Good news today from the European Union as it gave the 'ok' for the merger between BMG and Sony Music. This now makes Sony Music the world's second-largest music company (world's largest music company is Vivendi's Universal Music). Now Sony Music has popular artists like Aerosmith, Beyonce, and Britney Spears to add to its online music store. The question I'm wondering is how this affects the iTunes music store. Will Sony make these artists song only available on their music store?
The European Union approved without any conditions the merger of BMG and Sony Music, both music companies said on Monday, one day ahead of a planned announcement from competition authorities. Combining the recorded music businesses of Bertelsmann AG and Sony Corp. will create the world's second-largest music company, behind Vivendi's Universal Music, with revenue between $4.5 billion and $5 billion.
The company is slated to be named Sony BMG and will include a wide array of artists, including Aerosmith, Beyonce and Britney Spears. The proposed merger does not include the music publishing units of either company, Sony's Japanese arm or its CD manufacturing business. "We are delighted that the European Commission has decided to approve the creation of Sony BMG without imposing any conditions," BMG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rolf Schmidt-Holtz said. He is scheduled to become chairman of the board of directors of Sony BMG. Commission officials were not immediately available to comment, though approval has been widely expected since people familiar with the situation tipped the EU's likely recommendation last month.
News source: Reuters
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