And then there were three — record labels, that is. Regulators in the United States and Europe have approved the acquisition of EMI Music by Univeral Music Group. The combined label will own close to 40 percent of the world music market with a trove of acts that includes The Beatles.
The deal didn’t happen quickly. There were months of tense negotiations, and last November, Universal made the deal to buy EMI’s recorded music division for a price of $1.9 billion — which it would pay even if the deal wasn’t approved, so it must have felt pressure to make it happen.
The European Commission put terms on the deal that include selling off some big acts like Coldplay and Pink Floyd. But even with the loss of those assets, the combined company will still have about 40 percent of the music market in Europe and just under that in the U.S., according to a spokesperson for the Federal Trade Commission. Given the huge challenges facing the music industry — its revenue has been cut in half over the past decade — analyst Antonio Danova thinks a larger entity will have more success.
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