Sony Music Publishing returns with a 'modern vision' – via a rebrand of Sony/ATV

Sony Music Publishing returns with a 'modern vision' – via a rebrand of Sony/ATV

The world's biggest music publishing company is no longer called Sony/ATV. It's now Sony Music Publishing. The re-brand of the US-headquartered pubco sees the Sony Music Publishing name return for the first time in over two decades, complete with a new logo. The move marks 25 years since Sony/ATV was first established in 1995 through a joint venture between Sony and Michael Jackson. That merger brought together the original Sony Music Publishing with Jackson’s ATV Music, which the late artist acquired in an astonishingly smart buy for just $47.5m in 1985. A process of modern publishing unification at Sony began in 2016, when the company acquired the Michael Jackson estate’s 50% share of Sony/ATV for $750m, making it a wholly owned Sony company. In 2018, Sony further consolidated its position at the largest music publisher – and simplified its structure – via the purchase of full ownership of EMI Music Publishing via two deals jointly worth more than $2.5bn. This recent process of unification has been reflected in the new re-brand to Sony Music Publishing, a move driven by the publishing company's Chairman & CEO, Jon Platt... (MBW)