EU breaks up EMI
WORKERS, OCT 2012 ISSUE
British record company EMI, a world leader in the music business which has operated for 115 years, is to be broken up by order of the European Commission. The takeover of EMI by Universal Music, giving Universal an even greater dominance over the music industry (pushing its global share from 29 per cent to 36 per cent), has been waved through by the commission to a shameful silence from the British government. Conditions for approval include the forced sell-off of British household-name labels such as Parlophone. So four global players become three, and new artists will struggle even more to be heard.
Photo: Workers