According to reports, media conglomerates AOL
Time Warner and Bertelsman are in preliminary talks to merge their recorded
music divisions.
Both companies have suffered losses during the
first quarter this year and are considering a 50/50 merger to better compete
with Universal Music Group, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal and the #1 leader
in music sales worldwide, powered by such rappers as Eminem, 50 Cent, Ja Rule,
Dr. Dre, Nelly and others.
Presently, Bertelsman Music Group is #5 worldwide
in market share thanks to subsidiaries like Arista (Outkast, TLC, Usher…)
and Jive (Britney Spears, Mystikal, Nivea). AOL Time Warner’s music subsidiary,
Warner Music Group, is #4 worldwide and boasts several labels of its own including
Atlantic (Fat Joe, Lil Kim, Sean Paul) and Elektra (Fabolous, Missy Elliot,
Now City).
Here is a breakdown of the top companies and
their respective companies:
#1 Universal Music Group:
Interscope
Island Def Jam
MCA
Motown
#2 Sony Music EntertainmentColumbi:
Epic
#3 EMI Group:
Capitol
Virgin
#4 Warner Music Group:
Atlantic
Elektra
#5 Bertelsman Music Group (BMG):
Arista
Jive
