— Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz was quoted by a German Sunday paper as saying, ”We are in a position that allows us to seize every opportunity in the market – including EMI.” Many in the press took that statement to mean Sony is considering a bid for EMI. If the situation presents itself, Sony would be a candidate to acquire the company. But the company would have to deal with regulators. Live Nation and Ticketmaster skated through with light concessions, although that was a vertical integration. A merger of the second- and fourth-largest music companies would be met by heavy regulatory scrutiny around the world. Sony could go after just EMI’s recorded music division, but putting the vast majority of the world’s recorded music sales in the hands of just three companies could be too much market concentration for the likes of the U.S. Department of Justice and Britain’s Competition Committee. (Reuters)
— Regardless of the speculation in the media, Sony Music is not currently in talks with EMI about making a bid for the company, Dow Jones reported on Sunday. (Dow Jones)
— Terra Firma needs investors to chip in an additional £105 million ($157 million) this week. The Telegraph reported Terra Firma is believed to have raised that amount based on verbal agreements but a final vote could have a different outcome. (The Telegraph)
— Related: Rock band Queen is said to be moving its recorded music to Universal Music Group from EMI some time next year. The group will remain at EMI Music Publishing, however. The move would represent the latest of a string of high-profile exits that include Radiohead, the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney. The latter two do not represent a great amount of new release sales, but they do matter in the same way the analysts’ comments are followed by investors. An artist leaving EMI is making a vote against the long-term health of the company. The fact that Queen would stay at EMI Publishing is an indication that side of the business is seen as more stable than recorded music. (Bloomberg)
— A lewd Village Voice blog post critical of James Dolan, executive chairman, Madison Square Garden and Cablevision CEO and president, has had negative consequences for the publication. Not only has Madison Square Garden Entertainment pulled its advertising from the Village Voice, but so has Live Nation – reportedly at the request of Dolan. All that amounts to a loss of $1 million in annual advertising. (Village Voice)
— The transcript to last week’s Warner Music Group earnings call. (Seeking Alpha)
— Trans World has appointed Mike Honeyman as president and COO, filling the position opened when Jim Litwak resigned in February. Prior to joining Trans World, Honeyman was president and COO of Bernie’s TV and Appliances, a kitchen, TV and appliance retailer with 15 stores in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Bernie’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January of this year and closed all its stores. (SEC filing)
— With his nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court of the United States, President Obama has passed over Sidney Thomas, who was reported to be on the president’s short list of candidates. Thomas is a judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals who wrote the 2004 opinion for MGM Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd. that said Grokster could not be held liable for the copyright violations enabled by its P2P software. The Supreme Court overruled that decision in a 9-0 vote. (AP)
