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."

Comments

music hegemony

[Kris Thalamus]

This looks like a good time to support open source music.

So what?

[ElForesto]

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?

Re:So what?

[Elwood P Dowd]

It's BMI:

ASCAP and BMI
In 1914 the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) was established to protect recording artists from unsanctioned use of their material. ASCAP used a blanket licensing agreement to collect a pre-set annual fee from anyone using its members' material for any commercial purpose. The money was divided among ASCAP artists. As major players in the radio industry became more interested in broadcasting recorded work, ASCAP reinforced its control over distribution. Artists who were not ASCAP members had little hope of exposing their work to wide audiences.

During the recording boom of the late 30s and early 40s, ASCAP had doubled the fees they charged radio stations. In the midst of court battles and the dearth of music not protected by ASCAP, frustrated broadcasters formed their own blanket licensing system, Broadcast Music, Incorporated (BMI), in 1939. The BMI camp sought alternatives to ASCAP acts. In the process BMI would later become the dominant force in the discovery and marketing of a new sound that would breed a new culture.

When asked...

[Gentoo Fan]

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.

There May Only Be One

[Psymunn]

Just one step closer to CocaWarner McMicroSonySoft

Artists need to fight back

[AnotherDreamer]

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

I'm sorry...

[Transcendent]

...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.

Oh, dear....

[mblase]

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.

More slashdot consistency.

[mumblestheclown]

First slashdot cries that RIAA members are fat middlemen then do nothing for the artists. Won't somebody please think of the artists!

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.

Re:There Can Only Be One

[Anonym0us Cow Herd]

Today IBMSNBCBS, owners of Fox/ABCNN, merged with CokeWarner McMicroSonyDisneySoft, completing the last possible corporate merger that had remained on planet Earth.

some more good/free music...

[wibs]

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.