INDUSTRY: The Big 3

1. Universal Music Group
is an American global music corporation that is a subsidiary of the French media conglomerate Vivendi. UMG's global corporate headquarters are located in Santa Monica, California. UMG have many subsidiary record labels such as Astralwerks, Island Records, Interscope Geffen A and M records, Capitol Music Group, Republic Records, Def Jam Recordings, Caroline Recordings etc. 

Some examples of artists with UMG are Halsey, Astrid S, U2, Elton John, Lorde, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Post Malone, The Weeknd, Kanye West, Sam Smith, Logic, Katy Perry, Imagine Dragons, Lana Del Rey, Shawn Mendes etc. 

2. Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group (WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate with it's headquarters in New York City. It is the third largest record label in the global music industry, next to Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME), being the only American worldwide music conglomerate. It was formerly owned by Time Warner. The company was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange until May 2011, when it announced its privatisation and sale to Access Industries, which was completed in July 2011. With a multibillion-dollar annual turnover, WMG has operations in more than 50 countries throughout the world.

The company owns and operates some of the largest and most successful record labels in the world, including its subsidiary labels: Warner Bros. Records, Parlophone Records, Atlantic Records. WMG also owns Warner/Chappell Music, one of the world's largest music publishers.

Some examples of artists with WMG are Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Charli XCX, Skrillex, Clean Bandit, Anne-Marie, Bruno Mars, Rita Ora, James Blunt, All Time Low, Charlie Puth, Melanie Martinez, Wiz Khalifa etc.

3. Sony BMG
Sony BMG Music Entertainment was a multinational record label, which was a 50–50 joint venture between the Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann Music Group. The revived Sony Music Entertainment, is 100% owned by the Sony Corporation of America, following Sony's buyout of the remaining 50% held by Bertelsmann AG. BMG was instead rebuilt as BMG Rights Management on the basis of 200 remaining artists. It's headquarters are based in New York City, USA. 

It has ownership and distribution of it's subsidiary recording labels such as Arista Records, Columbia Records, Epic Records, J Records, Mchenry Records, Jive Records, RCA Victor Records, RCA Records, Legacy Recordings, Sonic Wave America etc. The merger affected all Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group companies worldwide except for Japan, where it was felt that it would reduce competition in that country's music industry significantly.

Some examples of artists with WMG are Justin Timberlake, Camila Cabello, Meghan Trainor, G-Eazy, Foster The People, The Chainsmokers, DJ Khaled, Christina Aguilera, A$AP Rocky, ACDC, Calvin Harris, Martin Garrix, Britney Spears, Bring Me The Horizon etc.

Labels outside of these three major labels are referred to as independent labels (or "indies").