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Is EMI Warner merger more likely post LiveMaster?

By | Published on Friday 5 March 2010

Panellists at a Billboard conference in New York this week said they thought the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster might, in a way, aid any move by Warner to acquire EMI, if it were to, you know, come up for sale later this year. Past efforts for Warner and EMI to merge have failed because competition regulators – especially in Europe – blocked the deal.

But many now reckon that any EMI Warner merger in 2010 would have to be viewed in the context of the wider music industry rather than just the record industry, meaning a new major player like LiveMaster – which says it is in the business of “fan engagement” – would most likely be considered a competitor of Universal, Sony and a combined EMI Warner, reducing the case for blocking an EMI Warner merger on the grounds that it would be anti-competitive.

According to Billboard, Tuna Amobil of US financial information firm Standard & Poor told the conference: “A year ago I would have said it is extremely remote for WMG to acquire EMI. But the Live Nation/Ticketmaster deal changes the landscape”.



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