Who owns BMG?
BMG is owned by Bertelsmann (Germany).[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA Annual Report 2025, 31 March 2026. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA reported
- Owner HQ
- 🇩🇪 Germany, Gütersloh
- Origin
- 🇩🇪 Germany, Berlin
- Founded
- 2008
- Category
- Media & entertainment › Music › Record labels
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About BMG
BMG was rebuilt in 2008 as a music rights company rather than a conventional label, offering artists a larger royalty share and letting them keep their copyrights. It has bought catalogues from Mick Jagger, Tina Turner and others. It carries the initials of Bertelsmann Music Group, the label the company sold to Sony in 2008, so the name survived the business it originally described.
Ownership timeline of BMG
- Current owner Bertelsmann [1] reported
Where BMG sits in Bertelsmann
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Bertelsmann ownership tree →
See the full Bertelsmann brand portfolio (4) →
Other brands owned by Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann controls 4 brands on Brandtree, 4 of them in media & entertainment.
Also in media & entertainment
- Penguin Books (1935)
- Penguin Random House (2013)
- RTL (1984)
Other brands in record labels, and who owns them
The 18 brands in record labels on Brandtree belong to 6 owners. The largest is Universal Music, with 5.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Capitol Records | Universal Music | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
| Chrysalis Records | Reservoir | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Atlantic Records | Warner Music | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Columbia Records | Sony | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| VAP | Nippon TV Holdings | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Def Jam Recordings | Universal Music | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
| Interscope Records | Universal Music | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
| Motown | Universal Music | 🇳🇱 Netherlands |
About the owner: Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a family-owned company headquartered in Gütersloh, Germany, founded in 1835. Brandtree records 4 brands under its control.
Bertelsmann began as a religious publisher in Westphalia in 1835 and is now among the largest media companies in Europe, controlled by a foundation and the founding Mohn family. It owns the largest English-language book publisher in the world and Europe's biggest commercial broadcaster.
🇩🇪 BMG and other German brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 252 brands that began in Germany. 93 of them (37%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; BMG is not one of them.
- Borussia Dortmund — Borussia Dortmund KGaA 🇩🇪
- Highfield Festival — CTS Eventim 🇩🇪
- Springer — Springer Nature 🇩🇪
- Wake Word Studios — Acast 🇸🇪
- 3 Glocken — Princes Group 🇬🇧
- A. Lange & Söhne — Richemont 🇨🇭
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of BMG?
The parent company of BMG is Bertelsmann, a family-owned company headquartered in Germany.
Is BMG German?
Yes. BMG originated in Germany in 2008 and its owner, Bertelsmann, is also headquartered in Germany.
Is BMG still owned by Bertelsmann?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, BMG is still owned by Bertelsmann. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA Annual Report 2025 — Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA, Annual report, published 31 March 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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