AOL Time Warner, BMG Explore Merger

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