And then there were three .......

EMI R.I.P.

Universal takes the label. Sony ATV takes the publishing company.

Instead of halting the uncertainty, these acquisitions raise more questions than they answer:

- Is this inevitable market consolidation in a struggling music industry?

 - In the mid-1990s we had 6 majors, now we have 3.  Is BMG Rights a challenger for the 4th spot?

  - Does this provide additional marketing clout for artists fortunate enough to remain on major label rosters? Or reduced competition in a market where fewer artists sign to majors? If the latter, will Universal only sign artists who include all non-recorded music income streams within the deal (the 360 model)?

 - For B2B music users (brands who license recordings & songs), what does this development mean? Surely reduced competition, which usually leads to proportionally smaller synch licensing teams dealing with larger catalogues and a marked increase in licensing fees. Slower service at higher cost?

 - Monopoly enquiries (certainly in Universal's case) forcing the disposal of some recorded catalogues as part of the transaction? This previously occurred when Universal Music Publishing acquired BMG Music Publishing in 2006 (resulting in the sale of Zomba, Rondor, 19 & BBC catalogues to Imagem.)

 My thoughts are with the staff of EMI, as the only certainty is that many of them will face an uncertain future.

Your thoughts?

Exclusive seminar on music rights - The Hospital Club - 15th November

We've been kindly invited by The Hospital Club ("THC") to present a Business@Breakfast session on music rights.

Hosted in THC's smart Covent Garden premises, the event is part of their regular series of business insight presentations.

Entitled "Music Rights For Marketers", the session will cover "10 things you need to know about music rights", specifically aimed at brands and their agencies.

Attendees will gain a better understanding of this complex area, learning tips to improve cost and risk management when working with music tracks and artists in marketing communications.

Event details:
Time: 8.30AM
Date: Tuesday, 15th November 2011
Venue: The Hospital Club, 24 Endell Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HQ
Cost: £10, which includes breakfast

For more details and tickets for THC members, click here.

Non-THC members can book tickets by contacting THC Reception on:
Email reception@thehospitalclub.com or Tel +44 (0)20 7170 9101

MIDEM Marketing Campaign Competition

If like myself, you're planning to attend MIDEM 2012, you might want to enter recent campaign work for the MARKETING CAMPAIGN COMPETITION.

You can read all the details here. Do have a look.

Good Luck!

The Music4.5 "Brand Discovery" event yesterday was well attended and provided some lively debate on the complex issues that brands face when partnering with music tech companies.

There were some compelling presentations, and you can follow the story on the Music4.5 twitter feed. 

The whole session was superbly moderated by Cliff Fluet of Lewissilkin who kept the discussion flowing with targeted and provocative questions.

I participated on the final panel entitled "How to get these deals away and where they fall over". You can see the slide show here.

The panel discussion sought to examine the "hard" commercial truths which are often ignored amid the "soft" issues of social media statistics. Essentially, how will the partners monetize the relationship and where are the risks that could  scupper that objective?

My recommendation is that preparation is everything if brands are to choose the right partners and establish enduring and profitable relationships in the music space. This necessitates that both parties ask tough questions of themselves and potential partners. The slides provide some example questions which I hope will be useful.

My thanks to Petra Johansson and Rassami Hok Ljungberg of Music4.5 for setting up a great event with an interesting mix of attendees.

Reaching For Higher Love

I'm looking forward to the MMF/Genuine Article session this evening entitled :
“Reaching For Higher Love” – How Brands and Bands can find mutually-beneficial partnerships.

It's held in the PRS boardroom at 6pm. Full details here. Hope to see you there!

Want to learn more about music & brands?

I'm lucky to have been invited to speak at Music4.5's Brand Discovery session tomorrow. Our panel discussion is called:

"How to get these deals away and where they fall over?"

We'll be looking at the questions that brands need to ask themselves and potential partners before starting a relationship. Frequently this doesn't happen, hence the "where they fall over" discussion.

Do join us if you can - full details are here.

How can music companies best work with brands?

Are you a record label, music publisher or artist manager looking to collaborate with brands?

Read our top tips here in Midem Blog to improve your strike rate at forming new partnerships.