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Warner Music Group: History and Key Artists

Warner Music Group (WMG) is the third member of the music industry's "Big Three." Its story is inseparable from Hollywood: it began as a film studio's side project and grew into a global music company with some of the most storied labels in the business — Atlantic, Elektra, Warner Records, and Parlophone.

A Film Studio's Music Business

Warner's music roots go back to 1929, when Jack Warner, president of Warner Bros. Pictures, established the Music Publishers Holding Company to acquire music copyrights cheaply for the studio's films. The record label itself came later: Warner Bros. Records was founded in March 1958, after the studio watched one of its contracted stars score a hit with a rival label. The new label was built to keep the studio's music — and its profits — in-house.

Building an Empire, Label by Label

Warner grew by acquiring legendary labels. In 1963, it acquired Reprise Records, the label founded by Frank Sinatra, who wanted more control over his own music. In the late 1960s, it brought in Atlantic Records, famous for landmark soul recordings by Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding, along with a catalogue including Ray Charles. In 1969, the Kinney National Company acquired the Warner group and added Elektra Records, home to acts like The Doors, plus David Geffen's Asylum Records, which brought the Eagles and Joni Mitchell into the fold.

Ownership Changes and the Modern Era

In 2004, Warner Music Group was sold by Time Warner, splitting from the Warner Bros. movie company. In 2011, Access Industries, the investment firm led by Len Blavatnik, acquired WMG and took it private. In 2013, Universal sold the Parlophone Label Group to Warner to gain antitrust approval for its purchase of EMI. Warner returned to the public markets in 2020, with Access Industries remaining its controlling shareholder. The company is headquartered in New York City and operates in more than 70 countries.

The Labels and the Artists

WMG's recorded music division includes Warner Records (renamed from Warner Bros. Records in 2019, after the licence to use the Warner Bros. name expired), Atlantic Records, Elektra Records, and Parlophone, plus its major publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music. Its roster has included artists such as Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Coldplay, and Dua Lipa, alongside legendary acts like Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac. Warner's history shows how a label group can be built deal by deal — and how the biggest catalogues in music are assembled over decades, not overnight.

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