</span> American record label

DGC Records was an American record label that operated as a division of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, which is owned by Universal Music Group.

Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group. The label has been dormant since 2006, due to Universal Motown and Universal Republic Records being formed and taking all of the artists from it. Those labels were eventually combined to form the latest iteration of Republic Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Music Group Nashville</span> US record company; Universal Music Groups country music subsidiary

Universal Music Group Nashville is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. It was officially opened on New Year's Day 1945 as MCA Nashville and Mercury Nashville which on New Year's Day 1950 as Capitol Nashville. Some of the labels in this group include MCA Nashville Records, Mercury Nashville Records, Lost Highway Records, Capitol Records Nashville and EMI Records Nashville. UMG Nashville not only handles these imprints, but also manages the country music catalogues of record labels Universal Music and predecessor companies acquired over the years including ABC Records, Decca Records, Dot Records, DreamWorks Records, Kapp Records, MGM Records and Polydor Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Field</span> American media mogul (born 1953)

Frederick Woodruff "Ted" Field is an American media mogul, record executive, entrepreneur and film producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interscope Geffen A&M Records</span> American umbrella label owned by Universal Music Group

Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA) is an American umbrella label operating as a unit of Interscope Capitol Labels Group, owned by Universal Music Group. It currently consists of record labels Interscope Records and Geffen Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A&M Records</span> Defunct American record label

A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distributing releases from Polydor Ltd. from the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rocket Record Company</span> British record label

The Rocket Record Company is a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and others, in 1973. The company was named after John's hit song "Rocket Man". The label was originally distributed in the UK by Island and in the US by MCA Records, both of which John was also signed to.

Universal Music New Zealand is the New Zealand subsidiary of the Universal Music Group (UMG), the world's largest music company. Universal Music New Zealand's corporate headquarters are located in Auckland, New Zealand.

Jody Gerson is the Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group. Upon assuming the role on January 1, 2015, Gerson became the first female CEO of a major music publisher and first chairwoman of a global music company. Gerson serves on the Executive Management Board for Universal Music Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UMG Philippines</span> Philippine record label branch of Universal Music Group

UMG Philippines Inc. is a record label based in the Philippines and served as its regional branch of the multinational music corporation, Universal Music Group. Formerly known as MCA Music, the record label previously retained the now-discontinued MCA name on legal purposes because of a trademark dispute with an unrelated label known as Universal Records, which preempted the rights to the word "Universal" for recorded music in the Philippines. However, the company adopted the moniker "MCA/Universal", much like Universal Pictures' home video unit from 1990 to 1997, to simplify identification, even though no formal "Universal" branding is exercised. Despite the naming, the label is known outside the Philippines as Universal Music Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal Music México</span> Mexican subsidiary of Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group México S.A. de C.V. is a Mexican subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1963. It was founded as Dusa Discos Universales in 1963, undergoing several name changes over the years, first being first acquired by Gramophon-Philips Group (PolyGram) in 1971. It has been known as Universal Music México since 1999, following PolyGram's merger with UMG through the acquisition of Seagram.

MCA Inc. (originally an initialism for Music Corporation of America) was an American media conglomerate founded in 1924. Originally a talent agency with artists in the music business as clients, the company became a major force in the film industry, and later expanded into television production. MCA published music, booked acts, ran the MCA Records music label, represented film, television and radio stars, and eventually produced and sold television programs to the three major television networks, especially NBC.

References

  1. 1 2 "Taylor Swift Is Top Songwriter; Sony, Universal Duel as Top Publishers – Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Jody Gerson to Receive 2023 Ralph Peer II Award From International Music Publishers". Billboard. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Jody Gerson, Billboard's Power Executive of the Year". Billboard. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Gibson Announces Brand Partnership with Universal Music Publishing in China". KramerGuitars.com. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Seagram buys PolyGram from Philips for $10.6bn". independent.co.uk. May 22, 1998. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  6. ↑ "CMJ New Music Report". CMJ Network, Inc. March 22, 1999. Retrieved April 4, 2018– via Google Books.
  7. ↑ Hardy, Phil (March 17, 2014). Nickels & Dimes: Music Publishing & It's [sic] Administration in the Modern Age (Music Publishing And How It Works). Omnibus Press. p. 174. ISBN   978-0-85712-877-5.
  8. ↑ "MCA BUYS LEEDS, MUSIC PUBLISHER; Entertainment Concern Gets Assets and Copyrights". The New York Times. November 26, 1964. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Universal Music Agrees to Acquire Rondor in $400 Million Stock Deal". Wall Street Journal. August 3, 2000.
  10. ↑ "European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Mergers: Commission approves Universal's proposed takeover of BMG's music publishing business, subject to commitments". europa.eu. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Zach Horowitz Appointed Chairman/CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group | Billboard". Billboard.biz. April 18, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Universal Music Publishing Acquires Criterion Music Corp". Billboard .
  13. ↑ "Jody Gerson: the first female CEO of a major music company". Music Business Worldwide. August 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  14. ↑ "No. 8: Jody Gerson - Power 100". Billboard. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  15. ↑ "Five Years In, How Hitmakers' Top Executive Jody Gerson Remade UMPG in Her Image". Variety. December 5, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  16. ↑ "Women in Music 2015: Jody Gerson Named Executive of the Year". Billboard. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  17. ↑ "UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP CELEBRATES NO. 1 MUSIC PUBLISHER RANKING FOR THIRD CONSECUTIVE QUARTER". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  18. ↑ "TikTok has ALREADY started removing Universal's music publishing catalog from its platform". February 27, 2024.
  19. ↑ "Universal Music Publishing Group Guide". Music Gateway. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Lionsgate & UMPG Sign Exclusive Long-Term Agreement". Billboard. August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
  21. ↑ "UMPG and Disney Music Publishing partnership goes global". musicweek.com. Retrieved April 4, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Our company". Universal Music Australia. August 6, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
  23. ↑ Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (2020). "Directors' Report" (PDF). Annual Financial Report 30 June 2020 (Report). AMCOS. p. 1.
  24. ↑ Brandle, Lars (January 13, 2021). "The Wiggles sign global deal with Universal Music Publishing Group". The Industry Observer. Retrieved June 10, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.