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THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC
www.musicweek.com
NEWS 02
All the nominees revealed for the AIM Awards 2012
MERGERS BY TIM INGHAM
O
ne of the most iconic labels in history has slipped through his
grasp – but Lucian Grainge says he’s over the moon with Universal’s final haul as the EMI takeover saga comes to a close. UMG’s £1.2bn acquisition of
EMI was finally approved by European and US regulators last week, but not without hefty divestments. The EC ordered Universal to sell the Parlophone label as well as EMI’s Pink Floyd and David Bowie catalogues – plus EMI’s 50% stake in the Now! compilation series. However, UMG held on to
golden assets including The Beatles, Beach Boys and Robbie Williams catalogues, as well as the Virgin and Capitol labels. Other new additions to the
UMG fold include Abbey Road Studios in the UK, which Grainge has pledged to keep open, and the famous Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood. Universal Music CEO and
chairman Grainge claimed that the sold-off assets would amount to just 10% of UMG/EMI’s combined revenues. He added that a £100m cost savings plan will still go ahead after divestments have been sold. When asked if he would bid for EMI again now he knew
No regrets
how much UMG would have to shed, Grainge told Music Week: “I would do this all over again, time and time again every year. We’ve acquired two-thirds of EMI and wholly-owned businesses in three of the top markets: America, Japan and Germany. They’re completely intact.”
He added: “We can rebuild
Capitol Records in Hollywood into the powerhouse that it was in a previous era. When you talk about the two or three iconic label brands in the United States, Capitol is one of them. “This has given Universal the opportunity to halt the decline
of EMI, to rebuild it and to bring back Capitol and Virgin with investment, new people and excitement.” Earlier this year, Grainge
wrote to European indie label group IMPALA offering members first dibs on assets – and a potential fund to help
The Beatles’ worth to Universal has been spelt out by new Music Week research naming the group as one of the biggest- selling acts this century. Universal made a point of
extracting The Beatles as a band and as solo acts from its EMI concessions last week.
The business logic of that
stand is today underlined by a Music Week study of The Beatles’ recorded music sales since 2000, which reveals they are this century’s sixth most successful albums act in the UK. In this period they have sold 8.2 million albums, according to
the Official Charts Company – despite the band not having recorded together as an active unit for 43 years. The continuing commercial
might of The Beatles is also felt overseas with their compilation 1 the century’s biggest-selling album globally. It is also the post-
BIGINTERVIEW 10
Guy Moot on the future of Sony/ATV/EMI
GRAINGE DELIGHTED DESPITE LOSING COLDPLAY, BOWIE AND PINK FLOYD • ‘INDIES WILL RUE IMPALA REJECTION’
On board: Grainge (right) now manages Robbie Williams’ catalogue - as well as the star’s current contract
28.09.12 £5.15 19 FEATURE
Music Week looks back on 20 years of Later With Jools Holland
purchase EMI cast-offs – so long as they backed the merger. Despite more than 50% of IMPALA’s board members voting in favour of discussions with Grainge, the trade body rejected his approach. “Whatever statements you
see from any of the groups that opposed this deal, I have worked tirelessly with many of them to actually find solutions for the industry,” he said. “There’s been an enormous
amount of the entrepreneurial independent community that have wanted to work with us and felt very positive about this – they’re the people we’re in contact with and that we hope to continue to work with. “The IMPALA offer] was a
proposal that was put to their trade bodies at that time. I think that they will regret that we weren’t able to come together. History will show that [offer] was a moment that existed and that passed.” Grainge indicated that he
would make no attempt to avoid selling assets to great rivals Sony or Warner Music. He said: “As far as I’m concerned, I hope that [Parlophone] goes to a company that will manage it well and do good things for its artists, while at the same time satisfying our
needs on a financial criteria.” The independent label community reacts: Page 3
Lucian in the sky as Beatles’ value revealed
millennium No.1 in the US. Universal’s takeover of The
Beatles’ catalogue comes just ahead of the 50th anniversary of the release of the band’s first single Love Me Do in the UK on
October 5. See Music Week’s Beatles analysis on pages 14 and 15
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