Case Study 2

Universal Music
Group (UMG)
XAVIER KORDA

Early History
Universal Music Group (UMG) was first named Music
Company of America (MCA Inc.)
Universal Music was once the music company attached
to film studio Universal Pictures
Its origins go back to the formation of the American
branch of Decca Records in September 1934
MCA Inc. merged with American Decca in 1962

Recent History (Merging)

In 2004 Universal Studios was acquired by General Electric and
merging with GE's NBC
It is now owned by Vivendi
Universal Music Group was cast under separate management
from the eponymous film studio
On November 12, 2011, it was announced that EMI would sell its
recorded music operations to Universal Music Group for $1.9
billion and its music publishing operations to a Sony-led
consortium for $2.2 billion
Universal Music Group completed their acquisition of EMI on
September 28, 2012

Recent History (Reorganization)

On February 8, 2013, UMG sold to Warner Music Group the
Parlophone Music Group consisting of Parlophone Records,
Chrysalis Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics and EMI Records
On March 20, 2013, UMG announced the worldwide extension of
their exclusive distribution deal with the Disney Music Group,
excluding Japan and Russia
DMG's labels and artists have access to UMG's roster of
multiplatinum and Grammy Award-winning producers and
songwriters on a worldwide basis.
The exclusive deal also saw UMG granted unlimited access to all
rights pertaining to Disney's 85-year back catalog of soundtracks
and albums

Ownership
UMG controls 29.85% of the market
Major music labels owned by UMG:
1. Interscope-Geffen-A&M
2. Capitol Music Group
3. Republic Records
4. Def Jam Recordings
5. Caroline Records
6. The Verve Label Group

Biggest Artists
Gwen Stefani
50 Cent
Marian Carey
U2
Kanye West

Distribution
CDs are the physical copy
Streaming services like Vevo are also used to display
the music videos
ITunes or other music downloading platforms offer sales
on Phones or other music listening devices

Production
UMG uses its subsidiary, Universal Music Production
Group, to deal with all of the copyrights and production
Originally MCA Publishing Group, is the second largest
publishing group owns or administers more than 3
million copyrights
Affiliated with well known artists such as Adele, U2,
Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Imagine Dragons, J. Cole,
Eminem

Marketing
UMG has a whole division focused on the marketing,
promotion, and coordinated releases
Executive vice president is Andrew Kronfeld, he, and a
small team, are in charge of UMGs globalized marketing
strategies
He also insures that artists are receiving the ideal
marketing and creative development resources to grow
their careers