While musicians are handled by the main labels, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group, private equity firms like BlackRock and Vanguard have an impact on the financial and strategic directions of the music business. Behind the scenes, they are the ones pulling the strings. They make the decisions about who shines and who stays in the background.
To demonstrate that these are more than merely conjectures, let’s review a few frequently ignored facts.
In the music industry, Universal Music Group (UMG) is a firm that manages four record labels. It is the world’s biggest record label family and commercial conglomerate. Prior to changing its name to “Universal Music Group” in 1996, it was known as “Decca Records USA” when it was founded in 1934. The business is situated in Santa Monica, California. Vincent Bolloré controlled 28% (Bolloré SE: 18% and Vivendi SE: 10%) of the company’s shares as of January 2022. Tencent held 20% (Concerto Investment BV: 10% and Scherzo Investment BV: 10%), and Pershing Square Holdings held 10%. Vanguard and BlackRock are the two biggest shareholders of Tencent Holdings LTD. Vanguard has 234.80 million (2.52%) of the shares, while BlackRock owns 124.80 million (1.34%).
The American umbrella section of the international conglomerate Sony Group Corporation oversees the management of Sony Music Entertainment (SME), sometimes referred to as Sony Music, which is a Japanese multinational music firm owned by Sony Entertainment. Who do you think has a big shareholding? As one might expect, BlackRock Inc. has 104,271,037 shares of Sony Group Corporation, equivalent 8.3% ownership of the business, while Vanguard holds 3.48%.
Access Industries is the company that owns the majority of Warner Music Group (WMG), but BlackRock and Vanguard are also significant owners, holding 9.3% and 6.45% of the company, respectively.
It is impossible to overstate this, but BlackRock and Vanguard are not only investors in these significant music businesses—rather, they are co-owners, and they did it covertly.
There’s more to these equity titans than simply music. They rule banking through JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, dominate tech with holdings in Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon, and even have sway over Pfizer and ExxonMobil! BlackRock and Vanguard are the two biggest stockholders in the six major media organizations that dominate over 90% of the U.S. media landscape, according to a 2023 analysis by the Institute for Public Accuracy. 18% of Fox, 16% of CBS, 13% of Comcast, 12% of Disney, and 12% of News Corp. are jointly owned by BlackRock and Vanguard.
Vanguard oversees $9.3 trillion in assets, while BlackRock manages over $10 trillion. They have enormous influence on a wide range of businesses, including entertainment.