Universal Music South Africa

This is the South African branch of the world's biggest record company, occasionally shown by its legal name "Universal Music (Pty) Ltd South Africa", "Universal Music S.A. (Pty) Ltd" -- or any permutation thereof, seen mostly in M+D or ℗+© roles. For the branded label please use either Universal or Universal Music (depending on logo used). Universal was formed in 1999 after Canadian liquor company Seagram acquired PolyGram and then renamed its music operations to Universal Music. In its early days Universal SA partially continued to use the STAR* XXXX catalogue numbering scheme from its PolyGram South Africa and Teal Trutone Music predecessors. Universal has also absorbed some of EMI's catalogue following its sale in 2012. Sipho Dlamini was appointed the company MD in 2016 after Randall Abrahams stepped down. The publishing arm is "Universal Music Publishing (Pty) Ltd" (not to be confused with its Australian counterpart).