Universal Music Group (UMG) is the largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry. With a 25.5% market share, it is one of the Big Four record labels. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Vivendi; Universal Studios, the movie studio, was sold in part to NBC, which itself is part of GE.

UMG owns the largest music publishing business in the world, Universal Music Publishing Group, following the acquisition of BMG Music Publishing in May 2007.

Vivendi's headquarters are in Paris, France. In the United States, UMG is located in Santa Monica, California, and New York City, New York along with Universal Music Group Nashville; in the UK the group has a number of offices in London and Romford.

UMG's record labels have many of the world's best selling artists including Def Leppard, The Killers, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Anberlin, Gym Class Heroes, Enrique Iglesias, Juanes, Bon Jovi, Queens of the Stone Age, Falco, Belinda Carlisle, Elton John, Eminem, Tupac Shakur, Guns N' Roses, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Marilyn Manson, Akon, Chamillionaire, Reba McEntire, Sheena Easton, Nas, Diana Ross,Barry White, Luciano Pavarotti, Rammstein, U2, Black Eyed Peas, Nelly Furtado, ABBA, Lil Wayne, Wu-Tang Clan, George Strait, Ashlee Simpson, Gwen Stefani, Soulja Boy Tell Em, Maroon 5, Keane, Tokio Hotel, Elisa, Grace Jones, Paramore, Rihanna, The All-American Rejects, Kanye West, Ashanti, Mims, a-ha, Amy Winehouse, Hayley Westenra, Fergie and most recently Anastacia, New Kids On The Block, Justy Just and The Rolling Stones.

Universal Music has announced that it will develop an online site for music videos inspired by Hulu.com, the site setup by News Corp. and NBC that allows free, ad-supported streaming of TV shows

History

"Universal Music" was once the music company attached to film studio Universal Pictures. Its origins go back to the formation of the American branch of Decca Records in 1934. MCA Inc. bought American Decca in 1962. The present organization was formed when its parent company Seagram purchased PolyGram and merged it with Universal Music Group in 1998. However, the name first appeared in 1996 when MCA Music Entertainment Group was renamed Universal Music Group.

With the 2004 acquisition of Vivendi's Vivendi Universal Entertainment by General Electric's NBC, Universal Music Group was separated entirely from its film studio namesake for the first time.

In February 2006, the group became 100% owned by French media conglomerate Vivendi SA when Vivendi purchased the last 20% from Matsushita, the group's sole owner from 1990 to 1995 and co-owner from 1995 to 2006.

On May 25 2007, Vivendi completed its €1.63 billion ($2.4 billion) purchase of BMG Music Publishing after receiving European Union regulatory approval, having announced the acquisition on September 6 2006.