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Alain Levy earned more than £3.5m (€5.3m) in pay and bonuses last year as chairman and chief executive of EMI Music – a job held since October 2001.   The veteran industry figure was brought in to replace EMI’s highest paid executive Ken Berry, who was credited with signing the Spice Girls. The 2001 move came a month after EMI reported sales of recorded music had been weaker than expected and that full-year profits would drop 20%.   Mr Levy said that the company had suffered because of the econo

British music group EMI said it has received an informal takeover approach but did not name the suitor.   “EMI announces that it has, this morning, received a preliminary approach for the company which may or may not lead to an offer being made,” the music publisher said in an official statement to the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday.   EMI, whose artists include Coldplay, David Bowie and Janet Jackson, added that a further announcement would be made if required. The Financial Times reported Tu

Shares in EMI soared this morning after the music group revealed that it was in takeover discussions again.   The firm, which has Lily Allen, Coldplay and Robbie Williams on its books, confirmed this morning that it had received "a number of preliminary indications of interest to acquire the company".   The announcement followed reports that a private equity group was prepared to pay £3bn for the company. One Equity, the private equity firm affiliated to American bank JPMorgan, sent EMI a letter

British music firm EMI Group Plc is considering raising its bid for smaller U.S. rival Warner Music Group Corp. to $33 a share from $31, the Observer newspaper said in an unsourced report on Sunday.   London-based EMI and Warner Music are locked in a takeover battle, with each trying to acquire the other to create a combined company that would shrink the industry to three main players.   EMI, home to Coldplay and Robbie Williams, said on Friday it had rejected a 2.5 billion pound ($4.6 billion)

Our view: Buy Share price: 250.5p (+2p)   At the end of last month, EMI and Warner Music abandoned their merger plans after a European court ruling annulled the 2004 regulatory clearance of the Sony BMG music merger. The court move cast serious doubt on whether competition regulators would allow more consolidation in the music industry so EMI/Warner Music's decision to call off their marriage is understandable.   Nevertheless, the effect it has had on EMI's stock market valuation looks to be ex

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.--Record label EMI Music Publishing is talking to YouTube, Revver and other video upload sites about alliances that would help it monitor and curtail misuse of its copyrights--and loss of advertising or download sales--from unauthorized music videos that are posted to their sites.   "We're actively trying to strike relationships (with user-generated video sites) for the showing of our music videos," Thomas Ryan, EMI Music's senior vice president of digital and mobile strateg

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.--Record label EMI Music Publishing is talking to YouTube, Revver and other video upload sites about alliances that would help it monitor and curtail misuse of its copyrights--and loss of advertising or download sales--from unauthorized music videos that are posted to their sites.   "We're actively trying to strike relationships (with user-generated video sites) for the showing of our music videos," Thomas Ryan, EMI Music's senior vice president of digital and mobile strateg

For more than a century, EMI Group Ltd. has survived waves of turmoil: the breakup of its top act, the Beatles; its firing of the Sex Pistols over unruly behavior; and a long-running merger standoff with rival Warner Music Group Corp, writes the Wall Street Journal.   But the storied record company is now facing a problem it hasn't yet been able to shake: the heavy debt from a leveraged buyout gone bad. Wounded by collapsing music sales like the rest of the industry, EMI was acquired in 2007 by

LONDON (Reuters) - EMI Group Plc, the world's third-largest music company, said it has dropped plans to buy smaller rival Warner Music (WMG.N) "for the time being," sending its shares down as much as 7 percent on Thursday.   The decision was expected following a European court judgment this month that annulled the 2004 approval of the merger between Sony Music and BMG, casting doubt on whether regulators would allow further consolidation in the industry.   "The board will review this position in

EMI has been the subject of numerous takeover rumours in recent sessions, mainly on the back of its poor performance over the past few years against a rising market. Even having the likes of Robbie Williams, Coldplay and Gorillaz on its roster has done little to cheer shareholders.   Takeover rumours did the rounds again yesterday, with more talk of a link-up with Warner Music, the recording division of the media giant Time Warner. However, dealers reported quality buyers piling into the stock

EMI has been the subject of numerous takeover rumours in recent sessions, mainly on the back of its poor performance over the past few years against a rising market. Even having the likes of Robbie Williams, Coldplay and Gorillaz on its roster has done little to cheer shareholders.   Takeover rumours did the rounds again yesterday, with more talk of a link-up with Warner Music, the recording division of the media giant Time Warner. However, dealers reported quality buyers piling into the stock

British music company EMI Group Plc rejected an approach worth 2.5 billion pounds ($4.6 billion) from smaller U.S. rival Warner Music Group, saying on Wednesday the offer was "wholly unacceptable".   Warner Music's 320 pence per share move on EMI was an attempt to take control of the company that has been pursuing it. EMI shares rose 9.6 percent to set a four-year high at 311 pence in early trading.   On May 3, Warner Music, the world's fourth largest music company and home to Green Day and Red

LONDON - EMI Group PLC, the British music publisher whose roster includes The Beatles and Coldplay, said Friday its shares will no longer be listed for trading after Sept. 18 as it goes private.   EMI is being acquired for 2.4 billion pounds ($4.9 billion) by private equity group Terra Firma Capital Partners. As of Thursday, Terra Firma, run by financier Guy Hands, held 94 percent of EMI. EMI shares rose nearly 0.3 percent to close at 264 pence ($5.24) on the London Stock Exchange.   Terra Firma

The giant label will end copying constraints on most songs, sources say. Exception: the Beatles.   Customers of Apple Inc.'s iTunes store will soon be able to play downloaded songs by the Rolling Stones, Norah Jones and other top-selling artists free of the copying restrictions once imposed by their label.   EMI Group, the world's fourth-largest record label, and Apple, the biggest seller of digital music and players, plan to announce a landmark deal today that would remove copying protections f

EMI is kicking off a review of its £14m UK media planning and buying business.   The record company, home to artists including Coldplay and KanYe West, has already embarked on a market-bymarket review across Europe which excluded the UK.   However, it is understood EMI will now hold a separate pitch for its UK media account, which Carat has held since 1997. Reports have linked the7stars to the EMI account. However, sources said that the account will be reviewed thoroughly with other major agenci

Music group EMI is to reshuffle its digital music operations in the midst of its bid and counter-bid battle with rival Warner Music.   The company, which is home to artists including Coldplay and Robbie Williams (pictured), aims to decentralise decision making in the digital arm and shift more power to local managers. As part of the restructure, it has parted with executive vice-president for strategy and business development Adam Klein, who oversaw EMI’s digital strategy.   Digital music sales

EMI - the music company behind Kylie Minogue and Coldplay - saw its shares plunge nearly 12% after it issued its second profit warning this year.   Blaming weak CD and DVD sales in the US, it said it now expects profits to be 15 per cent lower than a year ago.   The world's third-biggest music company said it expected revenue at EMI music to show a decline of about 15% in the year to March 31 compared with the previous year. The company, which has The Beatles, and Coldplay on its books, warn

EMI Music inked a deal with PlayPhone Inc. to allow the mobile entertainment company to distribute ringtones from its catalog. Artist from the Beach Boys and the Rolling Stones to Joss Stone, Norah Jones and Coldplay can now be heard in cell phone renditions that PlayPhone customers can customize.   “The team at PlayPhone has the know-how and technology to ensure consumer-friendly download experience,” says Lauren Berkowitz, senior vice president of EMI Music’s newly beefed up digital team.   Th

Digital entertainment service provider Jamster has signed a deal to make mobile phone realtones and music videos by EMI artists available to its customers across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.   The agreement will also allow Jamba Music customers in Germany access to EMI's digital catalog of around 250,000 full music tracks for downloads or via subscription.   Jamster develops, markets and provides digital content and services directly to mobile devices via SMS text messages, WAP or the Int

EMI MusicUK has signed a deal with Ukash to accept cash as an online payment option when buying merchandise on its artist websites.   Ukash, the UK-based company that introduced cash payments to global online transactions, can now be used to buy a wide range of merchandise from CDs and books to posters and T-shirts, featuring EMI artists such as Coldplay, Gorillaz, Queen, Paul McCartney, Kylie and The Chemical Brothers.   Ukash is building up strong partnerships online with several lifestyle,

EMI is expected to join most of the world's major music groups and table a first-round bid tomorrow for £800m song rights giant BMG Publishing.   German owner Bertelsmann has put the New York-based business, which owns the rights to songs by Coldplay and Christina Aguilera, up for sale and hopes for a swift deal.   It needs to raise more than £3bn to buy back the 25% stake that Groupe Bruxelles Lambert has in Bertelsmann and so take back control of the business.American firm Warner Music, whic

EMI Group said on Monday it would make its music catalogue available to the first advertising supported peer-to-peer service as the entertainment industry embraces the same technology that once nearly crippled it.   The new service called Qtrax, developed by New York-based LTDnetwork and slated for launch later this year, will give consumers the ability to download music for free after watching ads, or the option of paying for a premium subscription version.   Financial terms of the deal with Lo

EMI Group said on Monday it would make its music catalogue available to the first advertising supported peer-to-peer service as the entertainment industry embraces the same technology that once nearly crippled it.   The new service called Qtrax, developed by New York-based LTDnetwork and slated for launch later this year, will give consumers the ability to download music for free after watching ads, or the option of paying for a premium subscription version.   Financial terms of the deal with Lo

EMI, the leading UK music group, is preparing to launch a cash and shares takeover bid for Warner Music, AOL Time Warner's record business, as early as this week.   A combination of EMI and Warner Music, thought to be worth more than £600m, would create the world's biggest music group and bring together artists including EMI's Norah Jones, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams and Coldplay with Warner's Madonna, REM, Craig David and The Corrs.

NEW YORK/BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Internet search service Baidu.com Inc. said on Tuesday it was launching an advertising-supported online music service in mainland China with EMI Music.   The service will provide a stream of free online music, the company said, but would only include Chinese-language music, which people could listen to but not download.   EMI and Baidu would also continue to explore developing an advertising-supported service for downloading music, the companies said. They di