WEEK 1 - Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate based in Los Angeles. It is one of the “big three” recording companies as it is the third largest in the global music industry – after universal music group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME).
Some example of the artists signed under WMG are Ed Sheeran, Kylie Minogue, Michael Bublé, Prince, R.E.M. etc

TIMELINE

1963 – Warner Bros. merge with Reprise

1967 – Seven Arts buys Warner Bros. Studios and is renamed as Warner-Seven Arts. At the same time, the company also buys Atlantic Records

1969 – Steve Ross’s Kinney National Co. acquires Warner Seven Arts. 

1970 - A year later, Elektra and Nonesuch become a part of Kinney National. In the same year, Kinney National is redubbed as Warner Communications and forms Warner Elektra – Atlantic (WEA Corp.)

This is when the company becomes the first major music distribution company in the US – marking the origins of the Warner Music Group.

1971 – Neshui Ertegun forms WEA international – which provides the foundations of WMG’s international divisions.

1973 – Warner purchases Asylum Records.

1978 – WWG purchases half of Sire Records, its only until 1980 when the company purchases the whole record company.

1987 – Warner Communications acquire Chappell & Co. to create Warner/Chappell Music Publishing. 

At this point in time, the company was the world’s largest music publisher and Warner Communications merges with Time Inc. to form Time Warner.

1998 – WMG acquire Rhino.

2000 – WMG offer a digital library to download in the US and Canada.

2001 – WMG begins to sell its music through iTunes and acquires Word entertainment.

2002 – WMG becomes the first the first major music company to deliver a functioning wireless music service and sells its first MP3 downloads.

2003 – Time Warner announce the sale of WMG to a private investment team lead by Edgar Bronfman Jr. in the same year, the company partners with Sprint to create a comprehensive streaming music service as well as offering the UK a library of digital downloads.

2004 – WEA became Warner Bros. UK and began to sell its records through iTunes in the UK. WMG also launches an environmental focused company - which was re-branded as WMGreen in 2008.

2006 – WMG purchases Ryko Corporation to form Independent Label Group with the aim to empower labels and artists in the independent community.

2007 – WMG announces that it will sell DRM-free music through Amazon’s MP3 music store. In the same year WMG enters joint venture with Sinatra family to form Frank Sinatra Enterprises; purchases a major stake in Roadrunner Records; and acquires production music library company Non-Stop Music.

WMG is also named one of America’s “Most Admired Companies” in the same year.

2008 – Warner Music makes its complete music catalog available DRM-free through 7digital. WMG also partnered with MySpace to form MySpace Music joint ventures.

2009 – WMG named one of the world’s “50 most innovative companies” by Fast Magazine. Warner Music also makes Vodafone customers the first to have 100% major label coverage for DRM-free over-the-air downloads.

2010 – WMG announce music roster passes 50% for the first time.

2011 – Access Industries Inc. purchases WMG for $3.3billion making the company wholly owned subsidiary of Access and is no longer publicly-traded of the NYSE.

2013 – WMG acquire Parolophone Label Group.