Sony Music Entertainment

Background : Sony Music Entertainment was originally known as "CBS Music" part of the CBS Records Group until it was sold to Sony Corporation of Japan on November 18, 1987, and was renamed to "Sony Music Entertainment" in 1991. On March 4, 2004, Sony Music Entertainment and Bertelsmann Music Group merged their 50% of their music enterprise to form "Sony BMG Music Entertainment", which was approved by the European Union. On October 1, 2008, Bertelsmann AG agreed to sell the rest of the Sony BMG stake to Sony, renaming the enterprise back to Sony Music Entertainment as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

=CBS Music Video Enterprises= (1986-1991)

Nicknames : "The Triangles", "The Pyramids", "CMV"

Logo : On a black background, we see a 3-D pyramid spinning around, with the letters "C", in red, on one side, "M", in green, on another side, and "V", in blue, on the other. Then, two more triangles just like the first one slide out of the pyramid and they all spin. Then, the pyramids get together, and as they do that, each of them turn into triangles, and the letters turn white. "E N T E R P R I S E S" fades in under "CMV".

FX/SFX : CGI.

Music/Sounds : A modern-sounding synth theme with ticks throughout and 3 deep bangs as the pyramids turns into triangles.

Availability : Very rare. It can be found on CBS Music Video releases, such as the 1987 VHS release of Billy Joel: Live at Yankee Stadium and a laserdisc release of The Forbidden Dance is Lambada.

Editor's Note : None.

=Sony Music Entertainment=

1st Logo
(1991-2005?)

Nicknames : "The Triangles II", "The Pyramids II", "SMV"

Logo : Same as the CMV Enterprises logo, but the "C" is replaced by an "S", the font is bolder, and the colors are a bit brighter.

Variant : On the 1996 VHS of Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, the logo is shortened to the last few seconds.

FX/SFX : Same as the CMV Enterprises logo. It warrants a mention that this logo somehow is able to change parts of the previous logo without resorting to cheap chyron effects.

Music/Sounds : Same as the CMV Enterprises logo. On the variant, we hear just re-arranged drumbeats and the synth strum.

Availability : Uncommon. It can be seen on many Sony Music Video releases from the era such as the VHS releases of Celine Dion: Unison, Celine Dion: All the Way - A Decade of Song and Video, Mariah Carey: #1's and John Denver: The Wildlife Concert. It can also be found on many 90's MTV Home Video releases from the era, such as early Beavis and Butt-Head and MTV Unplugged VHS releases.

Editor's Note : None.

2nd Logo
(1996-2005)

Nicknames: "SMV II" "The Smoking Circles"

Logo: On a black background, we see a yellow ball moving upward. Then, two blue balls move downward, left and right of the yellow ball. These move away, as it fades into 3 black smoking circles with the left and right circle with blue outlining and the middle circle with yellow outlining. These outlines then spin around, as the smoke disappears and the letters "S" on the left circle, in white, "M" on the middle circle, in blue, and "V" on the right circle, in white. The circles turn to the colors of the outlines of the circle. The words:

s o n y m u s i c

entertainment

appear one-by-one. "sony music" is spaced out more to fit the width of "entertainment".

FX/SFX : CGI.

Music/Sounds : Same as the last two logos.

Availability : Seen on many Sony Music Entertainment VHS and DVD releases from the era, including Computer Animation Festival, Alice in Chains: Music Bank - The Videos, Jennifer Lopez: Feelin So Good, and Kathy Smith reissues from the company. It also appears on many mid 1990's MTV Home Video releases such as MTV Gamebrain, Beavis and Butt-Head and The Real World video tapes. Strangely, this logo made a surprise appearance on the packaging of the 2006 Shout! Factory DVD sets The Super Mario Bros. Super Show and The Best of The Electric Company, but never appeared on the DVDs themselves. and that logo appeared in 2011 releases.

3rd Logo
(2010-)

Nickname : "The Red Paintbrush"

Logo : On a white background, we see a simple red paintbrush effect drawing down from the up. The text "SONY" in the respective Sony font flies in as the paintbrush zooms out and flashes. The flash passes through the logo, making "MUSIC" appear next to the Sony wordmark, forming the logo.
 * A still in-credit version appears on reruns of the two shows listed below.
 * On Blu-rays, the "SONY MUSIC" text flies together, and "HIGH DEFINITION" appears letter by letter under the logo.
 * On some shows, the logo appears by fading by fire and the text fading in after.

FX/SFX : The paintbrush drawing. The zooming in.

Music/Sounds : Originally, the electric guitar piece with flying sounds is used. Some shows have their own sounds:
 * On Big Time Rush, the end theme of the show plays over.
 * Victorious has a "swoosh" sound when the paintbrush draws followed by a random quote that varies on each episode of the show.
 * Split-screen credits airings on both shows has this logo silent.

Availability : Seen on music video releases. Appeared also on Victorious and Big Time Rush.

=Sony BMG Music Entertainment= (2004-2009)



Nicknames : "Spinning Treble Clef", "Symbol Clef"

Logo : On a white background, we see a spinning fuchsia and blue treble clef. It slowly zooms out to the words "SONY" and "BMG" (in their corporate fonts) and the treble clef falls on the words. Then a flash occurs and two lines and the words "MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT" in Trajan Pro Bold font fade in. The treble clef shines.

Variants :
 * On the 2006 DVD of The Transformers: The Movie, the words "HOME ENTERTAINMENT" fade in a few seconds later.
 * On movies from the company, the word "FILM" appears by a light effect.

FX/SFX : The treble clef spinning, the names zooming out, all in great CGI.

Music/Sounds : Wind sounds, followed by a loud synth chord and some twinkling sounds.

Availability : Common. It appeared on many music DVDs and DualDisc releases such as Michael Jackson: Thriller 25, Beyoncé: B-Day, and the Trapped in the Closet series. The "FILM" version is uncommon, and it appeared on the films Ghosts of Cité Soleil and Feel the Noise. It was also seen on the trailer for Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten.

=Sony Music Film= (December 5, 2008)

Logo : TBA

FX/SFX : The logo forming.

Music/Sounds : A majestic synth track.

Availability : Seen on the film Cadillac Records. A still version appeared on the trailer of the film.