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Does AT&T Own Warner Music?

Published in Company Ownership 2 mins read

No, AT&T does not own Warner Music. Warner Music Group (WMG) operates as an independent, publicly traded company.

Understanding the "Warner" Entities and AT&T's Connections

It's common to confuse the various "Warner" branded entities due to their shared history, but their ownership structures are distinct, especially concerning AT&T's past and present holdings.

Warner Music Group (WMG)

  • Independent Entity: Warner Music Group is one of the world's largest record labels and music publishing companies. It became independent long before AT&T's significant ventures into media content ownership.
  • Historical Spin-off: WMG was spun off and sold by Time Warner (the predecessor to what later became WarnerMedia) in 2004 to a group of investors. This occurred over a decade prior to AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner.
  • Publicly Traded: Warner Music Group went public again on the Nasdaq Stock Market in 2020 and is not controlled by AT&T.

AT&T and WarnerMedia (Including Warner Bros. Entertainment)

While AT&T never owned Warner Music, it did have a significant stake in another part of the "Warner" empire: WarnerMedia.

  • Acquisition of Time Warner: In 2018, AT&T acquired Time Warner, rebranding it as WarnerMedia. This entity included major entertainment assets such as:
    • Warner Bros. Entertainment: The renowned film and television studio, which is distinct from Warner Music.
    • HBO
    • CNN
  • Spin-off and Merger: As of October 2022, AT&T had spun off WarnerMedia. This entertainment group subsequently combined with Discovery, Inc. to form a new media conglomerate known as Warner Bros. Discovery. Therefore, Warner Bros. Entertainment is now a division of Warner Bros. Discovery, and no longer owned by AT&T.

Key Distinction: It's crucial to understand that Warner Music Group (focused on music labels and publishing) and Warner Bros. (focused on film, television, and animation) are separate companies with different ownership structures, despite their historical ties to the broader Time Warner conglomerate. AT&T's involvement was with the latter, not the former.