Music Industry: When EMI Falls Friday, February 4, 2011 By Jerry Del Colliano The dominoes are about to start falling in the record industry this year. This week, Citibank suddenly took control of EMI which it had previously propped up with massive funding, took 100% control, immediately ate $1.2 billion in debt and immediately put EMI’s assets up for sale in an effort to save at least some of their investment. You can be sure they are not sticking around to build the company up again.  This is a fire sale that will change the ecology of the record industry as early as this year. In this piece, I’ll tell you how and what the ramifications will be: 1.  One of the other Big Four labels will buy some of EMI’s assets.  No one wants them all.  That says a lot.  Here are the gems that can be sold and which competing labels are likely to get them. 2.  There is something that even a money-losing label like EMI has that is worth more than its record label.  I’ll explain. 3.  How the fate of record labels and radio groups are inextricably tied to each other for worse – no longer for better.  This may help give context to why the labels are so hell bent to win a performance royalty from radio stations and why they are not the least bit concerned about upsetting radio’s role as the main driver of record sales. 4. The one Big Four label that I think is all about new music and why it, too, will fail. 5.  A second record label is in bad shape.  I’ll name it and tell you the sorry circumstances.  Oh, and this bankruptcy-bound survivor could be a buyer of EMI’s stuff. 6.  If file sharing and the Internet killed the music business, who killed the record labels?  Not file sharing and the Internet.  We’re going to finger the suspect right here. This is an article about the decay of the record labels that will finally cause them to crumble in 2011 and where the pieces will wind up. If you would like to read this story, have access to my entire archive (over 1,100 pieces) and get the next month of my writing included, click “read more” for your choices.  Read more at Inside Music Media You are receiving this email because you are a subscriber to Inside Music Media Click here to unsubscribe or manage your account.