Editing Record label (section)

== Major labels ==

=== Present ===

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Major record label
! Year founded
! Headquarters
! Divisions
! Global market share<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/422926/record-companies-market-share-worldwide-physical-digital-revenues/ | title=Global record companies market share 2022 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Universal Music Group]] ({{EuronextAmsterdam|UMG|NL0015000IY2}})
| align="center" | {{start date and age|1934|9}}
| [[Hilversum]], [[North Holland]], Netherlands (corporate) <br> [[Santa Monica, California]], United States (operational)
| [[List of Universal Music Group labels]]
| 31.9%
|-
| [[Sony Music|Sony Music Entertainment]]
| align=center |{{Start date and age|1929|9|9}}
| [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States
| [[List of Sony Music labels]]
| 22.1%
|-
| [[Warner Music Group]] ({{NASDAQ|WMG}})
| align=center |{{Start date and age|1958|4|6}}
| [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], United States
| [[List of Warner Music Group labels]]
| 16%
|}

=== Past ===
{{Timeline of Major Record Labels}}

Record labels are often under the control of a corporate umbrella organization called a "music [[Corporate group|group]]". A music group is usually affiliated to an international [[conglomerate (company)|conglomerate]] "[[holding company]]", which often has non-music divisions as well. A music group controls and consists of music-publishing companies, record (sound recording) manufacturers, record distributors, and record labels. Record companies (manufacturers, distributors, and labels) may also constitute a "record group" which is, in turn, controlled by a music group. The constituent companies in a music group or record group are sometimes marketed as being "divisions" of the group.

{{Anchor|Major labels 1988–1999 (Big Six)}}From 1929 to 1998, there were six major record labels, known as the Big Six:<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Rise And Fall Of Major Record Labels|url=https://www.arkatechbeatz.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-major-record-labels/|access-date=5 May 2021|website=www.arkatechbeatz.com|language=en-US|archive-date=9 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509075939/https://www.arkatechbeatz.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-major-record-labels/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

# [[Warner Music Group]]
# [[EMI]]
# [[Sony Music]] (known as CBS Records until January 1991)
# [[Bertelsmann Music Group|BMG]] (formed in 1985 as RCA/Ariola International)
# [[Universal Music Group]] (known as MCA Music until 1996)
# [[PolyGram]]

{{Anchor|Major labels 1999–2004 (Big Five)}}PolyGram was merged into Universal Music Group (UMG) in 1999, leaving the remaining record labels to be known as the Big Five.

{{Anchor|Major labels 2004–2012 (Big Four)}}In 2004, Sony and BMG agreed to a joint venture and merged their recorded music division to create the [[Sony BMG]] label (which would be renamed Sony Music Entertainment after a 2008 merger); BMG kept its music publishing division separate from Sony BMG and later sold BMG Music Publishing to UMG. In 2007, the remaining record labels—then known as the Big Four—controlled about 70% of the [[world music market]], and about 80% of the United States music market.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.copynot.org/Pages/The%20big%20four%20Record%20Companies.html |title=Copyright Law, Treaties and Advice |publisher=Copynot.org |access-date=14 November 2013 |archive-date=19 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619074235/http://www.copynot.org/Pages/The%20big%20four%20Record%20Companies.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first = Steve|last = Jobs|title = Thoughts on Music|date = 6 February 2007|website = Apple|url = https://www.apple.com/fr/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/ |url-status =dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103083842/https://www.apple.com/fr/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/ |archive-date=3 January 2009 }}</ref>

{{Anchor|Big Three|Big 3|big three|3|Major labels since 2012|Major labels after collapse of EMI|Major labels since 2012 (Big Three)}}In 2012, the major divisions of [[EMI]] were sold off separately by owner [[Citigroup]]: most of EMI's recorded music division was absorbed into UMG; EMI Music Publishing was absorbed into Sony/ATV Music Publishing; finally, EMI's [[Parlophone]] and [[Virgin Classics]] labels were absorbed into [[Warner Music Group|Warner Music]] Group (WMG) in July 2013.<ref>Joshua R. Wueller, [https://ssrn.com/abstract=2293412 ''Mergers of Majors: Applying the Failing Firm Doctrine in the Recorded Music Industry''], 7 Brook. J. Corp. Fin. & Com. L. 589, 601–04 (2013).</ref> This left the so-called Big Three labels.

{{Anchor|Big Three|Big 3|big three|3|Major labels since 2012|Major labels after collapse of EMI|Major labels since 2012 (Big Three)}}In 2020 and 2021, both WMG and UMG had their [[Initial public offering|IPO]] with WMG starting trading at [[Nasdaq]] and UMG starting trading at [[Euronext Amsterdam]] and leaving only Sony Music as wholly-owned subsidiary of an international conglomerate ([[Sony Entertainment]] which in turn is owned by [[Sony|Sony Group Corporation]]).