This is certainly not good news for the record industry....
See Music 2.0 at http://www.music2dot0.com/archives/106 for the full story.
April 14, 2008
EMI Closing Asian Offices - Major Labels’ Global Foibles Exposed
Filed under: Music Industry — maths @ 1:34 am
The Charge Of The Light Brigade
With Guy Hands ringing in the changes at the helm of EMI and as a follow-up to the announced huge layoffs - reported to number as many as 2,000 - some of it will manifest itself with the closure of a significant number of EMI offices in Asia including their regional office in HK but excluding their better performing publishing arm.
Though no official announcement has been forthcoming and the final body count for Asia is still being worked out, an unnamed source has indicated that this will likely happen in June as previous reports from Billboard and One Two Music indicating March 26 as D-day have been proven to be wrong.
Already, EMI has effectively closed offices in Thailand and Singapore whilst those in Japan, India, Australia and China will remain to some level of direct EMI jurisdiction especially on the digital front. It is believed that EMI is currently in talks to license a partner to manage their catalogue in Asia, and rumours have Warner Music as the front runner.
Looking at the balance sheets from a purely financial viewpoint, it probably makes sense for Guy Hands to close any unprofitable operations as they currently exist, especially as overpaid label executives who cannot pull their weight in drawing the required revenues from the market combined with the now legendary ‘fruits and flowers’ expenses serve to impede his aim of expediently flipping the company for a quick profit. A cursory examination as reported by One Two Music confirms the troubles that EMI has been experiencing in Asia, with a reported monthly sales of only 15,000 units of international product per month in Indonesia, one of the world’s most populous nations. At the same time, it might also be a good move to rid the music industry of deadwood who are totally inept and unable to keep up with the changes brought on by technology, but unfortunately, the theoretical justification hasn’t borne out in real life as sites like the Velvet Rope noted that many of those culled in the US in similar exercises were unfortunately, the wrong people.
But it is also wrong to judge operations in Asia at face value based on the balance sheet as the picture has been fatally flawed due to head office straitjackets and dictation of global policies which were applied insensibly to the Asian markets.
See Music 2.0 at http://www.music2dot0.com/archives/106 for the full story.
April 14, 2008
EMI Closing Asian Offices - Major Labels’ Global Foibles Exposed
Filed under: Music Industry — maths @ 1:34 am
The Charge Of The Light Brigade
With Guy Hands ringing in the changes at the helm of EMI and as a follow-up to the announced huge layoffs - reported to number as many as 2,000 - some of it will manifest itself with the closure of a significant number of EMI offices in Asia including their regional office in HK but excluding their better performing publishing arm.
Though no official announcement has been forthcoming and the final body count for Asia is still being worked out, an unnamed source has indicated that this will likely happen in June as previous reports from Billboard and One Two Music indicating March 26 as D-day have been proven to be wrong.
Already, EMI has effectively closed offices in Thailand and Singapore whilst those in Japan, India, Australia and China will remain to some level of direct EMI jurisdiction especially on the digital front. It is believed that EMI is currently in talks to license a partner to manage their catalogue in Asia, and rumours have Warner Music as the front runner.
Looking at the balance sheets from a purely financial viewpoint, it probably makes sense for Guy Hands to close any unprofitable operations as they currently exist, especially as overpaid label executives who cannot pull their weight in drawing the required revenues from the market combined with the now legendary ‘fruits and flowers’ expenses serve to impede his aim of expediently flipping the company for a quick profit. A cursory examination as reported by One Two Music confirms the troubles that EMI has been experiencing in Asia, with a reported monthly sales of only 15,000 units of international product per month in Indonesia, one of the world’s most populous nations. At the same time, it might also be a good move to rid the music industry of deadwood who are totally inept and unable to keep up with the changes brought on by technology, but unfortunately, the theoretical justification hasn’t borne out in real life as sites like the Velvet Rope noted that many of those culled in the US in similar exercises were unfortunately, the wrong people.
But it is also wrong to judge operations in Asia at face value based on the balance sheet as the picture has been fatally flawed due to head office straitjackets and dictation of global policies which were applied insensibly to the Asian markets.
