BMG

BMG Rights Management GmbH is a music company combining music publishing with recorded-music operations. It was launched on 1 October 2008 in Berlin, after Bertelsmann sold its stake in Sony BMG to Sony. The acronym BMG derives from the former Bertelsmann Music Group, and the parent group’s involvement in music dates back to the 1950s. The business is built on managing copyrights and neighbouring rights, licensing its catalogue, and serving artists and songwriters on a global scale. The company operates in more than a dozen countries and has grown through numerous acquisitions of catalogues and labels. In April 2026 a merger between BMG and Concord was announced, intended to create the fourth-largest music company in the world operating under the BMG name. Bertelsmann remains the majority owner (about 67 percent), with a minority stake held by Great Mountain Partners (about 33 percent). The company is not publicly listed and operates as part of the Bertelsmann group.