Proposed Break Up for EMI Group

EMI, one of the "big four" record companies, has been experiencing rather large problems. What does Guy Hands, chairman and chief executive of EMI think would be best? According to court documents filed in New York three months ago, Hands thinks EMI Group should break up.

In a letter from Hands, he stated that if there wasn't a restructuring of EMI's music publishing and recorded-music divisions, a dissolution would be the only other choice. He was quoted writing, "[t]he implementation of the separation of RM [recorded-music] and MP [music publishing] is essential."

The proposal, which was written to Chad Leat, head of the alternative asset group of Citigroup, was rejected.

This is huge news for the music industry, primarily for the British industry. Although Terra Firma Capital Partners, the owners of the company, did not approve of the company break up, the proposal itself shows the instability in the industry. If EMI, which has been around since 1931, broke up, there would be a void in the British recording industry. Although this article is about EMI, other major labels are going through the same ordeal right now because of the changes happening in the industry. In order for them to succeed, they are going to need to think outside of the box and restructure their business. Specifically, they will need to learn how to cope with the advances in technology, because that is what's causing change in the music industry.


-Ashley Stokvis


Source:

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i2fac53d5f65010f7420bc937a5494af7