FTC Gives Antitrust Approval to Sony BMG Record Label Merger

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 29, 2004 - 4:14am.

Washington -- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has concluded its antitrust investigation into the proposed merger of two of the world's five major record labels -- Sony Music and BMG -- and given the merger the green-light. The FTC also worked with the European Commission on that regulatory body's antitrust investigation into the merger; the EC granted its approval of the deal last week. The merger of Sony's and Bertelsmann's music businesses will create a joint venture, Sony BMG, which will become the world's second-largest record company, behind Universal. Opponents argued further consolidation in the music industry, which in the past two decades has seen a multitude of formerly independent labels swallowed by what will now be the "big four," would harm artists in the long run. "We now look forward to creating a global recorded music company comprising many of the world's most successful artists as well as a vast catalog of recordings," BMG said in a statement.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/07/sonybmg.htm