Record label EMI, which was purchased by Terra Firma Capital Corporation (TII) in 2007, was dealt a serious blow yesterday by the band Pink Floyd. The band filed a lawsuit against EMI because the record company started selling individual music tracks from Pink Floyd's two block buster albums, Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall online. The selling of individual music tracks is expressly forbid by the band's contract with the record label. Yesterday a judge affirmed that contract condition.

This turn of events comes not only as a serious blow to EMI, but as a gut wrenching twist in Terra Firma's continuing downward spiral. Terra Firma is currently engaged in a legal battle with Citigroup, Inc. (C) regarding its purchase of EMI at auction. Terra Firma has accused Citi of the use of "fraudulent measures" in completing that sale.

Continue reading Pink Floyd Sends EMI to the Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd Sends EMI to the Dark Side of the Moon originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading EMI chief reports on future of company to staff

EMI chief reports on future of company to staff originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coldplay may have answered EMI's rumored hopes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Jul 2008 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Free Nine Inch Nails album set for physical release in July originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Coldplay album debuts big in the UK, maybe EMI has hope yet originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 18:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Rolling Stones rumored to defect EMI for Live Nation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Capitol Records president to step down and no replacement needed originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

New Coldplay album leak spurs stream on MySpace originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 18:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) has a set of loans to music firm EMI. It had hoped to sell them as part of a $12 billion package of debt that it is unloading to several private equity firms including using Apollo and TPG. But, things at EMI have gotten so bad that buyers want the debt held out of the mix.

According to The Wall Street Journal (subscription required), "The fact that EMI's debt was pulled from the proposed sale suggests it would have attracted prices well below the upper-80s range the other loans command." The total value of the loan to EMI, made by Citi and several other banks, was $4.9 billion.

For Citi, the news has no silver lining. It will probably have to write-down a large portion of its piece of the debt in its first quarter. One of the lessons form the General Electric (NYSE: GE) earnings catastrophe is that March was a terrible month in the credit markets and many financial companies did not see it coming. Earnings for Citi and other banks and brokerages could be worse that expected, as they were at GE's financial groups.

No one should be surprised of Cit has to raise more money.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Citigroup can't sell EMI loans originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 12 Apr 2008 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Can Google CIO help EMI see past protecting its copyrights? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• According to the Wall Street Journal, troubled Ohio bank National City Corporation (NYSE: NCC) is considering a plan to sell itself to rival KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY), people familiar with the matter said.
• The Financial Times reported that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (NYSE: LEH) yesterday said it had sent information to the SEC about possible abusive short-selling in its shares in recent days. Lehman CFO Erin Callan said the SEC was examining whether hedge funds collaborated to drive down the bank's share price in the days following the near collapse of The Bear Stearns Companies (NYSE: BSC).
• Colombia's heavy oil area could hold 20B barrels of recoverable resources, the Financial Times reported, giving the country greater reserves than leading producers such as Mexico and Algeria, according to Colombia's government.

• The Silicon Alley Insider reported that Douglas Merrill, Google Inc's (NASDAQ: GOOG) CIO, is leaving the company to become the president of music company EMI.

Newspaper wrap-up: Lehman sees possible abusive trading in its shares originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 07:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

EMI planning to join Nokia for new music/phone program originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 15:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Independent record label Concord Music Group and Australian-based film company Village Roadshow Pictures Group, part of the media company Village Roadshow Ltd. (OTC: VRLDY), have merged to form Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, reported Billboard early last week. Village Roadshow will own nearly 40% of the new company, while the other majority split between two private equity firms based in New York and Los Angeles. According to Billboard, the two companies "had common owners in that Norman Lear and Hal Gaba's Act III Communications and Tailwind owned Concord; and Act III and Clarity -- through an entity called Crescent Entertainment -- owned 50% of Village Roadshow Pictures group."

The deal is nearly six months old, after being announced on September 3, 2007, and the Act III group paid close to $48 million to command more than 60% of the new company. Both companies will continue to operate as "separate entities, but some backroom functions like human resources and information technology likely will be combined." Additionally, the report indicated that some cross-promotion opportunities are to be expected via the merger of film and music companies.

While this deal and the merger seem logical for the owners and participants involved, the only concern this consumer has about a private equity firm owning a majority stake in a music company is the problems that have plagued London-based EMI since Terra Firma bought out the music giant last summer. Clearly, Concord has enjoyed a positive relationship with its private equity owners for longer and with much more success. Furthermore, the label has gained significant signings in the last year while creating a new label with Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX) to release Paul McCartney's first album after leaving EMI last spring (before the Terra Firma buyout).

Concord Music Group and Village Roadshow merge originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 17 Feb 2008 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

British-based Play.com, a privately-based retailer, has launched a new download store in direct competition with Apple Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL) iTunes Store in the United Kingdom. PlayDigitial will offer tracks without digital rights management (DRM) technology from privately-held EMI Group and independent labels, in a move that looks similar to iTunes current offering of DRM-free tracks at lower prices. The store will still offer DRM tracks at higher prices than the DRM-free tracks and is in talks with other labels to bring more DRM-free tracks into the store.

Play.com's new store comes in advance of Amazon.com Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AMZN) sister store in the UK, Amazon.co.uk, opening a similar store with DRM-free tracks. The U.S. store recently opened its own MP3 store in full with DRM-free tracks from all the major labels, not simply limited to one major and independents. According to Billboard, the UK version of iTunes controls 70% of the market there and the store is also being forced to bring prices down to common prices with other European nations. PlayDigital and the eventual Amazon download store in the UK will work against that control and price drops.

It seems odd that the "fight" against digital rights management continues, considering that it has essentially been over in the United States since last month when Amazon's MP3 store gained access to tracks from all the major labels without the technology. Obviously different laws exist for agreements with companies in different countries, but until DRM is dropped completely, moves like this are going to continue to occur. Unfortunately for Apple and the iTunes Store, the drive against DRM technology that was started about a year ago is no longer under the company's control, with stores like Play.com and Amazon.com taking the lead and gaining better deals with the music labels.

British download store opens against iTunes and anti-piracy technology originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

EMI makes bid for independent label Chrysalis, despite concerns of late originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 Jan 2008 16:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading 'It's All Over Now' - Embattled EMI loses another major act

'It's All Over Now' - Embattled EMI loses another major act originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

EMI may sell sponsorships for artists originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Large global music publisher EMI, owned by private equity firm Terra Firma, will be cutting 2,000 of its 5,500 jobs according to The Sunday Telegraph. The company will cut out duplication among the back offices of its several record labels.

Shareholders of Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) are certainly looking on. The publisher's stock has fallen from about $30 in mid-2006 to just over $5 last week. The digital download business and piracy has undercut critical revenue from CDs and that is not likely to end.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) now controls most digital music pricing through iTunes. Music publishers have no large alternative means of marketing artists. CD sales are never likely to reverse their sales slide.

Warner is probably left with little other than to make huge cost cuts of its own. In the last quarter it had very modest operating income of $142 million on revenue of almost $3.4 billion. But, interest expense on the company's debt was over $180 million for the period.

Mass lay-offs will not solve WMG problems long term, but they may be essential for the company to make it through the next couple of years.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Warner Music looks on as EMI readies huge cuts originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 13 Jan 2008 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Radiohead and former label exchange words after money claim

Radiohead and former label exchange words after money claim originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading EMI under scrutiny as former artists offer harsh criticism

EMI under scrutiny as former artists offer harsh criticism originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.