Explore Jobs
Find Specific Jobs
Explore Careers
Explore Professions
Best Companies
Explore Companies
Sony Music Entertainment history
Sony Music Entertainment company history timeline
The American Record Corporation (ARC) was founded in 1929 through a merger of several record companies.
The company grew for the next several years, acquiring other brands such as the Columbia Phonograph Company, including its Okeh Records subsidiary, in 1934.
In 1938, ARC was acquired by the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) under the guidance of the chief executive William S. Paley.
The company was later renamed Columbia Recording Corporation, and changed again to Columbia Records Inc. in 1947.
Columbia's international arm was launched in 1962 under the name "CBS Records", as the company only owned the rights to the Columbia name in North America.
In 1964, the company began acquiring record companies in other countries for its CBS Records International unit and established its own UK distribution outfit with the acquisition of Oriole Records.
By 1966, Columbia was renamed as CBS Records and was a separate unit of the parent company, CBS-Columbia Group.
In July 1967, the first round of capital deregulation authorized foreign ownership of companies in designated industries.
In summer 1967, Harvey Schein (then president of CBS International and later president of Sony Corporation of America) visited Japan to talk to various record companies.
In March 1968, CBS/Sony Records Inc. was born.
In March 1968, CBS and Sony formed CBS/Sony Records, a Japanese business joint venture.
The process of developing the software side of the business had begun in 1968 with the creation of CBS/Sony Records.
In 1971, CBS Records was expanded into its own "CBS Records Group", with Clive Davis as its administrative vice president and general manager.
In 1973, the company was renamed CBS/Sony Inc., and a new head office building was constructed using the profits made in the five years since its founding.
In August 1978 EPIC/Sony Inc. was established followed by CBS/Sony Publishing Inc. in February of the following year.
Ozawa succeeded Ohga as president of CBS/Sony in 1980, and he continued to develop and grow the group of CBS/Sony companies in the years that followed.
To mark its 15th anniversary, the company was renamed the CBS/Sony Group Inc. in 1983.
By 1983, the CBS/Sony Group's success and accumulated earnings were so impressive that the company was able to build factories and invest in the CD format drawing solely on its own resources, without any injection of funds from either Sony Corporation or CBS.
At the end of 1986, under instructions from Morita and Ohga, Michael Schulhof who was then vice chairman of SONAM, began discussions with CBS Chairman William S. Paley, CBS President Laurence A. Tisch, and CBS Records President Walter R. Yetnikoff.
The negotiations, which covered such issues as the price of the acquisition, continued for almost a year before their conclusion in 1987.
Rate Sony Music Entertainment's efforts to communicate its history to employees.
Sony Music Entertainment jobs
Do you work at Sony Music Entertainment?
Is Sony Music Entertainment's vision a big part of strategic planning?
Sony Music Entertainment competitors
Company Name  | Founded Date | Revenue | Employee Size | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BMG Entertainment Inc | 1986 | - | 1,100 | - |
| Universal Music Group | 1934 | $6.8B | 8,319 | 56 |
| Warner Music Group | 1929 | $6.0B | 5,500 | 118 |
| Columbia Records | 1889 | $34.0M | 750 | - |
| Atlantic Records | 1947 | $21.0M | 350 | 3 |
| Allied Integrated Marketing | 1985 | $12.0M | 299 | - |
| Social Media Link | 2009 | - | 31 | - |
| NBCUniversal | 2004 | $33.0B | 35,000 | 1,018 |
| Capitol Records | 1942 | $900.0M | 3,000 | - |
| Def Jam Recordings | 1984 | $25.0M | 125 | - |
Sony Music Entertainment history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Sony Music Entertainment, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Sony Music Entertainment. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Sony Music Entertainment. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Sony Music Entertainment. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Sony Music Entertainment and its employees or that of Zippia.
Sony Music Entertainment may also be known as or be related to American Record Corporation (1929–1938) Columbia Records, USA (1938–1957) CBS Records (1957–1991) Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (first incarnation; 1991–2004) Sony BMG Music Entertainment (2004–2008), Sony Corporation of America, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment Inc and Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.