Universal Buyout Of EMI Music OK’d By EU [Update: America Too]

The four major label groups are set to become three, as European regulators earlier today approved Universal Music’s takeover of EMI Music. The $1.9 billion takeover will make Universal the largest music company in the world. As part of the deal, Universal will divest roughly a third of the assets of EMI, which the New York Times notes is a reduced version of what they wanted originally, and significantly pares down its ambitions. Among those assets are Parlophone, which is EMI’s flagship European label. Universal also gives up global rights to distribute the artists on EMI’s labels, which include Coldplay and Pink Floyd, among others. Universal will keep recording rights for the Beatles, however. Reuters notes that Mute, Ensign, Chrysalis, EMI Classics and Virgin Classics are among the other parts that Universal will have to spin off.

It should be noted that while the takeover has been approved in Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan, it still has to be cleared in the United States by the Federal Trade Commission. That ruling is expected shortly, and the Times doesn’t suspect that they’ll require any additional divestments. So what does that mean for metal? Nothing yet. EMI distributes labels in the states including Earache, Candlelight and Gravedancer, in addition to owning Capitol and Virgin, but it’s not thought that anything will drastically change on that front at least yet. On the Universal front, they’ll be selling off Sanctuary, Iron Maiden’s label and management company. It could be interesting to see where that winds up. EMI Music Label Services have done a great job of fostering a community of their metal labels, with programs like March is Metal Month. Hopefully that will remain intact as well.

At the end of the day, this means that 90% of the music sold worldwide is coming from just three companies. It’s not a surprise that EMI was finally sold, however. It was announced almost a year ago that this would happen, but it’s taken this long for the two corporations to hammer out a deal. EMI was seized by Citibank last year after it’s previous owner, Terra Firma, defaulted on its $5.4 billion loan.

UPDATE: Shortly after we published this, the Federal Trade Commission approved the takeover in America, without any additional conditions.

KISS, Family Guy To Team Up For Product Line

One’s a cartoonish, dated, unfunny franchise that’s devolved into parody of itself and is a shadow of its former glory – and the other is Family Guy. So somehow it makes sense that the animated show’s parent company Fox and KISS have signed a deal to form a co-branded product line. KISS is no stranger to the long-running animated show. The band have appeared on the show three times, with Gene Simmons referring to having slept with Lois Griffin before he became famous.

The product line will hit store shelves this Fall, with 20th Century Fox Consumer Entertainment and Live Nation Merchandise creating vinyl figures, bobble heads, apparel, plush, novelty, barware, social expressions and fine art. Yeah, the press release says “fine art.” You can tell that this pairing has nothing to do with money, and is all about mutual respect for the golden age of animation and one of the true bands that values art over commerce. “KISS and Family Guy coming together for a line of products is a great mash-up of two iconic brands that speaks directly to fans who will be able to enjoy something a little different and special with what we have in store,”  Fox Consumer Products president Jeffrey Godsick said in a statement.

“We are focusing more and more on the upper-tier, blue-chip opportunities for prestige partnerships,” KISS businessman frontman Paul Stanley says. “Family Guy’s track record and consistent success with its demographic makes this match-up ideal.”

Actually, on a business level, this totally makes sense. Both Family Guy and KISS move a ton of merchandise, and have reached market saturation. KISS is really better known for their merchandising than their music, especially considering their last 20 years of output. If you think about it, with any career KISS fan at least in their ’40s by now, you can literally go from the cradle to the grave with their merch, so hooking up with a hugely popular animated show isn’t out of character for the band. And hey, at least it’s better than Hello Kitty.

[via The Hollywood Reporter]