About the studio
Sony Music Entertainment Japan traces back to March 11, 1968, when it launched as CBS/Sony, a 50/50 joint venture between CBS and Sony. Sony bought out CBS's stake in 1988, folding the label fully into Sony Corporation. Based in Chiyoda, Tokyo, SMEJ's most important anime contribution isn't music directly, it's Aniplex, the anime production and distribution powerhouse it spun up in September 1995. *One label quietly becomes the parent of an entire anime empire.* Through Aniplex, SMEJ has an indirect hand in Sword Art Online, Demon Slayer, and the Fate franchise, and it owns animation studios A-1 Pictures and CloverWorks outright. Notably, this Sony Music operates independently from its American counterpart. Nearly 60 years after starting as a joint venture record label, SMEJ has become one of the quiet giants of the anime industry, mostly by owning the right subsidiary at the right time.