After a lot of turmoil during the last couple of years, it seems like Roxette’s long-term record company EMI Music found a new home at Universal Music, the world’s biggest record company. Universal finally won the bidding game against Warner Music, but the deal still has to go through regulatory investigations because of its huge combined market share in recorded music. That process could take up to a year.
Meanwhile, current and past EMI artists seem to be quite happy with the deal. Dave Holmes, the manager of Coldplay, said that the deal “can only be a positive” for EMI. “I look forward to working with the Universal team,” he added. Mick Jagger said that he “particularly welcomed” the new owners. The Rolling Stones switched from EMI to Universal in mid 2008. “This is a very positive development and I particularly welcome the fact that EMI will once again be owned by people who really do have music in their blood,” he said.
Time will tell if this deal will bring any changes to Roxette’s future at the record company. EMI’s publishing arm is likely to be sold to Sony/ATV.
Read more: The Guardian 1, 2 | LA Times