Universal Music Group – the umbrella company for labels Island Def Jam, Interscope, Geffen, and Universal Motown – has reached a tentative agreement to acquire Bertelsmann’s BMG Music Publishing for $2.05 billion.The German-based media company BMG owns the rights to more than a million songs by popular artists such as Nelly, Maroon 5, and Mariah Carey.If the deal goes through, Universal would become the world’s largest music publisher beating competitors EMI, Warner/Chappell, and Sony/ATV.In addition to getting revenue for CD and download sales, music publishers collect royalties every time their songs are played on radio, TV, movies, commercials, and at concerts.
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