makes sense
boooooring. but does makes sense. i think it's these kinds of decisions, good or bad, that are required. not going back and fourth from point A to point B and not reaching where you want to be.
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Sony BMG seeks shareholder deal
By Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, Media Editor
Published: October 7 2007 22:12 | Last updated: October 7 2007 22:12
Sony BMG has proposed a compromise to its two shareholders that could allow the recorded music group behind Justin Timberlake and Bruce Springsteen to get into the more reliable business of music publishing, which generates revenue every time a song is played.
Sony, which owns half of the company, has been building up Sony ATV, its publishing joint venture with Michael Jackson, funding acquisitions of prominent catalogues of music under Marty Bandier, its new chief executive.
Concern that Sony BMG and Sony ATV could find themselves competing in auctions for collections of copyrights appeared likely to frustrate Sony BMG’s hopes of stabilising its volatile recording business by building the steady cash flows offered by music publishing.
Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, Sony BMG chief executive, told the Financial Times however Sony and Bertelsmann, the joint venture’s other partner, were “really close” to agreeing a proposal to allow him to pursue publishing revenues.
“The shareholders are talking at the moment and I’m confident we will find a solution,” he said.
The proposal would allow Sony BMG to pitch for the publishing rights of its own recording artists, he indicated, “but it does not mean I have it in mind to compete with my shareholder for major catalogues.”
The compromise would also make it less likely that Sony and Bertelsmann would have to fund big catalogue acquisitions. Bertelsmann sold its BMG Music Publishing business to Vivendi’s Universal to reduce debt last year, and neither shareholder has shown much appetite for additional investment in Sony BMG. Mr Schmidt-Holtz said the proposal would allow him to pursue an organic expansion in publishing and defend his existing roster of artists. “I have a lot of artists who are also songwriters, and I have to keep them in my company.”
Mr Schmidt-Holtz’s comments come days after the European Commission dismissed a court challenge launched by independent record labels. A negative ruling could have forced Sony BMG to unpick the 2004 merger that created the group from the recorded music businesses of Sony and Bertelsmann.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007