Sony to restructure recorded music and publishing under new Sony Music Group banner

Sony is reorganizing the branches of its music operation. Effective August 1, the company will unite Sony Music Entertainment and Sony/ATV Music Publishing under the single banner of Sony Music Group. Current SME exec Rob Stringer will lead the new combined unit as chairman and will continue to be CEO of the recorded music segment. Sony/ATV Chairman and CEO Jon Platt will continue to oversee publishing tasks, but will report to Stringer.

“The purpose of this new Group is to further strengthen and solidify Sony’s position as a leader in the music industry and create new value for the company,” an internal memo from Sony said. “This unification will help us foster a higher level of collaboration between our recorded music and music publishing businesses, while respecting and maintaining the independence and unique culture of each organization.”

Sony’s push to strengthen its music arm could be a response to moves at fellow major label Universal Music Group to find a majority stake buyer.

Anna Washenko