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EMI's Neil Tinegate Details OpenEMI's Support for Indie Developers

I recently spoke with Neil Tinegate, EMI Music VP of Digital Projects about OpenEMI. OpenEMI is one of the best examples I've seen of a well-established corporate entity finding a direct connection to the innovative energy of startups. Though OpenEMI is available to anyone with the ability to realize a great idea, it is particularly well-designed for small shops, the two guys in a garage model for music tech entrepreneurship.

Warner Music Losses Grow 44%, Revenue Flat Despite Digital Gains

(UDATED) Warner Music Group this morning reported that losses were up 44% to $26 million in their first fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2011.  Revenue in Q1 was flat, inching up from $778 million a year ago to $779 million. Digital revenue did go up 17% to $219 million and Michael Buble' sold 6 million units at Christmas, but that was not enough to cover a 44% operating income increase to $39 million.

Songs Publishing CEO Matt Pincus Cries Foul: "VEVO pays us nothing."

Is a recent interview, VEVO boss Rio Caraeff revealed that after just 2 years the music video provider had generated $150 million in revenue in 2011. In fact, Caraeff envisions $1 billion in revenue within a "short period of time". But independent publishers and songwriters have not received any payments at all, according to Songs Music Publishing CEO Matt Pincus.

Interview: Sony Exec Tom Schaaff On Music Unlimited, Release Windows & More @ #MIDEM

By Stuart Dredge for Midem content partner Music Ally. Find them at musically.com and @musically.

Last year at Midem, Sony's Tim Schaaff was announcing plans for the rollout of Music Unlimited. Now at Midem 2012, it’s available in 13 markets, with more than 1 million active users and a catalog of nearly 15 million tracks.  Schaaf has been upped to President of the Sony Entertainment Network division; and he sat down with Music Ally in Cannes this morning to talk about the service, along with its wider role within the reorganised Sony structure.

Is A Music Industry MBA Right For You?

The Henley School of Business in Reading, England has announced an MBA focused on the music industry. However, given its corporate focus and the fact that MBA's often move between industries, it is clearly not a program that would suit all with music business aspirations.

Warner Music Orders YouTube Takedown Of Slow Motion Crochet Video With No Music

Teresa Richardson doesn't strike you as someone intent on pirating content and taking down the music industry.  But according to the popular YouTuber, someone at Warner Music Group felt that a slow motion video of her teaching a crochet lesson that contained no music and almost no audio belonged to them and needed to be quashed.

Warner In'tl Exec John Reid Joins Live Nation Europe

John Reid, the former CEO and Vice Chair, Warner Music International has joined Live Nation Europe as President Of Concerts. Simon Lewis remains Live Nation Europe's CEO.

Show Your Opposition To SOPA Today With #BlackoutSOPA

This post is written by Brenden Mulligan, technology entrepreneur and founder of Onesheet and ArtistData. Follow him on Twitter at @mulligan.

You've probably read about the heated debate around the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). It's a very important debate for musicians, as it could have a major effect on distribution channels and discovery platforms that many musicians rely on every day.

Why Spotify Will Never Be Profitable: The Secret Demands Of Record Labels

 By Michael Roberston, the founder MP3.com and founder and CEO CEO of MP3tunes and DAR.fm

(UPDATED) Imagine a new hot-dog selling venture. Let’s also say there’s only one supplier to purchase hot dogs from. Instead of simply charging a fixed price for hot dogs, that supplier demands the HIGHER of the following: $1 per hot dog sold OR $2 for every customer served OR 50 percent of all revenues for anything sold in the store.In addition, the supplier requires a two-year minimum order of 300 hot dogs per day, payable all in advance. If fewer hot dogs are sold, there is no refund. If more than 300 hot dogs are sold each day, payments to the supplier are generated by calculating $2 per customer or 50 percent of total revenues, so an additional payment is due to the supplier. After the first two years, the supplier can unilaterally adjust any of the pricing terms and the shop can never switch suppliers.

Rolling Stones & Fugazi Launch Digital Archives with Radically Different Approaches

Musicians have been using the web to amplify and extend their careers in a variety of ways. One still emerging solution is to create digital archives with content ranging from copies of old newspaper clippings to recordings of live concerts. Recently both the Rolling Stones and Fugazi opened online archives with quite different approaches to content and access that reflect their respective approaches to the business of music.

Warner Music Group Lost Another $205M Last Year

Against a backdrop of a 4-5% rise in U.S. music sales industry-wide, Warner Music Group reported a net loss of $205 million for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011. Half the loss came in the fourth quarter. The company also warned of weak earnings for the current quarter ending December 31st.

The Last Sultan: A Portrait of Ahmet Ertegun As The Great Seducer

"The Last Sultan", Robert Greenfield's biography of iconic Atlantic Record's founder Ahmet Ertegun, offers a very readable account of a man whose career began in the 1940s with recordings of African American music, extending through the development of rock and into the digital age. His work was cut short only by his death in 2006; and before the end of this somewhat worshipful account, one has the picture of a man who had both a great sense of what made a hit and a well-developed understanding of how to seduce artists and business people.

Revenue At Universal Music Drops Another 2.9%

In the third quarter of 2011, Universal Music Group revenues stood at €2,842 million ($3,826 million USD) , a 2.9% decrease compared to the same period in 2010 (-1.1% at constant currency). A 11.3% increase in digital sales (+13.9% at constant currency) and higher license income only partly offset the continued decline in CD sales. More UMG earnings highlights:

Tell Us What You Think Of UMG Buying EMI?

For years there have been four major label groups. If the sale of EMI to Universal goes through - and given EU anti-trust regulations it is an if - there will only be three.  Is this bad for the music industry or good given shrinking music sales and the seismic shifts of the last decade? Or should our attitude be,"Who the hell cares?".  (My thoughts are below.) Tell us what you think in the comments section:

Read CEO Roger Faxon's Letter To EMI Staff On Sale To Universal

(UPDATE) In an email circulated today, EMI CEO Roger Faxon informed his team that despite his best efforts, label and publishing would be split with the recorded music division sold to Universal. While widely reported in the media as a done deal with Sony, Faxon says that he hopes "to be able to share more detail on EMI Music Publishing shortly". Here it the full text of Faxon's lettter to EMI staff:

Full Text Of Citigroup Press Release On EMI Sale To Universal Music Group [UMG]

Vivendi and Universal Music Group (UMG) to Purchase EMI Music

London, Paris, New York – Vivendi and its subsidiary, Universal Music Group (UMG), announced today that they have signed with Citigroup Inc. ("Citi") a definitive agreement to purchase EMI's recorded music division for a total consideration of £1.2 billion representing 7 x EBITDA prior to synergies. (continued after the jump below)

PLUS: CEO Roger's Faxon's Letter To EMI Staff On Sale To Universal

UPDATED: EMI In $4.1B Split Sale To Sony, UMG

(UPDATE) Several major media outlets are confirming that Citigroup has chosen Sony and Universal as winners of an auction that totalled $4.1 billion for the publishing and recorded music divisions.

The sale of EMI's two divisions to separate buyers is nearing completion, according to several sources. On the publishing side, a Sony led consortium has reportedly closed a needed deal with GSO, the credit arm of Blackstone, to finance $500 million of the $2.2 billion rumored purchase price. Unless, BMG trumps the offer at the last minute, a deal could be announced as early as today.

The Sale Of EMI's Recorded Music Division:

Warner Music CEO Lyor Cohen Consolidates Power As Friends Rise, Foes Exit

Warner Music reorganized its international management structure, and Lyor Cohen is the winner with several key execs moving up and others moving out. According to Variety, Cohen will assume direct oversight of operations in North America, France, Germany and the U.K. Inigo Zabala, WMG president of Latin America will handle operations in Spain and Latin America while Lachie Rutherford will continue to oversee WMG's Asia and Pacific operations.

Sony CEO Doug Morris' New Old Plan For Music World Domination

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. “My plan here is very simple,” Sony Music's new CEO recently told the New York Times. “To help create the pre-eminent record company in the world". 

Keep reading, it gets even better...

Report Claims Major Labels To Phase Out CD, Abandon Retail By End Of 2012

Major labels plan to phase out most physical CD's by the end of 2012 according to Side Line Music Magazine citing multiple unnamed industry sources. Only premium CD's would be manufactured according to the report; with most of those sales online rather than at brick and morter stores.  

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