By Chris Coplan on March 24th, 2010 in
According to the Wall Street Journal, Terra Firma is offering a five-year licensing deal to the likes of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group, the aforementioned Warner Bros. and others. Such a deal might net the company $150.1 million per year. As of now, the company has until June 14th to raise the money before the label goes to the control of Citigroup. Via The Times, Guy Hands, the head of Terra Firma, said if the company can raise $541.2 million, it should be enough to keep EMI together until their $4.3 billion debt matures in 2014.
As of now, any agreement would be for the back catalog and the recordings, as the publishing arm is owned and operated individually. If any of the rival labels do agree to the deal, it would mean EMI would have less of an influence in the U.S., although it can still sign American acts. Further complicating the issue is that while the label doesn’t need the bands’ permission to do what they please with their recordings, larger acts (like Pink Floyd has done recently) can always take their catalog elsewhere.
As always, we’ll keep you updated.