Warner Music Group Corp.
Introduction
Commonly abbreviated as WMG, Warner Music Group Corporation is an American global entertainment, musical, and record label conglomerate. The musical corporation was founded in 1958, approximately 64 years ago, and has headquarters mounted in heart of New York City. Warner Music Group Corporation is part of the “big three” recording and musical companies in the United States, and by extension, it is the world’s third largest music and record company, with the Universal Music Group (UMG) as well as the Sony Music Entertainment (SME) taking the first and second positions respectively. Warner Music Group Corporation was once part of Time Warner which is now referred to as Warner Bros Discovery. Warner Music Group Corporation ranks in the 576th position on the Fortune 500 list, and the company trades publicly on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) market under the ticker name, WMG. However, in 2011, the corporation pronounced its privatization and sale to Access Industries. Nonetheless, in 2020, the corporation was later reinstated and recorded its second Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Nasdaq, thus, indicating the company’s public corporation status. In its entirety, Warner Music Group Corporation has a total number of 3, 500 individuals in its workforce and operates in more than 50 different countries across the world. In this article, however, you will be shown a more detailed, comprehensive, and extensive review of Warner Music Group Corp. The kickoff will begin with the company’s key facts and it will flow to all aspects of its operations, and dealings. As such, all relevant information detailing its key facts, its historical background, its divisions, its financial overview, as well as its pros and cons will be concisely covered to enable you to understand the significant and major elements of the fastening-oriented company as quickly as possible.
Key Facts
Founding Year: Warner Music Group Corporation was founded in the year1958, approximately 64 years ago.
Industrial Ranking: Warner Music Group Corporation is proud to be ranked and enlisted on the Fortune 500. The corporation ranks in the 576th position, indicating the company as one of the largest corporations with higher revenue in the United States.
Company Type: A Public Corporation (PLC)
Market Reach: Warner Music Group Corporation operates and has its offices mounted strategically in more than 50 different countries across the world.
Industry Type: Entertainment & Music
Trading Type: Warner Music Group Corporation is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) market under the ticker name, WMG.
International Security Identification Number (ISIN): US 934 55 020 36
Workforce Strength: Warner Music Group Corporation has a total number of 5, 900 employees in its workforce globally.
Divisions: Flagship Labels, Atlantic Records Group, 300 Elektra Entertainment, Warner Records, Parlophone Label Group, Rhino Entertainment, Alternative Distribution Alliance
Subsidiary: Arts Music, Inc.
History
Warner Music Group Corporation has a broad and long-shot history since its inception in 1958. The corporation had gone through several evolution stages until it attains its current status. In this section, however, a quick overview of the company’s transition would be addressed for the sake of brevity.
1950s – 1970s
In the year 1958, Warner Bros. Records was founded in a bid to prevent Warner Bros. Artists and actors (who have the potential to do exploits in music) from recording in its competitors’ record label, and most importantly, to also capitalize and dive fully into the music business. In the year 1963, Warner Bros., acquired Reprise Records, operating under the leadership of Frank Sinatra in a bid to have more control and expertise over its recordings. However, as a result of the purchase of Reprise Records, Warner Bros., gained the service of Mo Ostin, whose value-added services led to the successes and achievements of Warner/Reprise. In 1967, Warner Bros. was bought by Seven Arts Productions, hence, changing the company’s name to Warner Bros.-Seven Arts. And in the same year, the corporation also bought Atlantic Records. Atlantic’s subsidiary and affiliate Atco Records and Stax Records paved way for Warner Bros., prominence in the industry. The acquisition led to the return of Atlantic’s lucrative catalog back which include classic recordings by the Drifters, the coasters, Ray Charles, et cetera.
During the 1970s Elektra Records and its sister label Nonesuch Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros., were bought by the Kinney Group a company that builds up a prominent position in the music industry. The acquisition was sealed with a total sum of $ 10 Million USD, and that led to the onboarding of leading rock acts. Additionally, the acquisition also led to the return of the renowned Nonesuch catalog of classical and world music as well as folk music catalog. In the year 1970, the music group opens its offshore offices in Australia and Canada respectively. However, during this time, the company’s name was changed and dropped the “Seven Arts” moniker to become known only as Warner Bros.
1980s – 2000s
In the year 1982, Warner Bros. created WEA International Inc., a name-only unit that appears exclusively in its copyright, was launched in a bid to cater to all the corporation distribution, including Warner Bros., Elektra, and Atlantic which altogether form the acronym “WEA” and are meant for foreign release titles. In the year 1989, Warner Communications announced that it would merge eth Time Inc., to form Time Warner, and in 1990, the acquisition deal was completed. Throughout the 1990s, Time Warner emerges as the largest media company across the globe with total assets of 20 Billion USD and annual revenues recorded in relative amounts.
In the year 1992, Warner Bros. Music witnessed one of the most severe public relations crises in its history when a vital controversy sprouted over the provocative Warner Bros. Release “Cop Killer” from the self-released album by Body Count, led by Ice T. However, unfortunately for Warner Bros., the song eventual sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Rios and the confluence of the events led to the song being put under the national spotlight. In 1994, the Canadian beverage giant operating under the name, Seagram acquired a 14.5% stake in Time Warner as well as the Warner Publishing Division which is now known as Warner/Chappell Music bought by CPP/Belwin, emerging into the world’s largest owner of music copyrights as well as the world’s largest owner and publisher of printed songs. In the year 1998, the corporation’s copyright property continues to evolve and expend its publishing coast, as such, it bought a 90% share stake in the Italian music and recording publishing group, in Nuova, Font Cetra. Similarly, in 1998, Time Warner also bought the last 50% of the Rhino Records label they are yet to own. In the early, the 2000s, Time Warner conjoined and merged with a leading North American company dealing with internet services, and operating under the name, AOL, and together, the companies formed a conglomerate, which operates under the name, AOL Time Warner. In the year 2006, the company signed a licensing deal with the multinational video streaming service, operating under the name, YouTube.
2010s – 2020s
In the year 2012, Warner Music Group signs its deal with Google Service, becoming one of the last top labels to sign with Google’s music services. In the year 2017, Warner Music Group formed a film and TV division, operating under the name, Warner Music Entertainment, which was led by former MGM executive Charlie Cohen. In the same year, Warner Music Group bought Artery Recordings, and a Dutch EDM label, operating under the name, Spinning Records. And in the year 2018, Warner Music Group extends to the Middle East, covering a total sum of 17 markets across the Middle East and North Africa. On March 9, 2020, Warner Music Group extends to India, forming Warner Music India located in Mumbai. And lastly, in the year 2020, Warner Music Group signed a partnership contract with Tik Tok to help provide music to their platform to allow users to use their content.
Divisions
Warner Music Group operates a wide range of musical divisions, which include:
FLAGSHIP LABELS
ATLANTIC RECORDS GROUP
300 ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT
WARNER RECORDS
PARLOPHONE LABEL GROUP
RHINO ENTERTAINMENT
ALTERNATIVE DISTRIBUTION ALLIANCE
Financials
Revenue: 5.301 Billion USD
Operating : 609 Million USD
Net Income: 304 Million USD
Total Assets: 7.211 Billion USD
Total Equity: 31 Million USD
Pros & Cons
According to reviews on Glassdoor, below are the outlined pros and cons of Warner Music Group as reviewed by employees
Pros
Great People to Work with
Good Benefits
Work/Life Balance
Hands-on Experience and Activity
Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity
Cons
Low salary
Workplace Politics
Slow Paced Career Growth
Poor Management
Conclusion
In a nutshell, Warner Music Group Corp. Is no doubt an amusing and intriguing case to study as a result of its long-shot years in the industry, its innovative milestones as well as its commitment to customer service. As seen in the above-detailed history that the company leverages its industrial insights and expertise to attain such a great feat and it’s still dedicated to doing the same in years to come. Finally, I hope your expectation highlighted in the introductory portion of this paper have been addressed. However, on the off chance that you are yet to completely absorb all that is drafted in this piece at once, I recommend that you review it over and over again until you are in sync with the entire information.
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