EMI is history

[Coopmv]

Looks like EMI will soon be history according to this article.  Most private equity shops do not know the industry they are buying into.  All they care is to make the quick bucks and move on ...

[Todd]

Oh well.  Worst case, the label dies and the back catalog is sold off in chunks.  Best case is it's absored by UMG or Warner and lives on in some form.  On the plus side, Berkshire Record Outlet will probably be flooded with cheap EMI titles in the coming months.

[Coopmv]

I am not sure if WMG will be such a good owner for EMI.  We have all witnessed how the small labels like Erato, Finlandia, etc withered under the dynamic leadership at WMG ...

[CRCulver]

I am not sure if WMG will be such a good owner for EMI.  We have all witnessed how the small labels like Erato, Finlandia, etc withered under the dynamic leadership at WMG ...

Indeed, Warner was pretty upfront that they were only buying Fazer Music (the owner of Finlandia) for its considerable pop music publishing rights and didn't care at all about the little classical label that was part of the company.

Whatever happens is certain to be bad for EMI's classical holdings. Yes, reissues are sometimes done, but plenty of good stuff is lost forever whenever a label is bought out. Most of the uncompromising modernism on Erato was never reissued under Warner's apex line.

[Scarpia]

I've arrived at the chicken little thread.  Is the sky falling again?

This will be the second time EMI has changed hands in three years, I can't imagine there is anything worse in store this time.  EMI's back catalog will continue to be available, republishing that stuff is just like printing money.   It is not clear how vigorous EMI's regime of new productions will be, but what's the point?  Isn't it time to put Simon Rattle out of his misery?  All the best recordings are made by the smaller independent labels anyway.   There is talk that Citibank will sell EMI's units separately, which means the classical unit might end up in the hands of an organization that is interesting in classical music.  Wouldn't that be nice!

[Mirror Image]

I have no doubt in my mind that if EMI folded up that some other company would try to acquire them or at least part of them. It's a shame really to think about this happening, but EMI haven't been the most reliable company, especially in regards to their classical catalog with recordings quickly being deleted and so forth.


Let's hope that this will be a wake-up call. People want more care put into their music and it seems that EMI hasn't really been interested in keeping their eye on the ball in meeting the demands of it's customers.

[snyprrr]

 

[Brian]

Maybe Naxos makes a move for the back catalog, thus keeping all of it online/downloadable and most of it available on CD for the foreseeable future. They did something similar with Koch, Olympia, and a couple other little labels, but those weren't such big fish as EMI. One can always dream...

[The new erato]

I've heard rumours that Apple is interested, in which case the catalogue perhaps only will be available in i-tunes.

 

[Lethevich]

Maybe Naxos makes a move for the back catalog, thus keeping all of it online/downloadable and most of it available on CD for the foreseeable future.

I hope so. EMI genuinely has the deepest and richest back catalogue of any of the majors - so much obscure repertoire by French singers and ensembles, many historic recordings, tons curently unavailable.

[Coopmv]

I have no doubt in my mind that if EMI folded up that some other company would try to acquire them or at least part of them. It's a shame really to think about this happening, but EMI haven't been the most reliable company, especially in regards to their classical catalog with recordings quickly being deleted and so forth.


Let's hope that this will be a wake-up call. People want more care put into their music and it seems that EMI hasn't really been interested in keeping their eye on the ball in meeting the demands of it's customers.

I think the best company to acquire EMI is really Brilliant Classics.  WMG is a piece of crap IMO.  A good number of Erato recordings have disappeared from sight since the WMG takeover (or takeunder?).  What do you expect from a bunch of buffoons from Manhattan who know next to nothing about classical music running the classical music business?

[Coopmv]

I've heard rumours that Apple is interested, in which case the catalogue perhaps only will be available in i-tunes.

 

I will never buy any product from Apple, period.

[The new erato]

I think the best company to acquire EMI is really Brilliant Classics.  WMG is a piece of crap IMO.  A good number of Erato recordings have disappeared from sight since the WMG takeover (or takeunder?).  What do you expect from a bunch of buffoons from Manhattan who know next to nothing about classical music running the classical music business?

A case can be made that it is very long ago since EMI also knew anything about running the classical music business.

[Scarpia]

A case can be made that it is very long ago since EMI also knew anything about running the classical music business.

There are people at EMI classics who know what they should be doing.  Unfortunately they are now part of a very big corporation that does not care about the classical music business.  Given the back catalog they are sitting on, the only sensible thing for them to do is exploit it and let their younger competitors spend money on expensive productions.

[Scarpia]

I've heard rumours that Apple is interested, in which case the catalogue perhaps only will be available in i-tunes.

 

That would be a shame, because Apple would be obsessed with the pop music business and likely would not bother to exploit the classical catalog.   If they decided to put the entire classical catalog on iTunes and discontinue CD production, that would be the end of EMI as far as I am concerned.