The Big Three

Sony Music Entertainment (also called SME or Sony Music) is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation. The company, which evolved into Sony Music, was founded in 1929 as the American Record Corporation (ARC) through the merger of several smaller record companies.[3] In the depths of the Great Depression, the Columbia Phonograph Company (founded in 1888) in the U.S. (including its Okeh Records subsidiary) was acquired by ARC in 1934.

Warner Music Group (WMG) is a US-based business group and family of record labels. The largest American-owned music corporation, it is the third largest in the recording industry and one of the big four record companies. For three decades the conglomerate was known as WEA, which stood for Warner Bros.-Elektra-Atlantic Records; three major record companies that signed and developed musical acts and, in turn, distributed product for subsidiaries and other record labels.

The current incarnation of the company as Warner Music Group was formed in 2004 when it was spun off and made completely separate from Time Warner; as a result Time Warner no longer retains any ownership whatsoever in the Warner Music Group, despite its name. WMG also has a music publishing arm called Warner/Chappell Music, which is one of the world's largest music-publishing companies.

In May 2011, the company announced its sale to Access Industries Inc. The purchase of the company was completed on July 20, 2011; Atlantic, is a subsidiary Acto records, and stax records.

Universal Music Group (UMG) is an American multinational music company. It is the largest of the "big four" record companies by its leading market share and its multitude of global operations. Universal Music Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of French media conglomerate Vivendi.

Universal Music Group owns a music publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group, which became the world's largest following the 2007 acquisition of BMG Music Publishing.

The UMG corporate headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California, United States; EMI has become (taken over) a subsidiary company to universal music group.