Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands, and its operational headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. As the biggest music company in the world, it is one of the "Big Three" record labels, along with Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. Tencent acquired ten percent of Universal Music Group in March 2020 for €3 billion and acquired an additional ten percent stake in January 2021. Pershing Square Holdings later acquired ten percent of UMG before its IPO on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange. The French Bolloré family still owns 28 percent of UMG (18 percent directly, and ten percent through Vivendi, formerly Vivendi Universal, the Bolloré family's investment company). The company went public on September 21, 2021, at a valuation of €46 billion.

As of April 2024, UMG's catalogue includes over three million recordings and four million compositions.

History

Early history

The company's origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in September 1934, and its name and company logo originate from Carl Laemmle's Universal Pictures. Although the movie studio and the music business share a common history, today the former is part of Comcast and the latter an independent commercial entity. During World War II, many record companies donated their metal masters to recycling for the war effort. However, Universal was an exception and donated more than 200,000 of their historic master recordings to the Library of Congress. The Decca Record Co. Ltd. of England spun American Decca off in 1939. MCA Inc. merged with American Decca in 1962.