Sony Music Entertainment was originally known as the CBS Records Group until it was sold to Sony Corporation of Japan on January 5, 1988, when Sony licensed the CBS name and was renamed as "Sony Music Entertainment" on January 1, 1991. On July 20, 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 as Sony Music Entertainment as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
