Music industry watch

Sony Music and BMG hitching up

Looks like Sony Music and Bertelsmann Music Group are getting hitched:

Sony Music and BMG, the second and fifth-biggest record companies worldwide, signed a non-binding agreement to form a 50-50 joint venture, and are now pledged to work towards a final agreement later this year.

. . .

Both deals (M&C: the Sony/BMG and EMI/Warner deals) reflect the increasing competition in the music business, which is suffering from slowing global demand and the effects of unofficial online music sales.

What are they referring to with unofficial music sales?? Are they talking about iTunes/MusicMatch/et al? And slowing global demand is not really correct, is it? Given the popularity of file sharing networks, I don't think demand for music is slowing -- demand for the crap produced by these companies is slowing. But, they have to spin themselves to look good, right??

Posted by Mayhem at November 6, 2003 05:22 PM