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European Commission OKs Proposed Sony-BMG Music Merger

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 20, 2004 - 5:05am.
Brussels -- The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it has approved the proposed merger of two of the world's five major record labels, Sony and BMG. Sony and Bertelsmann have proposed creating a 50/50 joint venture of their recorded music businesses, Sony Music Entertainment and Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG). The Commission said that following an antitrust investigation, which also included the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, it did not have sufficiently strong evidence to oppose the deal. The EC said that it did not find evidence to indicate that the five majors had colluded to fix CD prices in Europe in the past, and that reducing their ranks to four through the proposed merger would not change matters. It also examined the online music market, but did not foresee serious competition problems.
tags: Europe | Musics | Commission | Sony-BMG |

European Indie Labels Vow to Fight Proposed Sony-BMG Merger

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 27, 2004 - 2:31am.
Brussels -- Impala, a trade group representing more than 2,000 independent record labels in Europe, announced this week that it would fight the proposed merger between music heavyweights Sony and BMG. Impala claims the newly merged behemoth would command more than a quarter of the Continent's music sales, as well as lead to the elimination of thousands of jobs. Impala Vice President Patrick Zelnik said that the smaller labels would be "further marginalized, and access to radio play lists, television programs and retail outlets will become impossible". The group threatened to launch legal action in both Europe and the U.S. should the European Commission approve the merger.
tags: European | Indie Labels | Sony-BMG |