EMI

This article is about the defunct British music company. For other uses, see EMI (disambiguation).

EMI Group Limited
Company typePrivate
IndustryMusic
PredecessorColumbia Graphophone Company
Gramophone Company
Founded31 March 1931; 93 years ago (1931-03-31)[1]
Defunct28 September 2012; 12 years ago (2012-09-28)
FateBroken up:
SuccessorEMI Music Publishing
Virgin EMI Records
EMI Records Nashville
Minos EMI
Studios 301
HeadquartersWestminster,
London
,
England, United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Founding CEO Lenard John Brown
Roger Faxon (Former CEO)
Ruth Prior (Former CFO)
Revenue£1.072 billion (2009)
$1.65 billion (2009)
£163 million (2009)
(EMI Music)[5]
£135 million (2009)
(EMI Music Publishing)[6]
Owner
Number of employees
5,500 (2008)
Subsidiaries
Website

EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its acquisition by Universal Music in 2012, it was the fourth largest business group and record label conglomerate in the music industry, and was one of the "Big Four" record companies (now the "Big Three"). Its labels included EMI Records, Parlophone, Virgin Records, and Capitol Records, which are now referenced under Universal Music due to their acquisition with the exception of Parlophone, as it is now owned by Warner Music.

EMI was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was also once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index, but faced financial problems and US$4 billion in debt, leading to its acquisition by Citigroup in February 2011.[7][8] Citigroup's ownership was temporary, as EMI announced in November 2011 that it would sell its music arm to Vivendi's Universal Music Group for $1.9 billion and its publishing business to a Sony/ATV consortium for around $2.2 billion. Other members of the Sony consortium include the estate of Michael Jackson, the Blackstone Group, and the Abu Dhabi–owned Mubadala Development Company. EMI's locations in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada were all disassembled to repay debt, but the primary head office located outside those countries is still functional.[9]

EMI Music Publishing is now owned by Sony Music Publishing, the music publishing division of Sony Music which bought another 70% stake in EMI Music Publishing.[10][11]

  1. ^ "1930–1949 – EMI Music". Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
  2. ^ Sisario, Ben (17 April 2012). "Sony Plans Major Cuts in EMI Jobs". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  3. ^ Sisario, Ben (8 February 2013). "Warner Music Group buys EMI Assets for $765 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  4. ^ Sisario, Ben (15 February 2013). "Music Companies Fight Over the Scraps of EMI". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  5. ^ "records strong improvement in full-year operating performance". EMI Music. 7 May 2009. Archived from the original on 6 June 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  6. ^ "EMI reports". EMI Music. 31 March 2009. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  7. ^ "EMI faces uncertain fate after Citigroup takeover". Mypaper. Singapore. Agence France-Presse. 7 February 2011. p. A17.
  8. ^ "Citigroup buys EMI". iPodNN. 2 February 2011. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  9. ^ Atkinson, Claire (11 November 2011). "Citi to sell EMI for $4.1B to Universal, Sony/ATV". New York Post. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  10. ^ "How Sony's $2.3 Billion EMI Buy Goes Beyond Beyoncé, Presley And Jackson". forbes.com.
  11. ^ "Sony buys EMI Music Publishing in US$1.9b deal". The Business Times.