Sony Music Entertainment is a large American music corporation owned and controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan’s Sony Corporation. 

Sony Music started as American Record Corporation in 1929, renamed Columbia Recording Corporation in 1938 following on ARC’s acquisition by CBS which later reorganized the record company in 1966 as CBS Records. 

Sony Music Entertainment was founded in 1991 when Sony Corporation of America, which bought CBS Records in 1987, changed the record company’s name. 

In 2004, SME merged with Bertelsmann Music Group to create Sony BMG Music Entertainment but it was renamed back to SME when Sony acquired Bertelsmann’s 50% of Sony BMG causing the dissolution of BMG (later relaunched as BMG Rights Management after the buyout). It is currently the second largest record label behind Universal Music Group.