Music Industry News

EMI CEO Says Citi Takeover Relieves Pressure

Source: HypeBot
February 3, 2011

In an extensive round of media interviews and meetings with staff yesterday, EMI CEO Roger Faxon sent a singular message: Citigroup's acquisition and recapitalization relieves pressure on the music group and makes it possible for EMI to “pay attention much more directly to the operating performance of the business and to driving for growth in the future." “One of the things that people don't appreciate is that EMI was able to pay the debt service on that £3.4bn." Faxon told ...

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Other Places: Reprieve in Detroit

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
February 3, 2011

As 2010 wound down, it appeared that the venerable Detroit jazz club Baker's Keyboard Lounge might be sold to someone who would make it into a dollar store. That sent a shock through the city's jazz community, which has heard major musicians at Baker's for more than three-quarters of a century. As Mark Stryker reported last week in The Detroit Free Press:Baker's has been integral to Detroit's cultural identity as a jazz mecca for so long, it's hard for musicians, ...

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It's Over! Citigroup Seizes Control of EMI...

Source: Digital Music News
February 2, 2011

This may be remembered as one of the worst media investments of all time. But playtime is over. As of Tuesday morning, Terra Firma has relinquished control of EMI to Citigroup. This is a 100 percent takeover, and part of a recapitalization that has slashed the debt burden by more than 65 percent to 1.2 billion pounds ($1.93 billion). A huge portion of the soured debt has effectively been written off. At present, the EMI Group management structure will remain ...

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Sources: Spotify "Negotiating with Squatters" at EMI...

Source: Digital Music News
February 2, 2011

So, who exactly is Spotify negotiating with at EMI, anyway? According to sources speaking Tuesday with Digital Music News, any licensing deal is probably none-too-secure at this juncture, despite chatter about a deal being “close." The reason is thatCitibank—now the 100 percent controlling owner—is looking to divest itself of this “toxic asset," a situation that invites all sorts of complications. The biggest problem is that licensing arrangements may not transfer after any sale. Instead, they can be nullified depending on ...

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10 Expert Insights into Great Music Marketing

Source: HypeBot
February 2, 2011

This post is by Hypebot intern Hisham Dahud. His Twitter: @HishamDahud. This past weekend, the California Lawyers for the Art's held their 28th Annual Music Business Seminar at Ex'pression College for the Digital Arts in Emeryville, CA.   Here were some of the highlights: On getting a marketing and distribution campaign started: Danny Dee Aguayo of Topspin Media insists that the music business is more data driven than ever before. Learning the benchmarks of analytical tools and measuring where potential and current ...

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Citi Takes Control of EMI, Wipes out $3.5b Debt

Source: HypeBot
February 2, 2011

(UPDATE 2) EMI, the world's fourth largest label group along with a successful publishing division, are now controlled by one of America's largest banks.  As predicted, Citigroup seized 100% of EMI Group Ltd. from financier Guy Hands and his Terra Firma group in a restructuring that saw the company's debt cut from nearly $5.5 billion to  just under $2 billion USD.  Trying to put the best face on a difficult moment for the music group, CEO Roger Faxon said in ...

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If Everything in Music Has Changed, Will That Change You?

Source: We All Make Music
February 1, 2011

Earlier today, Digital Music News's Paul Resnikoff posted an alarming quote from an interview with famed film director Francis Ford Coppola.

You have to remember that it's only a few hundred years, if that much, that artists are working with money. Artists never got money. Artists had a patron, either the leader of the state or the duke of Weimar or somewhere, or the church, the pope. Or they had ...

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Buzzdeck - Social Analytics for Bands and Managers

Source: HypeBot
February 1, 2011

BuzzDeck is a music analytics tool developed by AWAL, a London-based music distributor. It's been floating around for a couple months now. The service enables artists and their managers to track everything from their Twitter followers to who is watching their videos online. All of this info is pulled into a dashboard wherein the activity across networks can be compared and contrasted. Sixteen-year-old ukulele player, Misty Miller, has found using the service fascinating. It shows she has gained fans all ...

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