Slashdot Mirror
EC Approves Unconditionally Sony-BMG Merger
Paul Slocum writes "Just when you thought the music industry couldn't get any worse, Sony and BMG are merging. Now there will only be 4 major labels, and they estimate that 2000 jobs (25% of combined workforce) will be cut." An anonymous reader points to Reuters' report on the planned merger,
which points out that "Vivendi-owned Universal and Sony BMG, as the new company is to be called, account for about 46 percent of music sold worldwide."
There's an obscure reference to something like this in an old eighties movie called Crazy People, where the genius crazy people decide to thwart Sony executives by making an ad that simply says: Sony, Bony (while the guy shows this a sketch of a really skinny old guy). I'm sorry but when else am I going to get to reference this funny/stupid movie quote, but when a company starting with the letter B is going to join forces with Sony.
So say it with me;
BMG + Sony...
Sony, Bony
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
This looks like a good time to support open source music.
So what if they merge? I've noticed a lot of smaller labels starting to come into the market, and one of my favorite bands, Vast, switched to one of them. Let the big guys get bigger. This market is going to be dominated by little guys once again.
Anyone remember their history? As I recall, it was a revolt against ASCAP that lead to the formation of RCA. Or do I have my names wrong?
There is a difference between "insightful" and "inciteful" other than spelling.
That is a scary statistic. Even more so if you're a musician.
"Old man yells at systemd"
If there are any.. this could mean more of BMG's catalog will come out on Sony's SACD format.
With 2000 fewer workers to pay, we consumers can expect to pay, what, $1-2 more per CD to account for all the money they saved?
;-)
Favorite quote: "[Jean-Luka Monte]called the merger "very bad news not only for independents, but also for retailers and artists."
You mean the recording industry isn't trying to protect and help artists?! Say it ain't so!
Live free or die
Just picturing from "Demolition Man" where all restaraunts are "Taco Bell".
Sony artists include Aerosmith, George Michael and Barbra Streisand, while the BMG stable has Avril Lavigne and Elvis Presley.
Elvis unavailable for comment regarding the merger.
Just one step closer to CocaWarner McMicroSonySoft
The Neo-Bohemian Techno-Socialist
I recently released an album under a Creative Commons license simply because I would never want a situation in which my audience would be persecuted for listening to my music. The RIAA is must be taking out of the loop. Fans and artists must make an effort to do so. Anyway, my album is available for free at www.anotherdreamer.net
Open Source Music: anotherdreamer.net
There were what 4 and now 3 big companies? Still not a monopoly, and didn't they already get convicted of price fixing with just the 4 of them? What we have here is an oligopoly, before and after. I realize that this will be one big player, but can you think of any abuses that could be perpetuated now that couldn't have been (and weren't) done before? I think Anti Trust issues only come in when a true monopoly occurs.
Rhymes that keep their secrets will unfold behind the clouds.There upon the rainbow is the answer to a neverending story
...but just hearing "music" and "industry" in the same sentence kinda makes me think that I'm fed a mass-produced, scientifically designed, corporate controlled brain anesthetic instead of actual music.
Now that the "industry" is controlled by fewer companies, closer to one conglomeration, the appreciation for what comes out of it is even smaller.
I guess that's why I stopped buying CDs a long time ago and just listen to online radio of "underground" (progressive trance if you must know my tastes) and classical music.
How about you put forth some effort and actually LOOK for bands instead of sitting on your ass expecting them to be shoved in your face? You obviously have an internet connection, I suggest you use it.
'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
Load up the Sony BMGs! The DMZ (Downloaded Music Zone) is hot!
Hokey statistics and ancient misconceptions are no match for a good thought in your head, kid!
they estimate that 2000 jobs (25% of combined workforce) will be cut
Am I correct in assuming that the only thing businesses will gladly spend substantial amounts of money on (other than catered, air-conditioned lunches) is firing people?
Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
Now there will only be 4 major labels
That's like complaining that there's only four different types of manure. Any way you buy it, it's still crap.
Obviously, this is not a 'good' thing for music listeners, but I feel the music industry has found it's niche at this point: take acts and push them like hell. Make them popular. At this point there's no reason to stop this (unless they actually decide they want to put out something for it's artistic merit rather than financial potential).
With rare exceptions, I haven't been buying music released on the 5 or 4 major labels. I feel like this won't even really matter except to those who may lose jobs because of the merge. If you're buying music put out by the majors, you can keep doing that. If you're not, you're gonig to stick to your indie labels and local musicians and it doesn't matter anyway.
Obviously giant corporate beings are no good (I would love to see clear channel go) but until they ruin independents, can anyone see any changes this might make?
-- Why keep us waiting? We are not made of time.
I sure do love how Slashdot always wants it both ways. To all the people that download mp3s this is your fault. Now it will be harder for new artists to get signed and the variety of music will suffer. I hope you all like mainstreet crap that ClearChannel plays. Thanks!
You know, these mergers are actually a good thing. If all the media companies keep merging, eventually they'll be one big monolithic company that everyone can actively hate, like Microsoft.
It's hard to fight a battle on many fronts, but if there's ONE company to hate, it's easy to rile up the masses.
Of course it's consolidation of the industry. A STRUGGLING industry. And obviously things are probably going to get worse for them rather than better.
I think there's enough blame to go around... INCLUDING the artists! They suck... the record company promotes crap... P2P has sucked what little margin was left... and now the live concerts are going down the tube.
Music Industry... Airline Industry... what's the difference? Could a government bailout be next? LOL!
I mean, sheesh, with the internet, this is much less of a problem. Just stop listening to major label music and support independent artists.
If all the huge music makers merge, the RIAA will become redundant. One hardly needs a Recording Industry Association of America if there's only one company to represent. They can do it themselves.
Let's hope the 25% staff cut are RIAA morons.
So, to sum up: I, for one, welcome our new trash pop overlords.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
But when 2000 job cuts are imminent, suddenly those workers are just hardworkin' folk.
Look, idiot submitters: consolidation and merger between relative equals happens in SHRINKING industries (makes hand gestures like Ben Affleck trying to explain basic economics to Jay and Silent bob from that "strike back movie"), not expanding ones. so maybe, just maybe you tinfoil hat crowd can see this as a *good* thing for your nevertheless ill-thought out anti-riaa crusade.
note: i challenge anybody to suggest how apple selling music is fundamentally different than wal-mart doing it in the sense that neither wal-mart nor apple can really promote artists other than one can give britney an endcap and the other can give her some banner ad or other prominent website mention. at the end of the tune, itunes, the coca-cola music store, and every other digital music place that is popping up whack-a-mole fashion are just RETAILERS. there is a massive difference between this and actual promoters and distributors and the difference will continue to grow as there are more and more digital retail outlets out there and so the incentive for an individual retailer to be anything but a bottom feeder pricewise shrinks more and more.
Today IBMSNBCBS, owners of Fox/ABCNN, merged with CokeWarner McMicroSonyDisneySoft, completing the last possible corporate merger that had remained on planet Earth.
The price of freedom is eternal litigation.
"As of March 2001, there were 10,983 commercial radio stations in the United States"
according to the FCC
Clear Channel currently owns 1,182 radio stations. Not exactly "everything" now is it?
Oh yeah... you might want to consider looking other places for music. Believe it or not there is a HUGE independent music market that caters to just about every taste imaginable.
sad robot making broken music
I'm not affiliated with it, but I've found 3hive to be a great site. Every single day they post download links for a few tracks being offered for free by artists under small labels. The site seems to mainly do emo rock and punk, which frankly is either good or really bad, but it also covers other things ranging from electronica to hip hop to folk. It's just a damn good site and hopefully someone will find this link to it and enjoy it.
If you get nervous, just remember that there are a few billion other people who don't really give a damn.
welcome our new music overlords!!!
....
If you need me, I'll be listening to Aerosmith's new remix of "Blue Suede Shoes"
--- Please insert flaming below ---
It was Taco Bell in the original US release. In a few non-US releases I guess they changed it to Pizza Hut.
"The joint venture will create a recorded music business better able to serve artists and consumers in this rapidly changing marketplace," Bertelsmann chairman and CEO Gunter Thielen said in a statement late Monday.
Real-world translation:
We blow our noses at you, so-called consumers. We fart in your general direction!
Now obey us, or we shall taunt you a second time!
>Its the same thing that happened to Microsoft... Microsoft's over-reaching control basically caused the Linux movement.
>So hopefully, our culture will no longer be held hostage to these corporate giants.
I hope not. Hell, I don't want to download music sheets and lyrics and have to play/sing the music myself!
Stupid open-source movement.... grumble grumble
The reason the music market has dwindled so much in the past eight years is because, up until yesterday, only five big corporations (not four) had a bottom line to work with.
Turning two companies into one means turning two bottom lines into one. Or, better put...
"Why should we, SONY/BMG, release the same amount of material that competes against itself? We don't need to release that Avril Lavigne clone we'd been developing, since we actually have Avril Lavigne, and that means we can focus our teen advertising on one artist/album rather than two. Cut the Avril clone and we'll wind up with more profit. Same with our gangsta rappers, our garage rock bands, our adult contemporary singers, our country artists, etc etc etc. Cut 'em down and we'll spend less money on more, better-focused profit."
This might get rid of a few cookie-cutter artists, but ultimately, it retracts the feelers of the new, shrunken two-companies-into-one, which means even less resources are poured into artist discovery, catalog development and risk-taking. Reprise Records was founded with Sinatra's vision that there was both integrity and profit to be had in developing an artist over many years, and then once that artist finally breaks big, watching cash pour in with later sales of the back catalog. Major labels have killed this strategy and have put current sales and quarterly figures at the head of conversation instead. Another merger simply speeds this decay of major label integrity by having even fewer hands working to pluck out hits rather than develop catalog & LP artists.
When you cut 20% of the diversity out of a market that already lacks diversity, you're pouring more black oil into the ocean. Remember, just because an ocean is polluted doesn't excuse the further pollution. Five big evil labels are now four bigger, more evil labels, and the non-SONY/BMG labels will scramble to do whatever they can to catch up to this news, which means plenty of bands will be punted out of their contracts and dropped on their asses before said bands ever had a chance to tour and recoup their previous marketing expenditures. Another sad day in major label history.
At this point I no longer understand why there are complaints on slashdot about events such as this. It is clear that the faults of the recording industry are not going to be fixed slowly over time. It is too late to merely stop them, now that they have gained too much momentum.
The recording industry has been headed in one direction for a long time now, and it only leads to requiring increasingly ridiculous measures (legal, drm, etc) to maintain their position.
The more likely outcome, in my opinion, is then that the music industry will continue consolidating, and attempting to defend a failing business model, and eventually collapse. Treating their customers as criminals is not going to tolerated forever.
Personally, I think this merger is great, in that it is just pushing the recording industry one step closer to their eventual doom.
"the bottom will fall out of the diamond market"
I SERIOUSLY hope so. That market is one of the biggest scams going and it bothers me to no end that millions of people have been so unknowingly manipulated by those bastards.
Basically training women to want diamonds and to convince men that they are worthless unless they can produce the biggest rock to show the woman how much they love them. Uh huh.. Let's breed a few generations of shallow, materialistic, gold diggers. What good is a diamond anyways? Unless you're using it for drilling, cutting, or building a satellite death-laser, it's the equivilent of a piece of glass.
Ugh.. Offtopic, but I had to rant on that issue. DeBeers and Monsanto are at the top of my corporate shit-list.