Bertelsmann Music Group

Bertelsmann Music Group
Formerly	RCA/Ariola International (1985–1987)
Company type	Division
Industry	Music
Predecessor	RCA Records; Ariola Records;
Founded	1985 (as RCA/Ariola International); 1987 (as Bertelsmann Music Group)
Defunct	1 October 2008
Fate	Acquired by, merged with, and folded into Sony Music Entertainment
Successors	Sony Music; BMG Rights Management;
Headquarters	New York City, New York, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Music and entertainment
Owner	RCA; (1985–1986; 50%); General Electric; (1986–1987; 50%); Bertelsmann; (1985–2008)

Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008.

Although it was established in 1987, the music company was formed as RCA/Ariola International in 1985 as a joint venture to combine the music label activities of RCA's RCA Records division and Bertelsmann's Ariola Records and its associated labels which include Arista Records. It consisted of the BMG Music Publishing company, the world's third largest music publisher and the world's largest independent music publisher and (since August 2004) the 50% share of the joint venture with Sony Music, which established the German American Sony BMG from 2004 to 2008.