Sony Music Japan

Background
Sony Music Entertainment Japan (formerly CBS/Sony Group) was a music company that was owned by Sony Corporation that was founded in 1968. It was renamed to its current moniker in 1991.

1st Logo (1984-1992)
Logo: We just see the text in blue: A CBS/SONY GROUP RELEASE

Variants: : A Sony Music Entertainment RELEASE
 * In later years, the text reads:
 * Sometimes, the text says "CBS/SONY HOME VIDEO"
 * Sometimes, the text was in white.
 * A variant with the text in Didot, CBS' (the company's co-owner), exists.

FX/SFX: The logo fading in and the logo fading out.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Ultra rare. You can see it on releases from the company including anime such as Penguin's Memory: Shiawase Monogatari.

Editor's Note: None.

2nd Logo (1992-1998)
Logo: On a gray gradient background, we see a flash, and then we see a light blue parallelogram that divides into slanted lines. The lines disappear, and then we see the text "Sony Music Entertainment" in white. Then, a red line draws the white italic word "(Japan) Inc." below the text.

Variants:
 * Sometimes, the text reads "Sony Records", "Ki/oon Sony Records" or "Epic/Sony Records" and then the line forms the normal text below in italics.
 * On SNES games, the text is already formed, except for the line drawing the text.

FX/SFX: The parallelogram and lines forming the text.

Music/Sounds: There are two musical versions of the logo.
 * One version has a choir, followed by a xylophone theme.
 * The other was a singing choir followed by wobbling synth noises.
 * On the SNES version, the logo is silent.

Availability: Seen on anime and music releases from the company in Japan, as well as on SNES games in the Japanese market, such as the Japanese version of Solstice.

Editor's Note: None.

3rd Logo (1994-1998)
Logo: On a black background, we see a white vertical rectangle in the middle with the Columbia Records "walking eye" symbol inside of it. Below that is the text "Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc.".

Variants:
 * On Lagnacure, the logo fades to white at the end, transitioning to the Art System logo.
 * On Bakuden Unbalance Zone, the Amuse logo is shown below the logo.

FX/SFX: Same as the 1st logo.

Music/Sounds: None.

Availability: Was seen on Japanese PSX games that distributed their music on the Japanese Sony Music label.

Editor's Note: None.

4th Logo (1998- )
Logo: On a black background, a white light appears, revealing it was the 3D white text "Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc." in stacked form, also forming from light effects. Then we see a disc, that later turns into the letter "a".

Variants:
 * Sometimes, the text would read either "Sony Music Labels Inc.", "Sony Music Direct (Japan) Inc.", "Sony Music Records" or "SME Records".
 * The SME version also has the light forming the italic text "Sony Music Records Inc." below the logo.

FX/SFX: The light forming the text.

Music/Sounds: Same as the first musical version of the second logo. On some games, like Click Medic, the logo is silent.

Availability: Seen on Japanese music VHS and DVD releases from the company, as well as PS1 and PS2 Japanese video games from the era.

Editor's Note: None.