Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group, Inc. (legally known as UMG Recordings, Inc., abbreviated as UMG) is an American-French worldwide music corporation that operates as a subsidiary of Paris-based French media conglomerate Vivendi. It claims to be the largest music corporation in the world. UMG also owns Universal Music Publishing Group, which is cited as the second largest music publishing company in the world. Universal Music Group's global corporate headquarters are in Santa Monica, California, United States.
History
Early history
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 1934. The Decca Record Co. Ltd. of England spun American Decca off in 1939.MCA Inc. merged with American Decca in 1962. The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram in May 1998 and merged it with Universal Music Group in early 1999. However, the name had first appeared in 1996 when MCA Music Entertainment Group was renamed Universal Music Group. The PolyGram acquisition included Deutsche Grammophon which traces its ancestry to Berliner Gramophone making Deutsche Grammophon UMG's oldest unit. UMG's Canadian unit traces its ancestry to a Berliner Gramophone breakaway firm the Compo Company.