Sony Music

Sony Music Entertainment (commonly referred to as Sony Music) is an American global music company. Owned by the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Corporation of America.

It was originally founded in 1981 as a joint venture between CBS/Fox Records and Sony Corporation to distribute CBS/Fox's material in the Japanese market. In 1984, it renamed to Sony Records Group and launched its own record label to promote Japanese talent, most notably Yellow Magic Orchestra. In 1989, the company renamed to Sony Music Entertainment, with it acquired Island, Def Jam Recordings, and CBS Masterworks. CBS/Fox dissolved in 1990 and was acquired by 20th Century Fox Records, becoming Columbia Music Group (now part of EMI Music) and removing Sony from distribution of Columbia's catalogue in Japan.

Its flagship labels include Island Records, Def Jam Recordings, Sony Classical Records, and Provident Label Group.

As of 2020, Sony Music Entertainment is the third-largest of the "Big Six" record companies, behind EMI Music and followed by Warner Music Group. Its music publishing division Sony Music Publishing is one of the largest music publishers in the world. From 2009-2020, Sony owned 50% of Syco Entertainment, which operates some of the world's most successful reality TV formats, including Got Talent and The X Factor with Simon Cowell. Cowell acquired Sony's stake in 2020.

On July 17, 2019, Sony announced that Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Publishing Group would merge to become Sony Music Group. The merger was completed on August 1, 2019.