The music industry’s big four may soon be the music industry’s big three. As Billboard reports, Universal Music Group has announced a “definitve agreement” to purchase EMI’s recorded-music division for $1.9 billion dollars. EMI, which has been in existence for 114 years, is home to The Beatles and Pink Floyd’s discographies, in addition to big name acts like Coldplay, Katy Perry, and Beastie Boys. The EMI umbrella also includes subsidiary labels like Capitol and Astralwerks, as well as distribution deals with DFA and Mute.
Billboard also reports that Sony Corp. has agreed to purchase EMI’s publishing operation for $2.2. billion. However, both deals will likely face anti-trust lawsuits — for example, Universal Music Group’s and EMI’s combined market share would be about 36% worldwide and over 50% in some countries.
LMAO I was jokingly going to say that Sony would buy EMI when we first found out that Dr. Luke was exclusively with Sony. Now I wish I would have said it because it actually happened
So will EMI still exist, but run under parent company (Sony or Universal), or will EMI not exist entirely, with it's labels moving under the Sony or Universal branch?
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