NEW DELHI: Sony Music Entertainment India has acquired British music company EMI’s music publishing division, while Vivendi’s Universal Music Group has won EMI’s recorded music auction.
A consortium led by Sony/ATV, a joint venture between Sony Corp and the Michael Jackson trust, is buying the music publishing division of EMI Group Ltd, for USD 2.2 billion. Universal Music Group is buying EMI’s recording division for USD 1.9 billion.
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“Music publishing is still a very small segment in India. The deal gives us access to a large number of titles and we are hoping to leverage that in India. Coupled with the proposed Copyright Bill, I think the deal has come at an fortunate time,” Sony Music president (India and Middle East) Shridhar Subramaniam told PTI.
Citigroup Inc. has agreed to sell British music company EMI in separate transactions for $4.1 billion, after taking it over in February, when private equity firm Terra Firma defaulted on its debts. EMI has copyrights to over 1 million songs and manages the works of artistes like Rihanna, Norah Jones, Beyonce and Alicia Keys.
Sony/ATV has recently forayed into India through an exclusive strategic alliance with Sony Music Entertainment India. As per the arrangement, Sony/ATV will exploit and manage Sony Music India’s publishing work overseas, while Sony Music India will manage Sony/ATV’s international work across four countries — India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
“Though music publishing is just 30 per cent now of the about Rs 1,000 crore music industry in India, but there is huge potential. As the proposed Bill comes into effect and developments such as these, will only help grow the segment further,” added Subramaniam.
The proposed Copyright Amendment Bill seeks to amend the Copyright Act, 1957. It is probably the most comprehensive attempt to amend the Act and is expected to far-reaching implications for the music and film industry. The Bill seeks to give independent rights to lyricists, composers and singers as the authors of literary and musical works in films. If the Bill is enacted, authors, especially lyricists, will get royalties and other benefits from the commercial exploitation of their work. Under the present system, the right to receive royalty vests with the music firms and producers.
