The most important man in music at the moment is not a hit-spotting executive in New York or London, but, rather, a diminutive Spanish bureaucrat whose decisions about the breakup of EMI will largely determine the shape of the industry for years to come.
Joaquín Almunia, the European Commission’s vice president for competition, has been the driving figure in the negotiations in Brussels over the future of EMI. In June, the commission approved a $2.2 billion sale of EMI’s music publishing business to a group led by Sony, with a relatively small number of concessions.
On Friday, the commission signed off on the Universal Music Group’s $1.9 billion bid for EMI’s record labels, but only after months of talks and an extensive divestment package that requires selling off the rights to some of EMI’s most prominent labels and artists. In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing the deal.
On Thursday, while in New York for a conference at Fordham Law School, Mr. Almunia spoke with The Times about his efforts to preserve competition and cultural diversity in the music business.
Read more: Joaquín Almunia on Europe's Tough Terms for Approving Universal-EMI Deal - NYTimes.com
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