European Commission Raises Serious Objections To UMG-EMI Merger
London's Globe And Mail reports that sources who have seen a "statement of objections" circulated by the European Commission say Universal Music Group will have to make some major concessions if it expects to ever finalize its proposed $1.8 billion purchase of EMI's record labels. The Commission reportedly disagreed with Universal's assessment of its market share, which excludes music it distributes for independent record labels, and also rejected arguments over the countervailing power of Apple and the pressure on legitimate music sales from piracy. Additionally, the Commission said Universal will have to address a claim that its potential dominance of recorded music would be compounded by its existing position as number two in the music publishing market, and also expressed concerns about UMG's ability to use its size to win better terms for its artists and to boost prices for EMI's catalog. Universal responded by stating, "We are preparing a detailed response to the Commission's statement, which will address the concerns outlined in this procedural document. We will continue to work closely with the Commission and look forward to securing regulatory clearance." [Full story: Globe And Mail]
| U.K. Digital Music Sales Jump 17.3% In First Half, But Album Sales Slip Digital music sales in the U.K. grew by 17.3% in the first half of 2012 vs. the first six months of 2011, despite the fact that digital album sales slipped to 43.6 million compared with the 50.3 million sold in the first half of last year. That's the word from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which reported that physical album sales also were down for the first half of the year, falling 14% compared to H1 last year. By contrast (and not surprisingly), single sales are up 6.3% year-over-year for the first six months of 2012; in fact, U.K. consumers purchased 93.6 million singles, up from 88 million during the same period in '11. Adele's second album "21" is the U.K.'s biggest seller so far this year, with Emeli Sande and Lana Del Rey in the #2 and #3 positions. The biggest-selling single of the year so far is Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know," which has sold more than a million copies, while "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen is second. [Full story: BBC] |
| N.Z. Judge Rules Megaupload Search Warrants Were "Too Broad" The U.S. Justice Department thought it had an airtight case against Megaupload and its founder Kim Dotcom, but it continues to suffer setbacks at the hands of the New Zealand legal system. The latest problem - and it's a big one - stems from the ruling by Helen Winkelmann, the chief judge of the High Court in Auckland, that the warrants used in the raid last January were overly broad and did not adequately explain the laws that Megaupload and its employees were accused of breaking. As noted in the New York Times, the U.S. has accused Megaupload of being a criminal enterprise causing $500 million in damages to such copyright holders as record labels, movie studios, and software makers. In her ruling the judge also ordered that a court-appointed authority sort through seized user data to ensure that only information that's relevant to the Justice Department's case is copied and sent to prosecutors, while anything irrelevant - like files owned by users themselves - be returned to the company. What is not clear is what effect the ruling will have on the case against Megaupload and whether it will result in the exclusion of large amounts of evidence. [Full story: New York Times] |
Apple Reportedly Set To Ad Social Component To iTunes Apple Inc. reportedly plans an overhaul of iTunes that is expected to be one of the largest changes to the online music store since its 2003 debut. That's the story from Bloomberg News, which earlier this week said the company has been negotiating with record labels to let users send each other songs and listen to them for free. "The sharing will most likely Meanwhile, Business Insider wrote that "Given the success of social music streaming services like Spotify, it's not surprising that Apple would want to make iTunes a little more social as well. Hopefully this effort turns out better than Ping." Ping, as some "netizens" may recall, was Apple's ill-fated effort to create a social media network; as CNET recently observed, "Apple has tried its hand at social music networking before with Ping, with mixed results. The music-centric social network within iTunes 10 ... is expected to get the ax in the next version of iOS." [Full story: MediaPost] |
| Beats Acquires Digital Music Service MOG For Undisclosed Amount Beats Electronics, the headphones and audio-software maker, this week confirmed it has acquired MOG, the Spotify-like online music service that has a library of 15 million songs that users can stream to an array of audio devices. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and both companies declined to say how MOG might be integrated into Beats, although Beats President/CEO Luke Wood said that the company chose MOG over others because of its desire to deliver high-quality audio. "They were the first service to offer their entire catalog in the 320 kilobit format," Woods told USA Today. "They were the most progressive and the first service to be really committed to multiple access points in the deals they did with LG and Samsung for the TV and BMW for the car, (and) they were very quick to push music to the smartphone." Producer-rapper Dr. Dre and Universal Music Group executive Jimmy Iovine acquired Beats, whose primary business is to manufacture earphones and speakers, last year for $300 million. [Full story: CNET] |
| Forbes: AM/FM Benefits From Artists' Music And Should Pay To Play It While much was made of the parade of witnesses at the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on "The Future of Audio" last month, don't expect much substance on performance royalty fees to come out of the meeting. As reported by Forbes, the Energy and Commerce Committee does not have jurisdiction over U.S. copyright laws, so until efforts are revived before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, no change in the law should be expected. Still, in the view of the magazine's John Villasenor, the law should be revised so AM/FM terrestrial radio stations pay some sort of set fee for radio airplay, just as cable, internet, and satellite stations do. While broadcasters' favorite chestnut is that airplay helps sell records, Villasenor notes that this argument can be inverted: "By playing artists who people want to hear, broadcasters of all stripes attract more listeners, and can therefore charge higher fees to their advertisers or subscribers. It's a well-recognized symbiosis in which the benefits flow in both directions. Exposure drives sales, and good music attracts listeners." In fact, he writes, "Broadcasters use intellectual property owned by artists and record labels, and not the other way around. The fact that artists may receive some benefit from radio stations' use of their intellectual property shouldn't strip them of their right to be paid for its use." [Full story: Forbes] |
Al Bell Presents American Soul Music ... And American Soul TV
If you're into classic and contemporary Soul, R&B, Blues, Gospel, Jazz, Hip-Hop Soul, Rap Soul, and Neo-Soul, we invite you to listen to Al Bell Presents American Soul Music. Former Stax Records owner and Motown Records Group President Al Bell personally has programmed this awesome radio station online, presenting your favorites from the 1960s and '70s [and some '80s], a lot of the best new music that's being released today, and some real gems you haven't heard in a long, long time. Come to www.AlBellPresents.Com and hear it for yourself!
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