Warner Music Group facts for kids
.svg){kind=logo}
Logo used since November 2021
|
|
Headquarters in 1633 Broadway, New York City
|
|
|
Trade name
|
Warner Music Group |
|---|---|
|
Formerly
|
|
| Public subsidiary | |
| Traded as |
|
| ISIN | ISIN: [https://isin.toolforge.org/?language=en&isin=US9345502036 US9345502036] |
| Industry | |
| Founded | April 6, 1958 |
| Founder | Warner Bros. |
| Headquarters |
,
U.S.
|
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
|
| Revenue |  US$5.919 billion (2022) |
|
Operating income
|
US$0.714 billion (2022) |
| US$0.555 billion (2022) |
|
| Total assets | US$7.828 billion (2022) |
| Total equity | US$0.168 billion (2022) |
| Owners | Tencent (1.6%) |
|
Number of employees
|
5,900 (2021) |
| Parent | Access Industries (86.3% equity interest, 99.2% voting power) |
| Divisions | List of Warner Music Group labels |
| Subsidiaries |
|
Warner Music Group (often called WMG) is a huge American company that works with music. It is based in New York City. WMG is one of the three biggest music companies in the world. The other two are Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment.
WMG used to be part of a larger company called Time Warner. From 2005 to 2011, WMG was traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2011, a company called Access Industries bought WMG. Then, in 2020, WMG became a public company again. Its shares are now traded on Nasdaq.
WMG makes billions of dollars each year. It has over 3,500 employees and works in more than 50 countries. The company owns many famous music labels. These include Elektra Records, Reprise Records, Warner Records, Parlophone Records, and Atlantic Records. WMG also owns Warner Chappell Music, which is one of the world's largest music publishers.
Since 2018, WMG has also been involved in digital media. It bought a company called Uproxx.
Contents
- The Story of Warner Music Group
- Arts Music: Beyond Pop
- Music Publishing: Warner Chappell Music
- See also
The Story of Warner Music Group
Starting in the 1950s and 1960s
The film company Warner Bros. started Warner Bros. Records in 1958. They wanted their actors to record music for their own company. In 1963, Warner bought Reprise Records. This label was started by Frank Sinatra. This deal brought Mo Ostin to Warner, who helped the company become very successful.
In 1967, Warner Bros. bought Atlantic Records. This label was founded in 1947. This purchase brought many famous artists to Warner. These included Neil Young and groups like Buffalo Springfield. Atlantic Records also had many classic songs by artists like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.
Atlantic Records also signed many rock and pop bands. These included Led Zeppelin, Cream, and Crosby Stills & Nash. These bands helped Warner become a major player in the music world.
In 1969, Kinney National Company bought Warner Bros. The music group was briefly called Kinney Music. This was because of old laws that stopped the labels from trading as one. Steve Ross led the company through its most successful time.
How Atlantic Records Gained Power
In 1969, there was some tension between the leaders of the different music labels. Ahmet Ertegun, who led Atlantic Records, wanted more control. He worked to make sure his label had more power.
Kinney National Company bought Warner Bros. for a lot of money. Steve Ross, the head of Kinney, focused on the movie part of the company. He let the music managers run their labels, as they were making a lot of money.
Ahmet Ertegun helped Mo Ostin and Joe Smith get new jobs. They became the new leaders of Warner Bros. Records. This made Ertegun the main leader of the entire Warner music division.
The 1970s: Growing Bigger
In the 1970s, the Kinney group became very strong in the music business. In 1970, Kinney bought Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records. This added famous rock bands like the Doors to their roster. It also brought a rich collection of folk and classical music.
The founder of Elektra, Jac Holzman, stayed for two years. Then, Steve Ross asked him to explore new technologies. The company also opened offices in Canada and Australia.
Warner-Elektra-Atlantic and Global Reach
After buying Elektra, the company created its own distribution system. It was first called Kinney Music. By 1972, it was renamed Warner-Elektra-Atlantic (WEA). This name was changed to Warner Music in 1991.
WEA was one of the first to support heavy metal music. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple were signed to WEA labels. American metal bands like Alice Cooper also joined.
Before this, the company used other labels to sell its music overseas. Now, WEA started its own offices in other countries. This included Australia, the UK, Europe, and Japan. This helped them sell music all over the world.
In 1971, Warner partnered with CBS Records in the UK. This helped them press and distribute music there. This deal made the Warner-CBS partnership very big in the UK music market.
In 1971, Warner also got the rights to the Rolling Stones' new label, Rolling Stones Records. This was a big win for the company.
One smart investment was Fleetwood Mac. The band signed with Reprise in the early 1970s. After some tough years, they became hugely successful. Their albums like Rumours sold millions of copies.
Warner Communications (1972-1990)
In 1972, Kinney National changed its name to Warner Communications Inc. This happened after a financial issue.
In 1972, Warner bought David Geffen's Asylum Records. This brought artists like Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles. These artists were very important for WEA's success.
In 1976, Warner bought the Atari computer company. They also helped create MTV. But in the mid-1980s, Warner sold many of these businesses.
In 1977, Warner Bros. Music started Pacific Records. Alan O'Day was the first artist signed. His song "Undercover Angel" became a number one hit.
New artists in the late 1970s made WEA strong for the 1980s. A deal with Seymour Stein's Sire Records brought in Madonna. Elektra signed the Cars. Warner Bros. signed Prince. These artists became some of the biggest sellers of the decade.
WEA also distributed music for other independent labels. These included Island Records, which had artists like Bob Marley and U2.
The 1980s: International Growth
In 1982, WEA International Inc. was created. This unit handled the distribution of Warner Bros., Elektra, and Atlantic releases in other countries.
In 1987, Warner bought Chappell Music for US$275 million. WEA also started WEA Manufacturing in 1986. In 1988, WEA took over the German classical label Teldec.
In 1989, Warner Communications merged with Time Inc. to form Time Warner. This deal was completed in 1990. After the merger, WEA continued to buy more independent labels around the world.
The 1990s: A Time of Change
In the 1990s, Time Warner was the largest media company globally. By 1991, Warner's music labels made over US$3 billion in sales. Warner Music was the new name for WEA in 1991.
Atlantic Records started new labels like East West Records and Interscope Records. Later, Interscope was sold to MCA Music Entertainment.
In 1992, Warner Music faced a big public issue. A song called "Cop Killer" by Ice-T caused a lot of controversy. Many people were upset about the song. Warner Music was heavily criticized. Ice-T later reissued his album without the song. Warner Music ended its contract with Ice-T.
Also in 1992, Time Warner bought half of Rhino Records. This allowed Rhino to re-release old songs from Atlantic's collection.
In 1994, Seagram bought a part of Time Warner. Warner/Chappell Music became the world's largest owner of song copyrights. In 1996, Time Warner also bought Turner Broadcasting System. This brought in popular shows like Seinfeld and movies like The Lord of the Rings.
The 1990s also saw many changes in leadership at Warner Music. There were disagreements among the top executives. This led to many important people leaving the company.
In 1998, Time Warner bought the rest of Rhino Records. Rhino then started re-releasing music from Warner/Reprise and Elektra/Asylum.
The 2000s: New Ownership
_(cropped).jpg)
In 2000, Time Warner merged with AOL to create AOL Time Warner. This new company tried to buy other music companies but did not succeed. In 2003, the company dropped "AOL" from its name.
In 2002, there was a settlement about how CDs were priced. Warner Music and other companies agreed to pay a fine. They also gave CDs to public groups. They did not admit to doing anything wrong.
To reduce its debt, Time Warner sold Warner Music Group in 2004. A group of investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. bought it for US$2.6 billion. This made WMG an independent company. Warner Bros. Records later changed its name to Warner Records in 2019.
WMG started cutting costs after becoming independent. They sold off parts of the company that were not making much money. For example, they sold their CD-pressing plants.
In 2005, Warner Bros. Publications, which printed sheet music, was sold to Alfred Music Publishing.
In 2006, WMG turned down an offer to be bought by EMI. WMG then offered to buy EMI, but EMI also said no. In 2009, WMG bought Rykodisc and Roadrunner Records.
In September 2006, WMG made a new deal with YouTube. This allowed WMG to sell ads on its artists' music videos. They also shared money from videos made by users that used WMG music.
In 2007, Warner announced it would sell digital music without digital rights management (DRM) through AmazonMP3. This meant people could play the music on any device. In 2008, Atlantic Records became the first major label to make more than half its sales from digital music.
In 2008, WMG and other labels invested in Spotify, a new music streaming service.
The 2010s: New Ownership and Expansion
_(cropped).jpg)
In May 2011, Access Industries, a company owned by Len Blavatnik, bought WMG. The deal was worth US$3.3 billion. WMG became a private company. In August 2011, Stephen Cooper became the new CEO.
Buying and Selling EMI Labels
In 2013, Warner bought Parlophone from Universal Music Group. Parlophone was a part of EMI. This deal also included EMI Classics. The EMI Classics artists joined Warner Classics.
To make a deal with other music groups, WMG agreed to sell off some music collections. They sold over $200 million worth of music to independent labels. For example, Radiohead's music was sold to XL Recordings. Many other artists' music was also sold to different labels.
Growing the Business
In October 2012, WMG signed a deal with Google's music service. In June 2013, WMG grew into Russia by buying Gala Records. Later that year, Warner Music Russia agreed to distribute music from Disney Music Group.
In 2017, WMG started a TV and film division called Warner Music Entertainment. This division works on TV shows and movies related to music.
In February 2022, Warner bought a large part of Divo Music, a distribution label in South India.
International Labels
In November 2013, Warner Music's releases in the Middle East started to be distributed by Universal Music Group. Sony Music India took over distribution in India and other South Asian countries.
In April 2014, WMG bought the Chinese record label Gold Typhoon. In April 2016, WMG agreed to distribute most of BMG Rights Management's music worldwide.
In May 2016, WMG bought the Indonesian label PT Indo Semar Sakti. Warner Music UK also launched The Firepit, a creative center in London. In June 2016, Warner Music bought the Swedish compilation label X5 Music Group.
In September 2017, WMG bought the Dutch EDM label Spinnin' Records. In February 2018, Warner Music opened a new office in Beirut, Lebanon. This office covers 17 markets in North Africa and the Middle East.
In January 2019, WMG signed a deal with Doğan Media Group in Turkey. In May 2019, Warner Music Finland bought the hip-hop label Monsp Records. In July 2019, Warner Music Slovakia bought Forza Music. In February 2021, WMG invested in the Saudi Arabian record label Rotana Records.
Elektra Music Group and Other Investments
In July 2017, Warner Music bought the concert website Songkick.
On October 1, 2018, Warner Music Group launched Elektra Music Group. This is a separate music company with labels like Elektra Records and Roadrunner Records. This brought back the original Warner-Elektra-Atlantic (WEA) setup.
In August 2018, Warner Music bought Uproxx Media Group. In September 2018, WMG bought the German merchandise company EMP Merchandising.
In October 2018, Warner Music Group started the WMG Boost fund. This fund helps new music businesses. In 2019, several Warner Music labels moved into a new building in Los Angeles.
The 2020s: Digital and Public Again
On March 9, 2020, WMG expanded to India. They created the Warner Music India unit in Mumbai.
In August 2020, Warner Music bought IMGN Media, a company based in Tel Aviv and New York. In September 2020, WMG bought the online hip-hop magazine HipHopDX. In 2021, WMG invested in the gaming platform Roblox.
Warner Music Group became a public company again on June 3, 2020. They raised almost $2 billion on Nasdaq. This made WMG a publicly traded company once more. On June 12, 2020, Tencent bought a small part of Warner Music's shares.
In December 2020, WMG partnered with TikTok. This deal allows TikTok users to use WMG music in their videos.
In January 2023, Robert Kyncl became the new CEO of WMG.
In July 2023, Warner Music Group partnered with Canva, a design platform. This allows Canva users to add music clips to their designs. Also in July 2023, WMG made another music-licensing deal with TikTok.
In September 2023, WMG opened a new creative center in Berlin. In October 2023, they opened another creative hub in Amsterdam.
Arts Music: Beyond Pop
On June 6, 2017, Warner Music Group started a new division called Arts Music, Inc.. This division focuses on music that is not mainstream pop. It includes labels for:
- Classical music
- Jazz music
- Children's music
- Musical theater
- Film scores
This division includes Warner Classics. It also works with Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records, a company that makes musical theater music.
In November 2018, Arts Music partnered with Sesame Workshop. They plan to bring back the Sesame Street Records label. In June 2019, WMG bought First Night Record, a company that records musical theater shows.
Music Publishing: Warner Chappell Music
Warner Chappell Music has a long history, going back to 1811. That's when Chappell & Company, a sheet music seller, started in London. In 1929, Jack L. Warner of Warner Bros. Pictures started Music Publishers Holding Company. This company bought music copyrights to use in films. In 1987, Warner Communications bought Chappell & Company.
Warner Bros. Publications, which printed music, was sold in 2005.
Warner Music Group controls the rights to many famous songs. These include works by Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers. In the past, Chappell Music also helped arrange music for Broadway shows.
See also
In Spanish: Warner Music Group para niños
- List of record labels
- List of Warner Music Group artists
- List of Warner Music Group labels
