Author Archives: jaredajenkins

Sony Takeover EMI (a.k.a. “What Up With Da Big Foe?”)

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om3

Interesting that we just returned from a visit from EMI Spain but no one at the company seemed to touch this subject.

Apparently last Thursday, Sony proposed a $2.2 billion takeover of EMI Music Publishing. Now they haven’t said too much about the deal but they have at least told the public that Sony doesn’t plan on just crushing everything that its competitor (EMI) has worked for. However, Sony will be diminishing about 60% of EMI’s publishing staff within two years. That’s supposed to save around $70 million in yearly savings. (Apparently, that’s only 326 jobs – Nothing like the 10,000 jobs Sony got rid of in Japan a few weeks ago). And allegedly, Sony’s getting 15% of net publisher’s share (revenue minus royalties to songwriters).

 

This new deal one half of a split deal reached by Citigroup in 2011. EMI is being split between Sony & Universal. Universal bought out EMI’s record labels for $1.9 billion.

(I love how billions and millions are just being tossed around here like coupons.)

 

A lot of indie labels &consumer advocates aren’t too happy with these deals. They see “bigger monopolies” written all over. Sony’s publishing includes Michael Jackson’s estate, the Beatles catalog, & over 750k songs. EMI has 1.3 million songs and is known to be the most highly regarded company in publishing, boasting timeless classics & standards like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Prospects state that the combined publishing assets of EMI & Sony will represent the world’s largest publishing catalog with a #1 market share on a combined basis.

Doesn’t sound 100% excellent for EMI. But I hope that all parties (including EMI) are better off in the future.

Coachella 2012. Tupac Back?

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Coachella 2012. Tupac Back?

The last time I checked, rapper Tupac has been dead since 1996 i think. Yet, he mysteriously seemed to rock the stage at the 2012 Coachella festival this past weekend in Indio, California.
Well apparently, around $500,000 was spent to create a state-of-the-art hologram of the famous rapper to perform alongside the living artists Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg. The performance has received positive reviews with quotes like “It’s a shame when a deceased rapper can give a better show than most of the famous rappers living today.”
Now, I’m not sure if this is the first live hologram performance in the history of the world. But I can bet that it’s gonna catch on for the rest of the industry. Sounds like a lot of big budgets in the future. Might not be so great financially. Who knows?

If you click on the photo, it should direct you to the video of the actual performance. If it doesn’t work, I’ll be somewhere crying privately. 😦

South by Southwest 2012 Conference

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Hello all,

For those who are still remembering the awesome experiences we had at MIDEM and think that you have to come to Europe every year for a conference like this..Think Again! I’m not an expert or anything on this event. But for anyone who didn’t know, there is a MIDEM-esque conference called “South by Southwest (SXSW)” held in Austin, Texas every year. Apparently, it doesn’t just surround the future of the music industry. But you discuss information on film, education, economy, etc. The music portion of the conference is happening now (March 13-March 18)

Again..I’m no expert on this. Just found out about it not too long ago. If any of you guys have anymore information on SXSW, feel free to share!!