During South Africa's apartheid years, many international record companies (like
CBS and
Epic) preferred to distribute their products through various local licensees (such as
Gallo). However, in the New South Africa following 1994, many of these multinational companies themselves entered the country, establishing a presence and taking control of their labels.
One of these was
Sony, which by now had taken ownership of
CBS / Columbia Records and entered SA in 1995 as the newly-formed
Sony Music Entertainment (South Africa).
Sony has since merged with
BMG in 2004.