BBC RADIO 4 UPDATE ON EMI
FOLLOW THE LINK FOR THE PROGRAMME ON IPLAYER:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00sn5ww/EMI_Facing_the_Music/
"British music icon EMI has been battling against massive debts. If it didn't raise cash, and raise it quickly, its bankers could take the keys to Abbey Road studios and the rest of EMI's music empire.
But in an eleventh hour deal, EMI's owner, private equity firm Terra Firma, has managed to raise enough money to keep the bank happy for now. But for how long?
It still has to find a way of paying back over £3 billion it borrowed from Citigroup, and make money for its backers, who have seen their investment plummet in value.
Damian Reece, Head of Business at the Telegraph, returns to follow the fortunes of this troubled private equity deal.
Despite stars like Robbie Williams. Lily Allen, and Lady Antebellum climbing the charts, earlier this year EMI plunged £1.75 billion into the red. New strategies, cost cutting and redundancies have created profits for recorded music but not enough to solve the debt problem.
And now the private equity deal, which closed just as the credit crunch hit, is the subject of litigation. Guy Hands and Terra Firma investment funds are taking the bank that lent them money to buy EMI, to court. Terra Firma alleges they were misled about crucial details during negotiations to buy EMI. The bank Citigroup strongly denies all the allegations.
So what does the future hold? Could this be EMI's swansong or will the company win against the odds?"
4 Slideshows on EMI
Each of these slideshows from various Media courses and colleges offers a slightly different example on how to set up a case study around EMI. Use them to help you think about the kinds of information you should be looking to to become familiar with for the exam. Think about developing your own examples also, based on your own interests.
Comedy Song about the Music Industry and downloads
New York Times tech columnist David Pogue performs a satirical mini-medley about iTunes and the downloading wars, borrowing a few notes from Sonny and Cher and the Village People.
What has the digital decade meant for music?
Questions
1. How many major record labels were there in 2000? What were theycalled? How have they changed by 2010? 2. What do you think p2p, DRM and CEO stand for? Give an example of
each, from the article. 3. What’s the name of Chris Anderson’s theory of media consumption? In
2004 the top-selling 20% of artists were responsible for what
percentage of record sales? How has this changed in 2010?
