Haven't seen this on any of the U.S. sites yet, but apparently one of the major labels is becoming Canadian, again, now that Edgar Bronfman Jr. is re-entering the music industry with his purchase of Warner Music Group from Time Warner. The Bronfmans has previously owned Universal as part of their Seagram group, before selling it to France's Vivendi.
Story at the CBC here: http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/11/24/warner_031124
Will the re-emergence of this major music group bode well for the industry, with it being extracted from a larger group of content providers and given more room to move? Will it make it tougher for the Warner group overall? Does it even matter?
(On a side note, does this leave any of the major labels in U.S. hands now? By my last tally, BMG was German, EMI was based in the U.K., Universal was French-owned, Sony was Japanese. Unsure how the recent merger of Sony and BMG will affect ownership but certainly wouldn't change the fact that it was still based outside the U.S.)
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 01:07 (twenty-two years ago)
Ah, they had it on CNN too, just hidden in the business portion of the site, not the entertainment side (from what I can tell):
http://money.cnn.com/2003/11/24/news/companies/music_consumers/index.htm
Bobby Rosenbloum, another attorney who represents artists, including some at Warner Music, agrees that Warner Music staying independent is a victory for those who want to see more new artists develop. "The independent move is going to be more positive for the industry than the consolidation move would have been," Atlanta-based Rosenbloum said. "If we had been left with three rather than four or five major record companies, the new artist signings would have been cut that much more."
Both Rosenbloum and Cooper believe the new private owners of Warner Music will be able to be more patient with the development of new talent than a public media conglomerate like Time Warner could be.
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 25 November 2003 02:10 (twenty-two years ago)
seven years pass...
Warner Music bought by Blavatnik's Access Industries
Warner Music has been bought by an industrial group whose holdings range from oil and aluminium firms to the UK's Top Up TV.
Access Industries, run by Russian born billionaire Len Blavatnik, paid $3.3bn (£2bn) in cash for the world's third largest music firm.
Warner, whose artists include Bruno Mars, has been struggling with declining sales and profits.
Access Industries already owned a small stake in the US firm.
Mr Blavatnik said he was "excited" to be extending his involvement in the firm.
Warner Music Group, whose entire music and publishing businesses have been sold, will become a private company with its shares delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.
Chairman Edgar Bronfman said Access Industries was "supportive of the company's vision, growth strategy and artists, while bringing a fresh entrepreneurial perspective and expertise in technology and media".
"Most importantly, Access supports Warner Music's commitment to our recording artists and songwriters who are the foundation of our current and future success," he said.
The sale of Warner Music marks "the end of the public pure-play music studios, which have been under attack from independent labels started by musicians and under fire from the Internet," remarked Jon Ogg, an analyst with 247WallSt.com.
There are rumours that Mr Blavatnik also wants to add EMI to his portfolio of businesses.
In addition to its heavy industrial interests, his US-based Access Industries also owns the UK arm of film and TV distributor Icon.
Mr Blavatnik, who has an estimated fortune of $7.5bn, is a director of Russian oil firm TNK and aluminium giant Rusal.
Warner shares rose 3.5% during Friday trading to close at $8.18 on Wall Street, just short of the $8.25 per share sale price.
― al b. surly! (The Reverend), Saturday, 7 May 2011 19:35 (fourteen years ago)
five months pass...