So So Def Recordings is an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia , founded by producer Jermaine Dupri in 1993. Specializing in Southern hip hop , R&B , and bass music , the label has managed artists such as Bow Wow , Kris Kross , Xscape , TLC , Usher , Dem Franchize Boyz , Anthony Hamilton , Jagged Edge , and The Ghost Town DJs .
57-509: So So Def was established in 1993 as a spin-off of Dupri's production company of the same moniker, through a joint venture with Sony and Columbia . Its first act was Xscape , whose debut album was released in the fall of the same year and went Platinum —as did their 2nd and 3rd albums, released in 1995 and 1998. In 1994, the label released the debut album of Da Brat , who became the 1st solo female emcee to be certified for Platinum album sales. In 1996, Kandi Burruss brought Jagged Edge to
114-432: A conflict of interest , since if Jackson's career failed, he would have had to sell his share of the catalog at a low price. Jackson sought an early exit from his contract. In July 2002, Jackson alleged that the then-Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola was a "devil" and "racist" who did not support his African-American artists, using them merely for his own gain. He charged that Mottola had called his colleague Irv Gotti
171-524: A "fat nigger ". Sony refused to renew Jackson's contract, and claimed that a $ 25 million promotional campaign had failed because Jackson refused to tour in the United States. In May 2012, Sony Music filed charges against the website IsoHunt . The plaintiff's claims in the court document filed at the Supreme Court of British Columbia read: "The IsoHunt Websites have been designed and are operated by
228-516: A 2004 merger, and a subsequent 2008 buyout. In 1995, Sony and Michael Jackson formed a joint venture which merged Sony's music publishing operations with Jackson's ATV Music to form Sony/ATV Music Publishing . 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
285-502: A 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann . The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music , is wholly owned by Sony , following their buyout of the remaining 50% held by Bertelsmann . BMG was instead rebuilt as BMG Rights Management on the basis of 200 remaining artists. Sony BMG Music Entertainment began as the result of a merger between Sony Music (part of Sony ) and Bertelsmann Music Group (part of Bertelsmann ) completed on August 6, 2004. It
342-434: A boycott of Sony Music and all other Sony-affiliated businesses after rape allegations against music producer Dr. Luke were made by musical artist Kesha . Kesha asked a New York City Supreme Court to free her from her contract with Sony Music, but the court denied the request, prompting a widespread public and media response. Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as
399-567: A chief creative officer. On August 5, 2008, Sony Corporation of America (SCA) 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
456-606: 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 . Sony has experienced many changes with its international labels. In February 2012, Sony Music reportedly closed its Filipino office due to piracy , and Ivory Music and Video had been handling distribution for its catalog
513-618: A contract of more than $ 250 million, the largest deal in recorded music history. 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,
570-767: A few months earlier in July 2011. In early 2018, their distribution deal with Ivory expired and SME resumed its operations in the Philippines, with the new offices still 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 would then be carried by Feelgood Records. In June 2017, Sony announced that by March 2018 it would be producing vinyl records internally for
627-484: A merger of Sony Music Entertainment and music publishing arm Sony/ATV to form the Sony Music Group. The merger was completed on August 1, 2019. As of 2023 , Sony Music Entertainment is the second largest of the " Big Three " record companies, behind Universal Music Group and followed by Warner Music Group . Its music publishing division Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV) is the largest music publisher in
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#1732855307040684-516: A multi-year distribution deal with Create Music Group for the So So Def label. Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment ( SME ), commonly known as Sony Music , is an American multinational music company owned by Sony Entertainment and managed by the American umbrella division of multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation . It is the recording division of Sony Music Group , with
741-542: A total of five individual awards at the BRITs 2015, including Best Female Solo Artist for Paloma Faith , and Mark Ronson 's " Uptown Funk ", which picked up Best British Single. Several other of the label's artists – Foo Fighters , One Direction and Pharrell Williams – also collected awards. Sony's performance at the BRITs 2015 was the label's best in nearly 20 years, winning a total of 5 awards. In 2017, Sony Music UK celebrated
798-408: Is estimated that customers were overcharged by nearly $ 500 million overall and up to $ 5 per album. British artist George Michael , signed to Columbia in the U.S. and Epic worldwide, advised Sony executives in 1990 that he would not be appearing in music videos to support his forthcoming album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 . Michael then accused Sony of not promoting the album at all. He sued in
855-413: Is intended as a completely independent structure from Sony Music to represent only local musicians under the new brand Kiss Koala, which was later bought by the structures of former top managers of Warner Music Russia . Between 1995 and 2000, music companies were found to have used illegal marketing agreements such as minimum advertised pricing to artificially inflate prices of compact discs . This
912-600: The Brazilian media company Grupo Globo sold its domestic record label Som Livre to Sony Music for an undisclosed amount. It was approved by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense on November 4, 2021. The UK media company Somethin' Else was acquired outright by Sony Music in 2021, to form a Global Podcast Division, headed up by the Somethin' Else principles, Steve Ackerman and Jez Nelson . The new division
969-540: The Kazaa file-sharing network. Thomas, who made US$ 36,000 a year, was ordered to pay US$ 222,000 in damages. Thomas had allegedly shared 1702 files in total; the court upholding the award called it an "aggravated case of willful infringement". In 2008, the Federal Trade Commission sued Sony BMG for collecting and displaying personal data of 30,000 minors without parental consent via its websites since 2004, violating
1026-749: 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
1083-583: The Russian Federation in 1999. In 2000, the first contract was signed with the Russian group Bi-2 . For 2021, experts estimated the company's share in the Russian recording market at approximately 15-20%. Sony Music Entertainment LLC's revenue in 2021 amounted to 2.56 billion rubles ($ 42.7 million). Net profit amounted to 132.9 million rubles ($ 2.22 million). On March 10, 2022, in connection with Russian invasion of Ukraine , Sony Music Entertainment announced
1140-478: The UK in 1992, asking to be released from his contract. Sony ultimately prevailed in the courts in 1994, but Michael's contract was bought out by other labels. Some 11 years later, Michael licensed tracks to Sony for release. The release of Invincible was preceded by a dispute between Michael Jackson and Sony Music Entertainment. Jackson had expected the licenses to the masters of his albums to revert to him sometime in
1197-519: The United Kingdom. Since 2014, Jason Iley has been chairman and CEO of Sony Music UK. Though owned by Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music UK has standalone operations in the UK to promote musicians within the UK. In June 2017, it was announced that Sony would be merging its two independent distribution companies The Orchard and Red Essential. In 2014, Sony had its best singles success of 33 years, with 11 number 1 singles. Sony Music artists won
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#17328553070401254-430: The United States (US) declined from 33% to 26% according to Nielsen SoundScan . This, and Lack's negotiation of what some called an "ill-conceived" deal with Bruce Springsteen led to Bertelsmann informing Sony that it would not renew Lack's contract. The company signed a content deal with the popular video sharing community YouTube . On August 5, 2008, Sony Corporation agreed to buy Bertelsmann AG's 50 percent stake in
1311-409: 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. 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
1368-424: The agreement was "a once in a lifetime signing with the biggest male solo artist of our generation". Sony Music UK incorporated the independent sales and distribution company Essential Music and Marketing – renamed to Red Essential . In August 2016, Sony Music acquired Ministry of Sound Recordings , home to London Grammar , DJ Fresh and Sigala . On April 5, 2017, two of Sony Music UK's labels won awards at
1425-574: The annual Music Week Awards. Columbia Records was awarded A&R of the Year, and Syco was awarded Record Company of the Year. In 2021, Sony agreed to buy Kobalt neighboring rights division and independent distribution company AWAL , from the Kobalt Music Group for $ 430 million. Sony Music Entertainment Russia was the Russian music label of Sony Music Entertainment. The company opened its division in
1482-503: The attention of the label; their debut album, A Jagged Era , was released in 1997. So So Def later released the triple platinum debut album by Lil' Bow Wow in 2000. Other acts on the label have included: Dem Franchise Boyz , Maestro Harrell , The Ghost Town DJs , INOJ , J-Kwon , Trina Broussard, 3LW , and Anthony Hamilton . In late 2002, So So Def's distribution deal with Columbia ended. The following year, Dupri moved So So Def to Arista . While many of So So Def's acts moved with
1539-497: The catalogue of The Echo Label to Sony. Epic Records , one of their labels, was specifically cited for using fake contests in order to hide the fact that the gifts were going to disc jockeys rather than listeners. On 31 October 2005, a scandal erupted over digital rights management (DRM) software produced and shipped by Sony BMG that automatically installed itself on people's computers and made them more vulnerable to computer viruses . The scandal and attendant controversy about
1596-470: The computer user as a security threat to computer users, saying that a Sony-provided uninstallation option also introduced computer system vulnerabilities. US-CERT advised, "Do not install software from sources that you do not expect to contain software, such as an audio CD." In its "Top Flops of '05" issue, the enterprise newsweekly eWeek had to create a new category for the "Sony BMG root-kit fiasco." Peter Coffee of eWeek Labs reported, "The Sony brand name
1653-643: The defendants with the sole purpose of profiting from rampant copyright infringement which defendants actively encourage, promote, authorize, induce, aid, abet, materially contribute to and commercially profit from." In February 2016, in a lawsuit filed at a California federal court, Sony Music Entertainment and its associated brands ( Arista Records and LaFace Records , formerly owned by Bertelsmann Music Group ) accused Belgian radio aggregator Radionomy (owned by Universal Music Group's parent Vivendi ) of copyright infringement. In February 2016, 100,000 people signed an online petition in less than 24 hours, calling for
1710-500: 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 Communications Co. CBS later sold the print music arm to Columbia Pictures . By 1987, CBS
1767-442: The early 2000s, after which he would be able to promote the material however he pleased and keep the profits; however, clauses in the contract set the revert date years into the future. Jackson discovered that the attorney who had represented him in the deal had also been representing Sony. He was also concerned that for years Sony had been pressuring him to sell his share in its music catalog venture; he feared that Sony might have had
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1824-621: 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
1881-467: The international rights to the trademark from EMI in 1990. Japan is the only country where Sony does not have rights to the Columbia name as it is controlled by Nippon Columbia , an unrelated company. 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
1938-456: The label to Arista, Bow Wow and Jagged Edge were forced to remain at Columbia, due to their contracts having been with that company primarily. In 2004, per the re-consolidation of labels caused by the merger of its former Sony parent and BMG , So So Def was shifted from Arista to Zomba . In 2005, Dupri was appointed Executive Vice President of Urban Music at Virgin , causing So So Def to move again, this time over to Virgin and EMI —resulting in
1995-481: The loss of Bone Crusher and YoungBloodZ . So So Def, meanwhile, was able to retain J-Kwon and Anthony Hamilton, despite them still being signed to Zomba. In 2006, Dupri had a falling-out with Virgin, resulting in him leaving his post at the company. Intermittent, he was appointed President of urban music at Universal's Island , resulting in So So Def once again making a move to UMG's The Island Def Jam . In 2009, it
2052-412: The most successful BRIT Awards in the company's history, winning seven of the 11 awards. Sony Music UK has made key acquisitions including forming Insanity Records with Insanity Management. Craig David became the first artist to sign an album deal with Insanity Records. Sony Music UK signed Robbie Williams , who released his 11th album The Heavy Entertainment Show in 2016. Jason Iley commented that
2109-515: The move will help expand their merchandising team and take artists' merch to the next level. In January 2023, Sony Music and Alamo Records founder Todd Moscowitz launched Santa Anna, an artist and label services company. In April 2024, it was announced Sony Music Entertainment's Global Podcast Division had acquired the Los Angeles-headquartered podcast production company, Neon Hum Media for an undisclosed amount. Sony Music Canada
2166-402: The music company for $ 1.2 billion to get full control. The music company was renamed Sony Music Entertainment and became a unit of Sony Corporation of America. This allowed Sony the rights to artists on the current and historic BMG roster and allowed Sony Corporation to better integrate its functions with its PlayStation 3 and upcoming new media initiatives. As part of the buyout, Bertelsmann kept
2223-503: The operations of Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG), but Sony bought out Bertelsmann's stake four years later and reverted to using the 1991 company name. This buyout led to labels formerly under BMG ownership, including Arista , Jive , LaFace and J Records into former BMG and currently Sony's co-flagship record label, RCA Records , in 2011 and led to the relaunch of BMG as BMG Rights Management . Arista Records would later be revived in 2018. On July 17, 2019, Sony announced
2280-519: The other half being the publishing division, Sony Music Publishing . Founded in 1929 as American Record Corporation , it was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1938 and renamed Columbia Recording Corporation . In 1966, the company was reorganized to become CBS Records . Sony bought the company in 1988 and renamed it SME in 1991. In 2004, Sony and Bertelsmann established a 50–50 joint venture known as Sony BMG to handle
2337-600: The practice of software auto-installation spawned several lawsuits. Sony BMG eventually recalled all of the affected CDs. On November 16, 2005, US-CERT , the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team , part of the United States Department of Homeland Security , issued an advisory on Extended Copy Protection DRM, citing the XCP use of rootkit technology to hide certain files from
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2394-515: The record company Sony Music Entertainment (SME) on January 1, 1991, fulfilling the terms set under the 1988 buyout, which granted only a transitional license to the CBS trademark. 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
2451-534: The rights to master recordings by 200 artists, which formed the basis for a second version of BMG . Sony and Bertelsmann last teamed up in 2013, in a failed bid to acquire Parlophone from Universal Music Group . BMG would administer the label's back catalogue, while its current artists would sign with Sony. While Sony BMG failed to win Parlophone (which ultimately went to Warner Music Group ), BMG acquired Mute Records ' back catalogue and licensed Depeche Mode and
2508-507: 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 April 2021,
2565-408: 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 . Sony renamed
2622-558: The suspension of operations and new releases in Russia, while Russian employees of Sony Music Group receive pay indefinitely. On September 8, Sony Music officially announced its final withdrawal from Russia. The company recalled all foreign catalogs from the Russian streaming services Yandex Music , Zvooq and VK Music, and tracks from AC/DC , Beyoncé , Britney Spears , Bring Me the Horizon and many other artists were removed. The Russian division
2679-493: The world. 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. In 1938, ARC was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) under the guidance of chief executive William S. Paley . The company
2736-469: Was already in trouble—it lost 16 percent of its value between 2004 and 2005.... Now it has taken a blow among tech-product opinion leaders. "We've never done it before, and we hope we'll never have [an] occasion to do it again but, for 2005, eWeek Labs awards a Stupid Tech Trick grand prize to Sony." eWeek Vol. 22, No.50 In October 2007, Sony BMG, alongside other large music firms, successfully sued Jammie Thomas for making 24 songs available for download on
2793-498: Was done in order to end price wars of the early 1990s among discounters such as Best Buy and Target . A settlement was reached in 2002 that included music publishers and distributors Sony Music, Warner Music , Bertelsmann Music Group , EMI Music and Universal Music . In restitution for price fixing , they agreed to pay a $ 67.4 million fine and distribute $ 75.7 million in CDs to public and non-profit groups but admitted no wrongdoing. It
2850-433: Was felt that it would reduce competition in that country's music industry significantly. Financial analysts covering the merger anticipated that up to 2,000 jobs would be cut as a result, saving Sony BMG approximately $ 350 million annually. The company's chief executive officer (CEO) was Rolf Schmidt-Holtz , who succeeded Andrew Lack on February 10, 2006. In the first half of 2005, the company's share of new releases in
2907-500: Was formed when Sony Music acquired Canadian assets of CBS Records in 1990 (itself formerly Columbia Records Canada in 1954). Sony Music Canada is operated by Sony Canada , which evolved from General Distributors or Gendis, which had been founded in Winnipeg in 1954 by Albert D. Cohen , who had made a deal with Sony to market its transistor radios in the same year. Sony Music UK is owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment in
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#17328553070402964-491: 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,
3021-410: 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
3078-462: Was one of the Big Four music companies and includes ownership and distribution of recording labels such as Arista Records , Columbia Records , Epic Records , J Records , Mchenry Records, Jive Records , RCA Victor Records , RCA Records , Legacy Recordings , Sonic Wave America and others. The merger affected all Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group companies worldwide except for Japan, where it
3135-598: Was reported that Dupri had been terminated from his post at Island. Later in the same year, it was rumored that So So Def had moved back to Sony, where it reportedly operated under Zomba once more. In 2010, Mississippi-based independent label Malaco Records distributed So So Def's release of the Why Did I Get Married Too? soundtrack. In 2014, So So Def partnered with Primary Wave for the release of Jagged Edge 's album J.E. Heartbreak 2 . In June 2016, So So Def partnered with Epic for current distribution. In 2024, Dupri signed
3192-599: 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 Paramount Global , retained
3249-564: Was to have teams in New York, LA and London. In 2022, Sony Music Entertainment acquired boutique branding and merchandising agency, Ceremony of Roses (CoR). CoR would handle SME's 'branding, design, media and events'. The newly acquired company would merge with Sony's existing merch division and continue under the CoR banner. The merger brought together artists like Adele , A$ AP Rocky , and Lil Nas X under one merchandising house. According to Sony,
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