Int’l Music Biz Trade Offs

The way that music companies are so protective of their artists, you would think it very rare for these companies to collaborate. But that is exactly what is happening in some overseas markets. Warner Music Group will begin taking over business for EMI Music in Southeast Asia. The terms of the deal are that Warner will distribute EMI’s physical and digital library for Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia & Singapore.

This follows a similar deal where EMI is in charge of the distribution of Warner’s releases in India, the Middle East, and North Africa.

I just find this fascinating. I mean, of course it makes sense. I would venture to guess that Warner has a strong presence in Southeast Asia, whereas EMI is stronger in India, the Middle East, & North Africa. It just seems hard to understand that EMI would really put as much effort in distributing Warner’s releases as their own where they are most certainly guaranteed a larger % of the profits in distributing their own music.

These are interesting international strategies for both companies. You wonder if these international collaborations would one day lead to a merger between the 3rd & 4th place record companies. We’ll see.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com