Sony Music Entertainment Japan

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Sony Music Entertainment Japan

logo
legal form Kabushiki kaisha (joint stock company)
founding 1968 as CBS / Sony Records Inc.
Seat Chiyoda , Tokyo Prefecture , Japan
management Naoki Kitagawa ( CEO )
Masao Morita (Chairman)
Number of employees 2000
sales 2,826 billion yen (approx. € 23.3 billion)
Branch entertainment
Website www.sonymusic.co.jp

Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. ( Font : SonyMusic or SMEJ ) ( Japanese 株式会社 ソ ニ ー ・ ミ ュ ー ジ ッ ク エ ン タ テ イ ン メ ン ト , Kabushiki kaisha Sonī Myūjikku Entateinmento ) is a Japanese record company. As a 100% subsidiary of Sony , it is independent of the US record company Sony Music Entertainment .

By 2007 smej had its own sub-brand in North America , which Tofu Records said. Today, SMEJ products are sold in North America through Columbia Records or Epic Records .

history

The Sony Music Entertainment Japan headquarters in Rokubancho, Chiyoda, in June 2001

Sony Music Entertainment Japan was founded in March 1968 as CBS / Sony Records as a joint venture between one half of the Sony Corporation and the other half of the US media group CBS to market the latter's music in Japan. President was Sony's co-founder Akio Morita .

Norio Ōga has been part of the management of the firm's education and has served as president and acting director since April 1970. In 1972, when CBS / Sony were making robust profits, Ōga was named chairman and at the same time he gained additional responsibilities and influence within Sony . In 1980, Toshio Ozawa managed to surpass the works of ga and he became president.

Then in 1983, the company was renamed CBS / Sony Group .

Sony takes over CBS Records

The SME Nogizaka Building in Minato

In January 1988, after more than a year of negotiations, Sony acquired from CBS Records the 50% ownership of the CBS / Sony Group, which they did not yet own. Then in March 1988 the company CBS / Sony Group was split into four subsidiaries: CBS / Sony Inc. , Epic / Sony Records Inc , CBS / Sony Records Inc. and Sony Video Software International .

As a result, the company renamed itself once more to Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), Inc.

Shugo Matsuo was announced as the new president in January 1992, replacing Toshio Ozawa.

General sales for the fiscal year, announced March 31, 1991, were 83.8 billion yen, with pre-tax profit of 9.2 billion yen.

In June 1996 Ryokichi Kunugi became the new president. He was titled as chairman. Shigeo Maruyama was set as the new CEO from October 1, 1997 and served as a replacement for Kunugi, whom he took over the title of President in February 1998.

Since 2007 the CEO is Naoki Kitagawa. He shares the position of legal head of the company with the Chairman of the Board of Directors Masao Morita, a son of Akio Morita.

Increased competition

The company's leading role in the Japanese music market is increasingly being called into question by companies like Avex (SMEJ then got, as a share, 5% of Avex's sales). Net sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1997 were down 10% to 103 billion yen, while net income fell 41% to 7.7 billion yen. The market shares at that time were less than 18%.

In August 1997, Dreams Come True , the hitherto best-selling Japanese band, signed a worldwide multi-album deal with the competitor of the US record company Virgin Records America . This led to competition between Avex and Sony Music Entertainment Japan . SMEJ still netted 22.4 billion yen in the first half of 2012, making up 14.3% of the market, directly in second place, close behind Avex, which reached 24.95 billion yen and 15.9%.

Independent labels and sub-labels

Active

  • Aniplex
  • Antinos Records (founded in 1994 by Shigeo Maruyama)
  • Ariola Japan
  • BMG Music Japan
  • DefStar Records (founded in 1997 as a sub-label of Warner Music Group , only acquired in 2000)
  • Epic Records Japan
  • Ki / oon Music (Fitz Beat, Haunted Records, Ki / oon Records2, Neosite, Siren Song and Trefort) / (founded on April 1, 1992 as Ki / oon Sony Records )
  • Okeh (founded in 1994 by Hiroshi Inagaki)
  • SME Records
  • Sony Music Records (Sony Records, Gr8! Records; founded April 2003, Mastersix Foundation, Niagara Records and VVV Records)
  • Sony Music Associated Records (Onenation, Tributelink, Terry Dollar Records and Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Records)
  • Sony Music House
  • Village Music
  • Music Ray'n (Red Cafe)
  • Roc Nation Japan ( Jay-Z's Japanese music publisher )
  • Sony Music Distribution (overseas publisher that contacts other record companies)

Disused

  • Studioseven Recordings (2006-2010)
  • Tofu Records (US sub-label, 2003–2007), founded by Yaz Noya

Well-known artists (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c SME 株式会社 ソ ニ ー ・ ミ ュ ー ジ ッ ク エ ン タ テ イ ン メ ン ト (英文 表 記) Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. (Japanese). Retrieved August 26, 2012
  2. ^ Sony Music UK History ( Memento of February 17, 2001 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on August 26, 2012
  3. Sony.net Chairman of the Board Norio Ohga Retires as Director of Sony Corporation (English), accessed on August 26, 2012
  4. Sony.net The Joy of Creating Something New (English), accessed on August 26, 2012
  5. Sony.net The acquisition of CBS Records and Columbia Pictures (English), accessed on August 26, 2012
  6. LATimes Attorneys Launch Entertainment-Focused Firm (English), accessed on August 26, 2012
  7. ^ A b Google / Billboard Billboard Magazine , accessed August 26, 2012
  8. ^ Google / Billboard Billboard Magazine , accessed August 26, 2012
  9. a b c Google / Billboard Billboard Magazine , accessed August 26, 2012
  10. CNNGO Kana Nishino: The gyaru's favorite new singer ( Memento of the original from August 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English), accessed on August 26, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.cnngo.com
  11. Oricon 【オ リ コ ン】 エ イ ベ ッ ク ス が 4 年 ぶ り 首位 奪 還 ト イ ズ は 売 上 3.5 倍 増 (Japanese), accessed August 26, 2012