The music industry is playing Monopoly again, and Universal Music Group is winning. Universal and EMI (who join Sony and Warner Bros to make up the “big four” labels) are merging. Today the U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved Universal’s $1.9 million offer to buy part of EMI. The European Union approved on the deal on the condition that the combined companies sell off some of their brands. They will have to sell off the Parlophone label, which is home to artists such as Coldplay and Gorillaz. Smaller labels such as Mute, Ensign, Virgin Classics and Chrysalis are also headed to the market. Universal will now hold onto more than two-thirds of EMI’s global business. Basically, Universal’s taking the whole board, and it’s going to be making bank.
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