Citi to sell EMI units for $4.1 billion

[Coopmv]

Citi to sell EMI units for $4.1 billion, Vivendi's Universal Music Group is set to buy EMI's recorded-music unit.  Well, all HvK recordings will be owned by a single record company going forward ...

[Todd]

Imagine the box set opportunities!

[Brian]

Imagine the box set opportunities!

"The Complete Classical Recordings of Everyone in the World: 1950-1970"

[springrite]

For once we can buy boxset of boxsets: 28 sets of Beethoven complete symphonies in one boxset!

Maybe some can be called Container Sets.

[Brian]

For once we can buy boxset of boxsets: 28 sets of Beethoven complete symphonies in one boxset!

Maybe some can be called Container Sets.

Harry orders his Container Set of "The Complete EMI Recordings" and this arrives at his door...

[Brahmsian]

Harry orders his Container Set of "The Complete EMI Recordings" and this arrives at his door...

Hopefully the Dutch postal office has forklift handy for Harry! 

[Opus106]

[T]here is speculation [that] labels such as Naïve or Naxos may step up to acquire [the EMI Classics and Virgin] catalogues.

[Brian]

[T]here is speculation [that] labels such as Naïve or Naxos may step up to acquire [the EMI Classics and Virgin] catalogues.

Wow. - Wow.

But in truth, I'm not sure who else would buy EMI/Virgin, if not Universal. Sony might incur similar competition concerns, and Warner is such a shell that Naxos handles its distribution already (iirc). Klaus Heymann is a bold businessman who does some things for love of music rather than profit, but I wonder how desperate Universal would have to get because I imagine any offer from him would be lowballed.

[Gurn Blanston]

Wow. - Wow.

But in truth, I'm not sure who else would buy EMI/Virgin, if not Universal. Sony might incur similar competition concerns, and Warner is such a shell that Naxos handles its distribution already (iirc). Klaus Heymann is a bold businessman who does some things for love of music rather than profit, but I wonder how desperate Universal would have to get because I imagine any offer from him would be lowballed.

I'm confused by your reply, Brian. IIUC, it isn't that Universal doesn't want to buy EMI Classics Division, it's that they aren't being allowed to do so. I think the point here is that anyone BUT Universal can buy them and still preserve competition. I agree that Sony would be the same issue, but until it's put to the test, we won't know. Sony doesn't even release most of the treasures they already own! 

[Brian]

I'm confused by your reply, Brian. IIUC, it isn't that Universal doesn't want to buy EMI Classics Division, it's that they aren't being allowed to do so. I think the point here is that anyone BUT Universal can buy them and still preserve competition. I agree that Sony would be the same issue, but until it's put to the test, we won't know. Sony doesn't even release most of the treasures they already own! 

Oh, I didn't intend to say Universal doesn't want EMI Classics. I do think Sony has the same problem, but I think the more relevant problem for Universal is that there may simply not be a market for back catalogues of classical recordings. Look how cheaply EMI releases their own back catalogue - down to about $3 a CD. And though they have a strong presence on iTunes and Spotify, they're in Naxos Music Library and the Naxos MP3 store. I can't imagine that when Universal is forced to sell the division off, a bidding war would break out. Maybe some venture capitalist creates a holding group, buys up the catalogue, and makes it into an MP3-only reissue label and jettisons the artist roster and physical CDs to cut costs.

[Gurn Blanston]

Oh, I didn't intend to say Universal doesn't want EMI Classics. I do think Sony has the same problem, but I think the more relevant problem for Universal is that there may simply not be a market for back catalogues of classical recordings. Look how cheaply EMI releases their own back catalogue - down to about $3 a CD. And though they have a strong presence on iTunes and Spotify, they're in Naxos Music Library and the Naxos MP3 store. I can't imagine that when Universal is forced to sell the division off, a bidding war would break out. Maybe some venture capitalist creates a holding group, buys up the catalogue, and makes it into an MP3-only reissue label and jettisons the artist roster and physical CDs to cut costs.

OK, I'm with you now. Damn, I hope it isn't an MP3 only model though. FLAC perhaps?    EMI and the members that now make up the Universal Group have been at war for 100+ years over who's best in CM. Hard to imagine UMG having total control over the EMI catalog, isn't it? I agree with you though, the model for continuing CD production is rapidly fading ( ) and physical media may never be seen again. The future owners of EMI Classics would be in a perfect position to further the issue if they can come up with an intelligently implemented system for distribution... um... wait, this would be a record company buyout, eh?  *sigh*

[CriticalI]

[T]here is speculation [that] labels such as Naïve or Naxos may step up to acquire [the EMI Classics and Virgin] catalogues.

DAMMIT!!!!!!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who was looking forward to Universal being able to issue really comprehensive collections of important recordings. And I don't see how it's really a monopoly problem, as the big labels seem to be producing very little new material anyway.

I hope whoever takes over continues to issue CDs as cheaply as they have been in recent years (but without the regular cover changes). And let's hope Sony doesn't acquire EMI, considering how badly they've handled the classical material they already own.

[Brian]

I hope whoever takes over continues to issue CDs as cheaply as they have been in recent years (but without the regular cover changes). And let's hope Sony doesn't acquire EMI, considering how badly they've handled the classical material they already own.

I'm hoping the new Sony el-cheapo box sets continue for quite some time, but sometimes the repertoire chosen to fill the boxes (e.g. 20th Century Ormandy containing some Rach concertos from the 1890s but not the Shostakovich concerto with Rostropovich) makes no sense.

[CriticalI]

I'm hoping the new Sony el-cheapo box sets continue for quite some time, but sometimes the repertoire chosen to fill the boxes (e.g. 20th Century Ormandy containing some Rach concertos from the 1890s but not the Shostakovich concerto with Rostropovich) makes no sense.

Yes, the choices for that Ormandy box were very weird, in terms of what was left out.

EDIT: I was going to list other problems with Sony's current discography, but the subject really would need its own thread.

[The new erato]

I cannot see the marketing opportunity for a company owning the rights to 25 Beethoven symphony cycles instead of only half the number given that (this is just meant as an example):

1) Most people mad enough to aquire that number of cycles will mainly have done that already (and yet another cycle will have to be rather special, og damn cheap, to be worth aquiring
2) There's not a new format luring peole to buy the same music yet again (as they did when vinyl was replaced by CDs)

That is; I just cannot see the business synergies in massing that number of classical material under the same roof (whether it being Sony or Universal) unless there is a massive conversion to downloads which would support a very cheap distribution model and make it possible to make a buck on very low-priced material. Somehow I don't see that happening (Naxos may be the only company able to pull this off being masters of distribution, but somehow I doubt it), so the most likely outcome in that case is that someone will pay a lot of money for a catalogue, just to make it unavailable. Which of course has happened plenty of times in the classical industry. If they have wisened up, there's a distinct possibility that there will be no takers for EMI's classical catalogue unless they lower the price distinctly.

[Scarpia]

I cannot see the marketing opportunity for a company owning the rights to 25 Beethoven symphony cycles instead of only half the number given that (this is just meant as an example):

1) Most people mad enough to aquire that number of cycles will mainly have done that already (and yet another cycle will have to be rather special, og damn cheap, to be worth aquiring
2) There's not a new format luring peole to buy the same music yet again (as they did when vinyl was replaced by CDs)

That is; I just cannot see the business synergies in massing that number of classical material under the same roof (whether it being Sony or Universal) unless there is a massive conversion to downloads which would support a very cheap distribution model and make it possible to make a buck on very low-priced material. Somehow I don't see that happening (Naxos may be the only company able to pull this off being masters of distribution, but somehow I doubt it), so the most likely outcome in that case is that someone will pay a lot of money for a catalogue, just to make it unavailable. Which of course has happened plenty of times in the classical industry. If they have wisened up, there's a distinct possibility that there will be no takers for EMI's classical catalogue unless they lower the price distinctly.

The other question is whether EMI back catalog and EMI/Virgin production have to stay together.  Maybe there is a opportunity for some entity to buy the EMI back catalog and make the entire thing available from lossless download.  Shall we start a kickstarter campaign?

I can't imagine that the $1 per disc box sets are a sustainable strategy.  Now's the time to stock up while EMI classics still exists.

[Todd]

Maybe there is a opportunity for some entity to buy the EMI back catalog and make the entire thing available from lossless download.

I would assume the cheapest delivery technology would be favored.  I know nothing about the specifics of large scale digital distribution.  If lossless is the cheapest route, it may be followed.  If not, it may not.  If HNH buys the EMI catalog, I would guess it all ends up on NML at some point, and choice titles are reissued on disc, possibly even on demand.

[The new erato]

I can't imagine that the $1 per disc box sets are a sustainable strategy.  Now's the time to stock up while EMI classics still exists.

Neither can I. The market for that is drying out and there's only so many times the same warhorses can be repackaged. But it still irks me all the vaulable produce that haven't yet been repackaged to death, eg the wonderful old Finlandia material lying dormant in Warner's vaults that probably would sell for far better prices than $1 per disc if someone saw the opportunity (vs the success of the Eloquence reissue label).

OTOH I won't go the download route, I have a (maybe) romantic attachment to physical product. As long as physical produce is available, I'm stocking up my library.

[Gurn Blanston]

I would assume the cheapest delivery technology would be favored.  I know nothing about the specifics of large scale digital distribution.  If lossless is the cheapest route, it may be followed.  If not, it may not.  If HNH buys the EMI catalog, I would guess it all ends up on NML at some point, and choice titles are reissued on disc, possibly even on demand.

I would love to see the disk-on-demand model perfected, in hopes that it would actually be successful. Lacking that, lossless downloads with PDF liner notes would be my second choice. The thing being, if all of this music was digitized and sitting on a server somewhere, that's the total investment beyond ongoing maintenance by computer geeks. There is just nothing else to do, how could it be cheaper for the owner of the material?   

[Todd]

The thing being, if all of this music was digitized and sitting on a server somewhere, that's the total investment beyond ongoing maintenance by computer geeks. There is just nothing else to do, how could it be cheaper for the owner of the material?

Not all of EMI's catalog is digitized.  Same with UMG and Sony/BMG.  The sale of EMI may bode poorly for items languishing in vaults.  Just as thousands of titles were lost in the transition from 78s to LPs, and from LPs to CDs, many titles will be lost in the transition from physical media to download only, at least for future consumers. 

As to expense, well, there is backup, server replacement, energy costs, etc, in addition to labor, so from a bean counting outlook there may be areas to trim costs.  I can imagine a scenario where cost models are built comparing delivering 100% of the current digital catalog vs. the top 500 titles and some special interest items, and so on.  Obviously, I'd like to see everything made available, but I doubt that happens.  Perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised.