Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) is one of the six divisions of Bertelsmann. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann. It consists of the BMG Music Publishing company, the world's third largest music publisher and the world's largest independent music publisher, and the 50% share of the joint venture with Sony Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (Sony BMG).

The joint venture with Sony was set up in August 2004. It reduced the Big Five of music companies to the Big Four record labels. The company currently has a 21.5% share in the global music market. http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/publications/rin_order.html