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Bertelsmann
AG is a non-public stock corporation. At present, its shareholders are
the Bertelsmann Stiftung, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert and the Mohn family.
The capital shares are held by three shareholders: the Bertelsmann
Stiftung (57.6%), the Mohn family (17.3%) and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert
(25.1%, of which 0.1% are non-voting shares). The voting rights held by
the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the Mohn family are exercised by
Bertelsmann Verwaltungsgesellschaft (BVG). BVG controls 75% of voting
rights, while Groupe Bruxelles Lambert controls 25%.
Headquarters:
New York City
Shareholders: SONY (50%) Bertelsmann AG (50%)
Record Labels (selection):
Arista Records, BMG Ariola, BMG Canada, BMG Classics, BMG Japan, BMG
Ricordi, BMG Strategic Marketing Group, BMG UK & Ireland, Columbia
Records Group, Crescent Moon Records, Epic Records, J Records, Jive
Records, LaFace, Legacy Recordings, Provident Music Group, RCA Label
Group - Nashville, RCA Records, RCA Victor Group, Sony Classical, Sony
Music Custom Marketing Group, Sony Music International, Sony Music
Nashville, Sony Music Norte, Sony Music Soundtrax, Sony Wonder, Verity.
Offices:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China,
Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea,
Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines,
Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United
Kingdom, United States
Management:
Andrew Lack, Chief Executive Officer, Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Michael Smellie, Chief Operating Officer, Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Kevin Kelleher, Chief Financial Officer, Sony BMG Music Entertainment
Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sony BMG Music
Entertainment
Q:Why
a merger and why now?
A: The recorded music industry is facing a global crisis. We have
all seen a massive decline in sales while costs have risen and CD prices
have fallen. By combining operations, and a program of cost savings,
Sony BMG will be able to sustain and increase our investment in artists
worldwide and in multiple genres, instead of continuing on our current
course of streamlining and cutting costs in response to the challenging
market conditions.
Q: What is included in the JV?
A: Sony BMG is comprised largely of the recorded music labels of
Sony Music and BMG. Music publishing, and manufacturing are not
included. In Japan, Bertelsmann's recorded music division will be
included in the joint venture but Sony's will be kept separate.
Q: What is the operating focus of Sony BMG?
A: Our focus is on recorded-music operations, and our
relationship with artists is at the core of what we do. Our focus is on
developing music talent, finding new repertoire, helping established
artists branch out in new areas, and exploring new avenues to promote
and market music.
Q: How will the JV approach A&R will the new company focus on
just global hits, or will there be an additional focus on A&R at the
local level?
A: Sony BMG is dedicated to supporting local artists and
repertoire in regions around the world. We believe today's local A&R
successes are tomorrow's global superstars.
Q: What artists and labels comprise the combined company?
A: Sony BMG will benefit from the complementary strengths of the
two companies, including some of the greatest record
labels in the world, impressive current artist rosters, and a vast
catalog of important and influential recordings.
Q: Who will run the JV?
A: The JV has a joint leadership structure, made up of senior
managers from each company. The CEO is Andrew Lack, who will report to a
six-person board of directors split evenly between representatives of
Sony Corp. of America and Bertelsmann AG. The Chairman of the Board of
Directors is Rolf Schmidt Holtz. Michael Smellie will be Chief Operating
Officer, and Kevin Kelleher will be Chief Financial Officer.
Q: Where are the headquarters of Sony BMG? And what about
headquarters for the JV in France, Germany, and other countries?
A: Sony BMG's corporate offices will be based at 550 Madison
Avenue in New York. The JV and its labels will also maintain offices in
other locations within the city of New York. For the time being it will
also maintain offices at the Bertelsmann building in New York City. In
other countries and territories, the locations will be determined as we
work through the integration of Sony Music and BMG.
It's Glenn Miller and Fats Waller's
100th birthday this year and Bluebird/RCA Victor celebrates these giants
of the swing era with The Centennial Collections, a new series
that offers something different . . . a CD of newly remastered greatest
hits by the legends of jazz, plus a bonus DVD of rarely seen
film/performance footage . . . all for the price of one CD. Addational
releases include Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman, and Coleman
Hawkins.
July 14, 2004 (Los Angeles, CA) - Legendary
Cuban pianist Bebo Valdés, and Gypsy flamenco vocalist Diego ¿el
Cigala¿ Salazar and their record Lágrimas Negras,
produced by Javier Limón and Academy Award-winning film director
Fernando Trueba, are becoming a unique event in the history of Spanish
and international music. Following their achievements to date with
quality mestizo music, now come the Latin Grammy awards. Bebo &
Cigala and the album Lágrimas Negras have been nominated
for this year¿s Latin Grammy awards in the following categories: Record
of the Year, Album of the Year, Traditional Tropical Album, Best
Recording Engineering and Best Producer of the Year (Javier Limón). The
Latin Grammys will be broadcast on CBS on September 1st. Cigala told the
Los Angeles Times, ¿¿if we are able with this record to open borders
and bring people closer to flamenco who never listened to the music
before -- well, that¿s marvelous.¿ These five Latin Grammy nominations
come on top of the important awards that Lágrimas Negras
has won in Spain in the last year: five Amigo awards, three Musica
awards and one Ondas award.
In
Spain, Lágrimas Negras has sold more than 250,000 copies
and has been in the best-selling charts for 58 weeks (more than 14
months!). Lágrimas Negras, which was released in the U.S.
last month and in Europe last year, was on the 2003 best albums lists of
critics at The New York Times, Newsday, and other publications. Bebo
& Cigala have also been featured in Time and the Los Angeles Times.
Outside of Spain it has sold over 130,000 copies world wide in just
three months, with special success in Mexico, France, Argentina,
Portugal, Venezuela and the United States. The record has been released
in more than 20 countries and is scheduled for release in Germany,
Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Bulgaria and Brazil. Lágrimas
Negras is a unique blending of the music of Cuban pianist Bebo
Valdés with the flamenco voice of Diego ¿el Cigala¿ Salazar. The
album represents two artists, two generations, two truths and a
half-century age difference between them. Additionally, Bebo Valdés is
eligible for a sixth Latin Grammy in the category of Latin Jazz for his
record We could make such beautiful music together with violinist
Federico Britos. To make matters even more interesting, Chucho Valdés -
Son of Bebo - is also up for this award for his last record.
Check out the latest news from
Bluebird, including:
1) Cesaria Evora Wins a GRAMMY Award for Voz D?Amor
2) Never ?Before-Released Frank Sinatra to Hit Stores on April 6th!
3) Announcing the New Bluebird Centennial Collections
4) Strange Liberation Making Waves in the Jazz World
5) New Additions to When The Sun Goes Down Series
6) Two More Bluebird First Editions Coming Soon
BEST CONTEMPORARY WORLD MUSIC ALBUM
VOZ D'AMOR - Cesaria Evora (Bluebird)
Awarded to Cesaria Evora at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards on February
8th, 2004!
June 22, 2004 (New York, NY) - After more than
ten years as the hottest supergroup in contemporary jazz, Fourplay hits
the road to support their ninth studio album, Journey. Fourplay
is comprised of keyboardist Bob James, bassist/vocalist Nathan East,
guitarist Larry Carlton, and drummer Harvey Mason -- each a major artist
in his own right. Recorded at Firehouse Recording and produced by
longtime Fourplay producer, Don Murray, the band went into the studio
with sometimes only simple sketches of melodies. Using their innate
talents and their world-class improvising skills, not to mention an
unbelievable amount of teamwork, Fourplay worked on each song with a
free give-and-take session of discussion and performance and then the
band would lay it down. Journey is also the band's first all-digital
album, a milestone for a group known for its embrace of analog sound.
Journey includes nine Fourplay originals and one cover of Sting's
"Fields of Gold." Nathan East lends his vocal talents to
"Play Around It" and the title track "Journey,"
which also features Bikki Johnson on background vocals and shaker. Each
song on Journey has a story behind it.
Each
one offers another perspective on how Fourplay continues to grow as a
writing collective, a rhythm section, and as a source of continued
excellence. August 21 Temecula, CA Thornton Winery August 22 Los
Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl August 25 Saratoga, CA Garden Theatre
September 10 West Bend, WI Kettle Moraine Jazz Festival September 11 St.
Paul, MN Fitzgerald Theater September 12 Marshall, MO Crossroads
Amphitheater September 13 St. Louis, MO The Pageant September 15
Cleveland, OH Playhouse Square Center September 16 Detroit, MI Detroit
Opera House September 17 Columbus, OH Promowest Pavilion September 18
Chicago, IL Chicago Theatre September 21 Austin, TX One World Theater
September 22 Houston, TX Verizon Wireless Theater October 14 Rehoboth
Beach, DE Rehoboth Autumn Jazz Festival October 15 Glenside, PA Keswick
Theatre October 16 Atlantic City, NJ Trump Marina ¿ The Shell November
11 Jacksonville, FL Florida Theatre November 12, 13 Atlanta, GA Georgia
Institute of Technology November 14 Charlotte, NC Ovens Auditorium
November 15 Durham, NC Carolina Theatre of Durham November 16
Washington, DC GW Lisner Auditorium November 18 New York, NY Town Hall
November 19 Huntington, NY Inter-Media Arts Center November 20 New
Haven, CT Southern CT State University November 21 Palmerton, PA Penn¿s
Peak
Frank Sinatra fans and anybody who has ever
loved this blue eyed crooner will be ecstatic to find out that we have
rummaged through the archives and found a collection of
NEVER-BEFORE-RELEASED Frank Sinatra recordings! Young Blue Eyes-
Birth of a Crooner will be in stores on April 6th!
This 20-song collection of the Dorsey-Sinatra collaboration emanates
from their legendary NBC radio broadcasts in the early ?40s. Young
Blue Eyes- The Birth of a Crooner features unique
interpretations of Sinatra classics as well as rare covers that have
previously been unreleased commercially. The live recordings have been
exceptionally remastered by engineer Doug Pomeroy to ensure high sonic
quality.
Sinatra launched his career with the Dorsey Orchestra, and together they
held sway over the popular music scene from 1940 to 1942. During that
time they recorded 90 songs for RCA Victor. These studio dates have been
documented on the Bluebird box set The Song Is You. However, the
three-year Dorsey-Sinatra working relationship was more expansive than
the studio setting. Young Blue Eyes?Birth of the Crooner opens
a window on seminal live performances of ballads and romance tunes when
Sinatra was cutting his teeth in the music world with one of the
premiere big bands.
Dave Douglas'new title Strange Liberation is
making waves in the Jazz world, with rave reviews from the critics,
number #1 on jazz radio for a month, and a worldwide tour currently in
motion. Featuring special guest Bill Frisell on guitar, Dave Douglas
brings his amazing trumpet playing ability as well as his compositional
skills to the table, complimented by the New Quintet.
Check out what the press has to say about Strange Liberation...
"The trumpeter reconvenes the quintet behind 2002's gem The
Infinite, adding guitarist Bill Frisell's quavering twang to the mix. He
achieves a richly detailed sound, elegant even in its eccentricities.
Often, Frisell and Uri Caine's piano cast lovely sonic halos around
Douglas' pungent tone. There's an intelligent cohesion to these
wide-ranging tracks, and just the right tension between composition and
improvisation. A-" -Entertainment Weekly
?From the opening track, the sound, the ensemble blend, freezes you
right in your chair? Strange Liberation possesses, in spades, the
quality of immediacy essential to jazz? ?Jazz Times
?Forty-one years old with 21 albums to his credit: that is a remarkable
resume for jazz's most adventurous trumpeter. Dave Douglas' sixth
Bluebird outing, Strange Liberation, is a reflective, whimsical and
driving quintet date with guest Bill Frisell. It marks the first meeting
of the fellow alchemists. The pairing is a perfect tonal match:
Frisell's dreamy yet barbed guitar stylings harmonically mated to
Douglas' trademark bumblebee trills and high-pitched wails. But the
Frisell-Douglas partnership is only part of the CD's success story.
Equally vital to its dynamism is Douglas' brilliant road-honed band?
-Billboard
"Strange Liberation is the best album in several years by Dave
Douglas, a prolific trumpeter and bandleader. It doesn't take long for
each of his new bands to sound good, but a lot depends on the material
these bands are working on. Mr. Douglas is project minded, not just
writing to the strengths of his players but often composing with
specific goals, homages or sound combinations in mind.... the band has
the rhythmic and timbral originality to go up against Mr. Frisell
properly." -New York Times
?Douglas works in so many formats and goes to the high-concept well so
often that it?s easy to overlook recordings? that are harder to
categorize, but that is often where the choicest fruit of his vibrant
imagination exist.? ?Downbeat
Tracing the roots of rock & roll, the
critically-acclaimed When The Sun Goes Down series showcases early
versions of songs that were very influential and/or later popularized
with mainstream pop or rock hits. These are the often superior versions
you didn?t even know existed! While the series has focused primarily on
the early influence of blues, the latest two installments expand the
concept highlighting the influence of early country and gospel.
Honey In The Rock demonstrates the singular influence of black gospel on
rock and popular music going back to 1902! This particular program
begins with ultra-rare gems from this period right through Thelma
Houston?s 1972 recordings, providing a breathtaking panorama of
America?s most influential music.
Likewise, Will The Circle Be Unbroken demonstrates the profound impact
of early country and roots music, featuring early versions of familiar
songs, heard as they were originally written or recorded. Featured
tracks include Vernon Dalhart?s ?The Prisoner?s Song? (the first country
music million-seller), The Monroe Brother?s ?Can the Circle Be Unbroken?
(later popularized by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), and Gray &
Whitter?s 1928 version of ?Tom Dooley?, which later sparked the 1960s
folk revival.
Continuing the critically-acclaimed First
Edition reissue series, Bluebird offers two new stellar titles . . .
completely remastered and sounding better than ever!
Bing Crosby - Bing With A Beat
Regarded by many scholars and fans as Bing Crosby?s greatest album, Bing
With A Beat is the jazz record Crosby always dreamed of making during
his many years of crafting pop hits. He made this record for the sheer
pleasure and love of jazz, collaborating with his ideal wish-list of
musicians, and focusing on songs he loved. You can hear the joy in his
voice as he performs a collection of songs he never otherwise recorded,
including an early version of ?Mack The Knife?, done in tribute to his
friend Louis Armstrong.
Rosemary Clooney ? Rosie Solves The Swingin? Riddle
Rosie Solves The Swingin? Riddle is one of two fantastic recording
collaborations between Rosemary Clooney and Nelson Riddle, that
illustrates their mastery of The Great American Songbook. What many
don?t know is that this collaboration coincided with their passionate
love affair outside the recording studio, a relationship that Clooney
once described as ?. . . the best blending of my job and my personal
life that I?ve ever had.? All of this is reflected in this high-spirited
collection of uptempo tunes, including two never-before-released bonus
tracks.
About
Bluebird Jazz | RCA
Victor Group | About
BMG
Bertelsmann
| SonyBMG
| BMG
Strategic Marketing Group | BMG
Music Service | CDNow
bertelsmann.com
| click2music.com
| sonybmg.com
Allen,
Henry
Andrew
Sisters With The Glenn Miller Orchestra, The
Armstrong,
Louis
Atcheson,
Randall
Baker,
Chet
Barbieri,
Gato
Barretto,
Ray
Basie,
Count
Bebo
& Cigala
Bechet,
Sidney
Beiderbecke,
Bix
Berigan,
Bunny
Blakey,
Art
Brecker
Brothers, The
Brown,
Clifford
Bugnon,
Alex
Carlton,
Larry
Carmichael,
Hoagy
Clooney,
Rosemary
Coltrane,
Ravi
Crosby,
Bing, And Rosemary Clooney
Crudup,
Arthur "Big Boy"
Desmond,
Paul
Dorsey,
Tommy
Douglas,
Dave
Eldridge,
Roy
Elias,
Eliane
Ellington,
Duke
Ellington,
Duke & Count Basie
Evans,
Gil
Evora,
Cesaria
Fountain,
Pete
Fourplay
Gillespie,
Dizzy
Gonsalves,
Paul
Goodman,
Benny
Guaraldi,
Vince
Hampton,
Lionel
Hargrove,
Roy
Harrell,
Tom
Hawkins,
Coleman
Hawkins,
Erskine & His Orchestra
Hill,
Warren
Hirt,
Al
Hodges,
Johnny
Horne,
Lena
Kitt,
Eartha
Konitz,
Lee
Leadbelly
Makeba,
Miriam
Masekela,
Hugh
Mason,
Harvey
Mcrae,
Carmen
Mctell,
Blind Willie
Meadows,
Marion
Miller,
Glenn
Miller,
Glenn, & The Army Air Force Band
Miller,
Glenn/Tommy Dorsey
Mingus,
Charles
Monk,
Thelonious
Morton,
Jelly Roll
Mulligan,
Gerry
Original
Dixieland Jazz Band
Original
Soundtrack
Peterson,
Oscar
Pizzarelli,
John
Porter,
Cole
Puente,
Tito
Raney,
Jimmy
Reese,
Della
Reinhardt,
Django
Rich,
Buddy
Rivers,
Sam
Roberts,
Marcus
Rollins,
Sonny
Rüegg,
Mathias, & Vienna Art Orchesra
Scott-Heron,
Gil
Scott-Heron,
Gil, And Brian Jackson
Sebesky,
Don
Shaw,
Artie
Sims,
Zoot
Sinatra,
Frank
Sinatra,
Frank, & Tommy Dorsey And His Orchestra
Sinatra,
Frank With Dorsey, Tommy
Smith,
Lonnie Liston
Steiner,
Rubin
Various
Waller,
Fats
Werner,
Kenny
Williams,
Joe
Williams,
Mary Lou
Williamson,
Sonny Boy
Wolf,
Howlin'
MUSIC
INDEX A - Z
Healthier
alternative tastes for adventure capitalists
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Red | Solar
Crush | Solar
Cola | Solar
Citrus | Solar
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