Jump to content

EMI

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Pathé Marconi 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]

History

[edit]
EMI's former building in London. The building is now owned by Warner Music UK.

Electric and Musical Industries Ltd was formed in March 1931 by the merger of the Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramophone Company, with its "His Master's Voice" record label, firms that have a history extending back to the origins of recorded sound. The new vertically integrated company produced sound recordings as well as recording and playback equipment.

The company's gramophone manufacturing led to 40 years of success with larger-scale electronics and electrical engineering.

In October 1979, EMI merged with Thorn Electrical Industries to create Thorn EMI.[12]

On 16 August 1996, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerging Thorn from EMI again: the company became EMI Group plc, and the electronics and rentals divisions were divested as Thorn plc.[13]

The company broke up in 2012.

Electronics research and development

[edit]

Television

[edit]

In 1934, an EMI research team led by Sir Isaac Shoenberg developed the electronic Marconi-EMI system for television broadcasting, which quickly replaced Baird's electro-mechanical system following its introduction in 1936.[14] After the Second World War, EMI resumed its involvement in making broadcasting equipment, notably providing the BBC's second television transmitter at Sutton Coldfield. It also manufactured broadcast television cameras for British television production companies as well as for the BBC. The commercial television ITV companies also used them alongside cameras made by Pye and Marconi. Their best-remembered piece of broadcast television equipment was the EMI 2001 colour television camera, which became the mainstay of much of the British television industry from the end of the 1960s until the early 1990s. Exports of this piece of equipment were low, however, and EMI left this area of product manufacture.

Blumlein and radar

[edit]

EMI engineer Alan Blumlein received a patent for the invention of stereophonic sound in 1931.[15] He was killed in 1942 whilst conducting flight trials on an experimental H2S radar set.

During and after World War II, the EMI Laboratories in Hayes, Hillingdon developed radar equipment (including the receiver section of the British Army's GL-II anti-aircraft fire-control radar), microwave devices such as the reflex klystron oscillator (having played a crucial role in the development of early production types following on from the British Admiralty Signal School's pioneering NR89, the so-called "Sutton tube"), electro-optic devices such as infra-red image converters, and eventually guided missiles employing analogue computers.

Photomultipliers

[edit]

The company was also for many years an internationally respected manufacturer of photomultipliers. This part of the business was transferred to Thorn as part of Thorn-EMI, then later became the independent concern Electron Tubes Ltd.

Computers and CT scanner

[edit]

The EMI Electronic Business Machine, a valve and magnetic drum memory computer, was built in the 1950s to process the British Motor Corporation payroll.[16][17]

In 1958 the EMIDEC 1100, the UK's first commercially available all-transistor computer, was developed at EMI's Central Research Laboratories in Hayes under the leadership of Godfrey Hounsfield, an electrical engineer at EMI.[17]

In the early 1970s, with financial support by the UK Department of Health and Social Security as well as EMI research investment,[18] Hounsfield developed the first CT scanner, a device which revolutionised medical imaging. In 1973 EMI was awarded a prestigious Queen's Award for Technological Innovation for what was then called the EMI scanner,[19] and in 1979 Hounsfield won the Nobel Prize for his accomplishment.[20]

After brief, but brilliant, success in the medical imaging field, EMI's manufacturing activities were sold off to other companies, notably Thorn (see Thorn EMI). Subsequently, development and manufacturing activities were sold off to other companies and work moved to other towns such as Crawley and Wells.

  • Emitron television camera
    Emitron television camera
  • H2S radar display set
    H2S radar display set
  • First commercially available CT scanner made by EMI
    First commercially available CT scanner made by EMI
  • EMI photomultiplier tubes
    EMI photomultiplier tubes
  • EMI tape recorder
    EMI tape recorder

Emihus

[edit]

Emihus Electronics, based in Glenrothes, Scotland, was owned 51% by Hughes Aircraft, of California, US, and 49% by EMI. It manufactured integrated circuits, electrolytic capacitors and, for a short period in the mid-1970s, hand-held calculators under the Gemini name.[21]

Music

[edit]

Early in its life, the Gramophone Company established its subsidiary operations and branch offices in a number of many other countries inside and outside of the British Commonwealth, including Europe, the Middle East and Africa as well as in Canada, Russia, India, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Gramophone's (later EMI's) Australian and New Zealand subsidiaries dominated the popular music industries in those countries across the Asia-Pacific region from the 1920s until the 1960s, when other locally owned labels (such as Festival Records) began to challenge the near monopoly of EMI. Over 150,000 78-rpm recordings from around the world are held in EMI's temperature-controlled archive in Hayes, some of which have been released on CD since 2008 by Honest Jon's Records.[22][23]

In 1931, the year the company was formed, it opened the legendary recording studios at London's Abbey Road.[24] During the 1930s and 1940s, its roster of artists included Arturo Toscanini, Sir Edward Elgar, and Otto Klemperer, among many others. During this time EMI appointed its first A&R managers. These included George Martin, who later brought the Beatles into the EMI fold.

When the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company (including Columbia's subsidiary label Parlophone) in 1931, the new Anglo-American group was incorporated as Electric & Musical Industries Limited. At this point, the Radio Corporation of America had a majority shareholding in the new company due to RCA purchasing the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929. Victor owned 50% of the British affiliated Gramophone Company, giving RCA chairman David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board.

However, EMI was subsequently forced to sell Columbia USA due to anti-trust action taken by its American competitors. By this time the record industry had been hit hard by the Depression and in 1934 a much-diminished Columbia USA was purchased for just US$70,500 by ARC-BRC (American Record Corporation–Brunswick Record Company), which also acquired the OKeh label.

RCA sold its stake in EMI in 1935, but due to its 1929 takeover of Victor, RCA retained the North and South American rights to the "His Master's Voice" trademark. In other countries, the Nipper logo was used by the EMI subsidiary label HMV, even though the "His Master's Voice" slogan itself would be retained by RCA along with the logo.

In 1938 ARC-Brunswick was taken over by CBS, which then sold the American Brunswick label to American Decca Records, which along with its other properties, Vocalion Records and Aeolian Vocalion Records, used it as a subsidiary budget label afterward. CBS then operated Columbia as its flagship label in both the United States and Canada.

EMI retained the rights to the Columbia name in most other territories including the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It continued to operate the label with moderate success until 1973, when it was retired and replaced by the EMI Records imprint, making records with the Columbia Records label manufactured outside North America between 1972 and 1992 rare.

In 1990, following a series of major takeovers that saw CBS Records acquired by the Sony Corporation of Japan, EMI sold its remaining rights to the Columbia name to Sony and the label is now operated exclusively throughout the world by Sony Music Entertainment; except in Japan where the trade mark is owned by Columbia Music Entertainment.

EMI released its first LPs in 1952 and its first stereophonic recordings in 1955 (first on reel-to-reel tape and then LPs, beginning in 1958). In 1957, to replace the loss of its long-established licensing arrangements with RCA Victor and Columbia Records (Columbia USA cut its ties with EMI in 1951), EMI entered the American market by acquiring 96% of the stock for Capitol Records USA.

Trade ad of congratulations to the Beatles for their 1964 Grammys.

From 1960 to 1995 their "EMI House" corporate headquarters was located at 20 Manchester Square London, England, the stairwell from which was featured on the cover of the Beatles' Please Please Me album. In addition, an unused shot from the Please Please Me photo session, featuring the boys in short hair and cleancut attire, was used for the cover of the Beatles' first double-disc greatest-hits compilation entitled 1962–1966 (also known as "The Red Album"). In 1969, Angus McBean took a matching group photograph featuring the boys in long hair and beards to contrast with the earlier cleancut image to show that the boys could have appeal across a wide range of audiences. This photo was originally intended for the Get Back album which later was entitled Let It Be. The photo was used instead for the cover of the Beatles' second greatest-hits double-disc compilation entitled 1967–1970 (also known as "The Blue Album"). (The two compilations were released in 1973.)

EMI's classical artists of the period were largely limited to the prestigious British and European orchestras, such as the Philharmonia Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra as well as the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. During the era of the long-playing record (LP), very few American and Canadian orchestras had their principal recording contracts with EMI, one notable exception being that of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, especially during the tenure of William Steinberg.

From the late 1950s to the early 1970s, the company enjoyed huge success in the popular music field under the management of Sir Joseph Lockwood. The strong combination of EMI and its subsidiary labels (including Parlophone, HMV, Columbia and Capitol Records) along with a roster of stellar groups such as the Hollies, the Shadows, the Beach Boys and the Beatles along with hit solo performers such as Frank Sinatra, Cliff Richard, and Nat 'King' Cole, made EMI the best-known and most successful recording company in the world at that time.

In 1967, while shifting their focus on pop and rock music roster to Columbia and Parlophone, EMI converted HMV solely to a classical music label exclusively. For the emerging progressive rock genre including Pink Floyd, who had debuted on Columbia, EMI established a new subsidiary label, Harvest Records, two years later.

Gold and silver discs issued by EMI in 1982 for Queen's Greatest Hits.

In 1971, Electric & Musical Industries changed its name to EMI Ltd. and on 1 January 1973 EMI phased out most of its heritage labels and replacing them with the EMI imprint. On 1 July 1973 the Gramophone Company subsidiary (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.) was renamed EMI Records Ltd as well, and in 1978, EMI launched EMI America Records as its second label in the United States after Capitol. EMI Music Worldwide was also formed in 1978 with Bhaskar Menon as chairman and CEO. In February 1979, EMI Ltd acquired United Artists Records and with it their subsidiary labels Liberty Records and Imperial Records. Eight months later, Thorn Electrical Industries merged with EMI Ltd. to form Thorn EMI.[25]

Sometime in the late 1980s, EMI America merged with sister label Manhattan Records, founded in 1984,[26] becoming EMI Manhattan and eventually EMI USA when Capitol absorbed it in 1989.

Also in 1989, Thorn EMI bought a 50% interest in Chrysalis Records, completing the buyout two years later. Six months after completing the buyout of Chrysalis, Thorn EMI bought Virgin Records from Richard Branson in one of its highest-profile and most expensive acquisitions in record music history. In 1992, Thorn EMI entered the Christian music market by acquiring Sparrow Records.[27]

Aftermath of demerger from Thorn

[edit]

Due to the increasing divergence of business models, Thorn EMI shareholders voted in favour of demerger proposals on 16 August 1996. The resulting media company was now known as EMI Group PLC.[28] In 1997, EMI Records USA was folded into both Virgin and Capitol.[29]

Since the 1930s, the Pathé Records label headquartered in Shanghai, China had been published under the EMI banner[30] and since then, EMI had also been the dominant label in the cantopop market throughout Greater China until the genre's decline in the mid-1980s. Between the years 2004–2006, EMI then completely and totally divested itself from the c-pop market, and after that, all Hong Kong music artists previously associated with EMI had their music published by Gold Label, a concern unaffiliated with EMI and with which EMI did not yet hold any interest.

On 21 November 2000, Streamwaves and EMI signed a deal licensing EMI's catalogue in a digital format for their online streaming music service. This was the first time EMI had licensed any of its catalogue to a streaming music website.[31]

Pop star Robbie Williams signed a six-album deal in 2002 paying him over £80 million ($157 million), which was not only the biggest recording contract in British music history at the time, but also the second biggest in music history[32] behind that of Michael Jackson.

Apple Records, the record label representing The Beatles, launched a suit against EMI for non-payment of royalties on 15 December 2005. The suit alleged that EMI had withheld $50 million from the record label; however, an EMI spokesman noted that audits of record label accounts are not that unusual, confirming at least two hundred such audits performed on the label, but that these audits rarely result in legal action.[33] A legal settlement was announced on 12 April 2007 and terms were undisclosed.[34]

On 2 April 2007, EMI announced it would be releasing its music in DRM-free formats. These were to be issued in AAC format, which gave higher quality for the same bitrate compared with the ubiquitous MP3 format. The music would be distributed via Apple's iTunes Store (under the iTunes Plus category).[35]

Tracks were to cost $1.29/€1.29/£0.99. Legacy tracks with FairPlay DRM would still be available for $0.99/€0.99/£0.79 – albeit with lower quality sound and DRM restrictions still in place. Users would be able to 'upgrade' the EMI tracks that they had already bought for $0.30/€0.30/£0.20. Albums were also to be available at the same price as their lower quality, DRM counterparts and music videos from EMI would also be DRM-free. The higher-quality, DRM-free files became available worldwide on iTunes on 30 May 2007, and were expected to appear on other music download services soon thereafter.

Following this decision, Universal Music Group also announced sales of DRM-free music (which was described as an experiment).[36]

In May 2006, EMI attempted to buy Warner Music Group, which would have reduced the world's four largest record companies (Big Four) to three; however, the bid was rejected.[37] Warner Music Group launched a Pac-Man defense, offering to buy EMI. EMI rejected the $4.6 billion offer.[38]

Terra Firma takeover

[edit]

After a decline in the British market share from 16% to 9%, and the announcement that it had sustained a loss of £260 million in 2006/2007,[39][40] in August 2007 EMI was acquired by Terra Firma Capital Partners[39] for £4.2 billion.[41] Following the transition, several artists including Radiohead left EMI, while other artists such as Paul McCartney had left ahead of the takeover.[39] At the same time, the Rolling Stones signed a one-album deal with Interscope Records/Universal Music Group outside its contract with EMI, which expired in February 2008,[42][43] and then in July 2008 signed a new long-term deal with Universal Music Group.[44] The Terra Firma takeover was also reported to have been the catalyst behind a lawsuit filed by Pink Floyd over unpaid royalties.[45] In January 2011 Pink Floyd signed a new global agreement with EMI.[46]

Around the same time, Guy Hands, CEO of Terra Firma Capital Partners, came to EMI with restructuring plans to cut between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs[40] and to reduce costs by £200 million a year. As a result, the UK chief executive Tony Wadsworth left EMI after 25 years in January 2008. The cuts were planned to take effect over the year 2008, and would affect up to a third of EMI's 5,500 staff.[40] Thirty Seconds to Mars tried to exit their contract with EMI following the layoff of its staff and due to unpaid royalties, prompting the label to file a lawsuit for $30 million citing breach of contract.[47] The suit was later settled following a defence based on a contract case involving actress Olivia de Havilland decades before.[48] Jared Leto explained, "The California Appeals Court ruled that no service contract in California is valid after seven years, and it became known as the De Havilland Law after she used it to get out of her contract with Warner Bros."[48] Many industry watchers viewed the suit as a punitive harassment meant to scare other musicians.[47] The band's troubles with the label resonate through their third studio album This Is War (2009) and were the subject of the 2012 documentary Artifact.

In 2008, EMI withdrew from the South-East Asian market entirely, forcing its large roster of acts to search out contracts with other unaffiliated labels. As a result, the South-East Asian market was the only region in the world where EMI was not in operation, although the record label continued to operate in Hong Kong and Indonesia (which was named Arka Music Indonesia).[49] The Chinese and Taiwanese operation of EMI as well as the Hong Kong branch of Gold Label, was sold to Typhoon Group and reformed as Gold Typhoon. The Philippine branch of EMI changed its name to PolyEast Records, and was a joint venture between EMI itself and Pied Piper Records Corporation. The physical audio and video products of the label have been distributed in South-East Asia by Warner Music Group since December 2008, while new EMI releases in China and Taiwan, were distributed under Gold Typhoon which was previously known as EMI Music China and EMI Music Taiwan, respectively. Meanwhile, the Korean branch of EMI (known as EMI Korea Limited) had its physical releases distributed by Warner Music Korea. EMI Music Japan, the Japanese EMI branch, remains unchanged from the reflection of Toshiba's divestiture to the business by EMI buying the whole branch way back July 2007, making it a full subsidiary.[50][51]

In July 2009, there were reports that EMI would not sell CDs to independent album retailers in a bid to cut costs,[52] but in fact only a handful of small physical retailers were affected.[53]

Citigroup ownership

[edit]

In February 2010, EMI Group reported pre-tax losses of £1.75 billion for the year ended March 2009, including write-downs on the value of its music catalogue.[54][55] In addition, KPMG issued a going concern warning on the holding company's accounts regarding an ability to remain solvent.[56]

Citigroup (which held $4 billion in debt) took 100% ownership of EMI Group from Terra Firma Capital Partners on 1 February 2011, writing off £2.2 billion of debt[57] and reducing EMI's debt load by 65%.[58] The group was put up for sale and final bids were due by 5 October 2011.[59]

Sony/Universal/Warner sale

[edit]

On 12 November 2011, it was announced that EMI would sell its recorded music operations to Universal Music Group (UMG) for £1.2 billion ($1.9 billion) and its music publishing operations to Sony/ATV Music Publishing-for $2.2 billion.[60] Among the other companies that had competed for the recorded music business was Warner Music Group which was reported to have made a $2 billion bid.[61] However, IMPALA has said that it would fight the merger.[62] In March 2012, the European Union opened an investigation into Universal's purchase of EMI's recorded music division[63] and had asked rivals and consumer groups whether the deal will result in higher prices and shut out competitors.[64]

On 21 September 2012, the sale of EMI to UMG was approved in both Europe and the United States by the European Commission and the Federal Trade Commission respectively. The European Commission approved the deal, however, under the condition that the merged company divest itself of one third of its total operations to other companies with a proven track record in the music industry. To comply with this condition, UMG divested V2 Records, Parlophone Records, Sanctuary Records, Chrysalis Records, Mute Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics, Vivendi Visual Entertainment, the 2CD Originals Series and EMI's regional labels in most of Europe. These labels were operated separately under the name "Parlophone Label Group", pending their sale. Universal would, however, retain its ownership of the Beatles' library (moved to the newly formed Calderstone Productions) and Robbie Williams' Chrysalis recordings (moved to the Island Records label).[65]

Universal Music Group completed its acquisition of EMI on 28 September 2012,[66] followed by worldwide compliance and complete rebranding by 1 April 2013.[66][67] In compliance with the conditions of the European Commission, on 22 December, Universal Music Group sold the Mute catalogue, previously property of EMI, to German-based music rights company BMG.[68] In turn, Vivendi Visual Entertainment was acquired by Gaiam and renamed Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment. On 8 February 2013, Warner Music Group signed an agreement to acquire Parlophone, Chrysalis Records, EMI Classics, Virgin Classics, the 2CD Originals Series and some of EMI's regional labels across Europe for US$765 million (£487 million).[69][70] Regulatory approval was received on 15 May.[71] Universal retained EMI's former European labels in Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, and Finland.

Universal Music has continued to operate EMI entities it retained using the EMI name and formed Virgin EMI Records as a UMG label unit in the UK.[72] The former EMI Records Ltd. was renamed Parlophone Records Ltd. in 2013,[73] when Warner Music Group acquired Parlophone Music Group which has the rights to the old EMI Records catalogue.

The Australian and New Zealand EMI Columbia catalogues, including recordings by John Farnham, who went by Johnny during his time with the label, were ceded to Universal Music Australia's imprint EMI Recorded Music and Universal Music New Zealand respectively.[74][75]

Warner Music incorporated EMI Classics and Virgin Classics into its Warner Classics unit with the EMI Classics artist roster and catalogue absorbed into the Warner Classics label and the Virgin Classics artist roster and catalogue absorbed into the revived Erato Records label.[76]

On 14 November 2013, EMI's Middle Eastern branch was folded into Universal Music, causing the distribution of Warner Music Group's releases in that region to be moved to Universal Music.[77]

On 30 June 2014, Universal Music Group re-established EMI's Taiwanese division, with A-Mei, Rainie Yang and Show Lo signing first to the label.[78]

In May 2016, an independent company, Blue Raincoat Music, bought most of Chrysalis's British catalogue from Warner Music,[79] making Chrysalis an independent label again. However, the remainder of Chrysalis's British catalogue, namely other past artists Spandau Ballet, Jethro Tull, the Ramones and The Proclaimers, stayed with Parlophone in the UK and (excluding Ramones) Rhino Entertainment in the United States. The Ramones American back catalogue remained with Island's sister label Geffen Records, the successor of MCA Records, which previously distributed the band's releases on Radioactive Records, and is licensed to Universal Music Enterprises. Additionally, the majority of Chrysalis's American catalogue also remained with Capitol Music Group, parent of Island's and Geffen's sister label Capitol Records, and is currently distributed by that label. Debbie Harry's only Chrysalis album with an American release, KooKoo, was later divested by Capitol. The European Chrysalis catalogue, including Harry's four albums, plus the rights to ten artists not originally signed to the label are owned and distributed by Blue Raincoat.[80]

The number of initial non-Chrysalis artists was later increased to 11 after adding former EMI artists Naked Eyes. Belinda Carlisle's only Chrysalis album, A Woman & a Man, had its distribution and rights outside the US reverted to CMG's Virgin Records, Carlisle's former label which was the second in her career.

Also in May 2016 the history of the record label was examined in the hour-long BBC documentary EMI: The Inside Story.[81]

On 16 June 2020, Universal rebranded Virgin EMI as EMI Records, reopening the iconic label, and named Rebecca Allen, former president of Decca Records, as the new EMI's president. UMG has continued to operate Virgin as an imprint of EMI.[82]

Operations

[edit]

Entertainment and Leisure

[edit]

In 1964 EMI acquired Blackpool Tower from the Bickerstaffe family.[83] In 1967, they also took over the Winter Gardens complex in Blackpool.[84]

In 1967, EMI acquired the Grade Organisation, the UK's largest showbusiness talent agency, for £7.5 million.[85] This also included the recently acquired Shipman and King chain of 32 cinemas in the Home Counties.[86]

Film, Theatre and Television

[edit]
Further information: EMI Films, ABC Cinemas, Elstree Studios, and Thames Television

EMI Films was created in 1969 following the acquisition of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC). At the time ABPC owned 270 ABC Cinemas; a half share (under the Associated British Corporation name) in the ITV contractor Thames Television; Elstree Studios at Shenley Road, and had recently bought Anglo-Amalgamated, a film studio.[87] Bernard Delfont of the Grade Organisation became chairman and Chief Executive.[88] In 1970, Delfont sold his own Bernard Delfont Organisation to EMI and the agencies were divested.[88][89] He later became Chief Executive of EMI in 1979.

Their flagship cinema was the ABC 1 and 2 Shaftesbury Avenue which was built at the old Saville Theatre in London.[90]

In 1974, the Film & Theatre Corporation was split into EMI Cinemas and EMI Leisure Enterprises.[87] On formation, EMI Cinemas ran 272 cinemas in the UK, including those of ABC.[87]

Following EMI's merger with Thorn Electrical Industries in 1979, EMI's film division was renamed Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment. In April 1986, Thorn EMI sold its film production and distribution arm (Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment), home video (Thorn EMI Video), and cinema (ABC Cinemas) operations to businessman Alan Bond. Bond, in turn, sold it to The Cannon Group a week later.[91]

EMI Leisure

[edit]

EMI Leisure Enterprises was formed in April 1974 and controlled Blackpool Tower; EMI's 16 squash clubs and five bowling alleys; discotheques; 23 licensed premises and other amusement interests. It began developing new leisure businesses, including Brighton Marina and golf activities with the opening of Aldenham Golf Club.[87] In April 1977 they acquired the Empire Ballroom and Cinema in Leicester Square in London and in September 1977 acquired Bailey Leisure Services Limited which they renamed EMI Dancing which provided the group with dance halls, cabaret clubs and discotheques around the UK.[92] By the late 1970s, the leisure business contributed 15% of group revenues.[92] In 1978, EMI acquired the Prince Edward Theatre.[92] It also owned two other theatres in London as well as theatres in the rest of the UK.[93]

Following the merger with Thorn, part of EMI's leisure interests were sold to Trust House Forte in November 1980 for £16 million.[93] Lord Delfont became chairman and chief executive of THF's leisure division.[93] EMI Social Centres chain of bingo halls remained with Thorn EMI.[93]

The Winter Gardens in Blackpool were sold in 1983 to First Leisure.[84]

Hotels and restaurants

[edit]

In 1972 EMI Hotels won a bidding war against Ralston Purina to buy the Golden Egg group from the Kaye brothers for £14 million, which included a stake in Angus Steakhouse restaurants[94] and the Selfridge Hotel, which opened in July 1973.[87]

In June 1977, EMI acquired the Tower Hotel, London.[92] At the end of 1978 they owned 4 other hotels, Royal Horseguards Hotel; Royal Angus; Royal Trafalgar; and Royal Westminster.[92]

As well as Angus Steakhouse their restaurants also included Wimpy Bars, Picnic Basket and Tennessee Pancake Houses.[92]

Following the merger with Thorn, seven hotels and 12 Angus Steakhouse restaurants were sold in July 1980 for £23 million to Scottish & Newcastle Breweries.[95][96][93][97]

EMI Music

[edit]

Labels under the EMI banner

[edit]
Further information: List of EMI labels

Past and present EMI musicians

[edit]
Main article: List of EMI artists

EMI Music Publishing

[edit]
Main article: EMI Music Publishing

As well as the well-known record label the group also owned EMI Music Publishing, which was the largest music publisher in the world. EMI Music Publishing has[when?] won the Music Week Award for Publisher of the Year every year for over 10 years; in 2009, for the first time in history the award was shared jointly with Universal Music Publishing.[98] As is often[citation needed] the case in the music industry, the publishing arm and record label are very separate businesses.[citation needed]

EMI administered the publishing rights of over 1.3 million songs, headlined by Queen, Carole King, The Police, the Motown catalog, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Drake, Sia, P!nk, Pharrell Williams, and Calvin Harris.

EMI's music publishing operations were sold to a consortium led by Sony/ATV Music Publishing in 2012; BMG acquired the music publishing libraries of Virgin Music (which EMI held) and Famous Music UK (which Sony/ATV held).[99]

Criticism

[edit]

CD price fixing

[edit]
Main article: CD price fixing

Between 1995 and 2000 music companies were found to have used illegal marketing agreements such as minimum advertised pricing to artificially inflate prices of compact discs in order to end price wars by discounters such as Best Buy and Target in the early 1990s.[100]

A settlement in 2002 included the music publishers and distributors; Sony Music, Warner Music, Bertelsmann Music Group, EMI and Universal Music. In restitution for price fixing they agreed to pay a $67.4 million fine and distribute $75.7 million in CDs to public and non-profit groups but admitted no wrongdoing.[101] It is estimated customers were overcharged by nearly $500 million and up to $5 per album.[100]

On Internet Freedom Day in January 2013, EMI evoked controversy after the removal of Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech from Vimeo due to a copyright violation.[102]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  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.
  12. ^ "EMI: a giant at war with itself". The Daily Telegraph. 18 January 2008.
  13. ^ "Vote solid for Thorn demerger". The Independent. 17 August 1996.
  14. ^ "Sir Isaac Shoenberg, British inventor". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 22 July 2020. principal inventor of the first high-definition television system
  15. ^ "Early stereo recordings restored". BBC. 1 August 2008. Archived from the original on 7 August 2008. Retrieved 7 August 2008. Blumlein lodged the patent for 'binaural sound', in 1931, in a paper which patented stereo records, stereo films and also surround sound. He and his colleagues then made a series of experimental recordings and films to demonstrate the technology, and see if there was any commercial interest from the fledgling film and audio industry.
  16. ^ Clayden, Ron (Christmas 1996). "Early Computer Developments at EMI". Resurrection (16). Computer Conservation Society. ISSN 0958-7403. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  17. ^ a b Lavington, Simon (November 2010). The EMIDEC 1100 computer : historical notes and references (PDF) (Report). thinkingmachine.org.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  18. ^ Maizlin ZV, Vos PM (2012). "Do we really need to thank the Beatles for the financing of the development of the computed tomography scanner?". Journal of Computer Assisted Tomography. 36 (2): 161–4. doi:10.1097/RCT.0b013e318249416f. PMID 22446352. S2CID 36121898.
  19. ^ The Times, 20 April 1973, p19, "The Queen's Award to Industry"
  20. ^ "Nobelprize.org". Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  21. ^ The Times, 15 February 1974, p30, "American link expands range and techniques"
  22. ^ "Honest Jon". Boomkat.com. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  23. ^ Jon Dennis (3 June 2008). "Mark Ainley on EMI's vintage recordings". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  24. ^ Massey, Howard (2015). The Great British Recording Studios. Lanham, Maryland, US: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-4584-2197-5.
  25. ^ EMI: a giant at war with itself The Daily Telegraph (London), 18 January 2008
  26. ^ Kennedy, Gary (2002). Kernfeld, Barry (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. p. 172. ISBN 1-56159-284-6.
  27. ^ "Thorn EMI moves into gospel music with US purchase". The Independent. 1 October 1992. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  28. ^ "Vote solid for Thorn demerger". 17 August 1996. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  29. ^ "EMI shutting 2 New York-based record labels". The New York Times. 21 June 1997.
  30. ^ Xinhuanet. "Xinhuanet Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine." Baak Doi and the Old Records. Retrieved 21 April 2007.
  31. ^ Rohde, Laura (20 November 2000). "EMI, Streamwaves to launch streaming music service". CNN. Archived from the original on 19 January 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  32. ^ Gibbons, Fiachra (3 October 2002). "Robbie Williams signs £80m deal". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  33. ^ "Apple Records launches royalties lawsuit against EMI...again". CBC News. 16 December 2005. Archived from the original on 20 May 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  34. ^ "Beatles settle EMI royalties row". BBC News. 12 April 2007. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  35. ^ "EMI Music launches DRM-free superior sound quality downloads across its entire digital repertoire". EMI Group. 2 April 2007. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  36. ^ Ogg, Erica (23 October 2008). "Dell PCs get pre-loaded with UMG DRM-free music". CNET. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  37. ^ "Warner Music throws out EMI bid". BBC News. 3 May 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  38. ^ "EMI rejects $4.6bn Warner offer". The Independent. London. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  39. ^ a b c "Profile: British music giant EMI". BBC News. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  40. ^ a b c "EMI set to cut up to 2,000 jobs". BBC News. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  41. ^ Joshua R. Wueller (2013). "Mergers of Majors: Applying the Failing Firm Doctrine in the Recorded Music Industry". 7 Brook. J. Corp. Fin. & Com. L. 589, 598. SSRN 2293412.
  42. ^ "Stones sign one-album record deal". BBC News. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  43. ^ Jenison, David. "Stones Shine a Light on EMI's Woes". E!. Archived from the original on 20 March 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  44. ^ "Stones ditching EMI for Universal". BBC News. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  45. ^ "Pink Floyd sue EMI". idiomag. 22 April 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  46. ^ "Pink Floyd and EMI sign new global agreement". emimusic.com. Archived from the original on 8 January 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  47. ^ a b Kreps, Daniel (18 August 2008). "Virgin/EMI Sue 30 Seconds to Mars for $30 Million, Leto Fights Back". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  48. ^ a b Brown, August (29 November 2009). "30 Seconds to Mars soars". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  49. ^ "Unlimited / Cmu Daily". Thecmuwebsite.com. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  50. ^ "Press Releases 14 December 2006". Toshiba. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  51. ^ "emi minority shareholding in toshiba". investegate.co.uk. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  52. ^ "EMI Quits Selling CDs to Indie Record Stores". Zeropaid.com. 14 July 2009. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  53. ^ "Stark Online: A Quick Moment To Respond". Starkmagazine.blogspot.com. 14 July 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  54. ^ EMI slumps to £1.75bn loss, Press Association, 4 February 2010
  55. ^ EMI crashes £1.75bn into the red, The Guardian, 4 February 2010
  56. ^ KPMG issues going concern warning for EMI, Accountancy Age, 5 February 2010
  57. ^ Citigroup wrestles EMI from Guy Hands' grasp, 1 February 2011
  58. ^ "EMI announces successful capital restructuring, and change of ownership". EMI Music. 1 February 2011. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  59. ^ "EMI Auction: Second-Round Bids Are In, Questions Still Looming". Billboard. 6 October 2011. Archived from the original on 9 November 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  60. ^ "Citigroup Sells EMI in Parts for $4.1 Billion to Vivendi, Sony". Bloomberg Businessweek. 8 December 2009. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
  61. ^ Warner Music Group Wants Part Of EMI Archived 6 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine – Radio-Info.com Archived 3 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine (released 31 October 2011)
  62. ^ "color". impalamusic.org. Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  63. ^ "EU opens investigation into Universal, EMI deal". Reuters. 23 March 2012.
  64. ^ "Regulators probe Universal's EMI bid". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012.
  65. ^ Sweney, Mark (21 September 2012). "Universal's £1.2bn EMI takeover approved – with conditions". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
  66. ^ a b Sisario, Ben (28 September 2012). "Universal Closes on EMI Deal, Becoming, by Far, Biggest of Remaining Big Three". Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  67. ^ "Universal-EMI is the dinosaur in the room". The Japan Times. 2 May 2013.
  68. ^ Ingham, Tim (21 December 2012). "BMG buys Mute catalogue from Universal". Music Week. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  69. ^ Sisario, Ben (8 February 2013). "Warner Music Group Buys EMI Assets for $765 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  70. ^ "Warner to buy the Parlophone Label Group". Gramophone. 7 February 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  71. ^ Sisario, Ben (15 May 2013). "Warner Music Gains Approval to Buy Parlophone, a Last Piece of EMI". The New York Times.
  72. ^ "EMI Music | Universal Music UK launches Virgin EMI Records". Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  73. ^ "Parlophone Records Ltd". Discogs. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  74. ^ "Universal Absorbs EMI And Then There Were Three". 31 January 2013.
  75. ^ "Universal's EMI Deal Approved By New Zealand Regulators". Billboard. 21 June 2012.
  76. ^ "EMI Classics and Virgin Classics to join Warners". Classic FM. 19 July 2013.
  77. ^ EMI Music Arabia 14 November 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  78. ^ "Universal Music Group". Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  79. ^ "Now Warner sells records by Athlete, Steve Harley and more to Chrysalis". Music Business Worldwide. 7 July 2016.
  80. ^ "Two months after Warner sale, Chrysalis signs with Kobalt Label Services". Music Business Worldwide. 3 August 2016.
  81. ^ "EMI: The Inside Story – BBC Four". BBC. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  82. ^ Mark Sutherland (16 June 2020). "Virgin EMI rebrands as EMI, Rebecca Allen appointed as label president". Music Week.
  83. ^ "Blackpool Tower Heritage Trail (41–50)". Blackpool Tower. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
  84. ^ a b "Crown jewels of resort". Blackpool Gazette. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
  85. ^ "EMI Buys Grade; Huge Talent Pool In $21-Mil Deal". Variety. 22 March 1967. p. 1.
  86. ^ "E.M.I. discloses £7½m. bid for Grade Org". The Times. 21 March 1967. p. 15.
  87. ^ a b c d e EMI Annual Report 1974 Archived 5 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine, p.32. Accessed: 4 February 2016.
  88. ^ a b "The Derek Todd Interview". Kine Weekly (Supplement to Kinematograph Weekly ed.). 13 February 1971. pp. 3–6.
  89. ^ "EMI Buys Bernard Delfont Org From Impressario For $192,000 in Its Stock". Variety. 10 June 1970. p. 3.
  90. ^ "EMI Looks to the Future With Film Centre Projects". Kine Weekly (Supplement to Kinematograph Weekly ed.). 13 February 1971. p. 14.
  91. ^ "Vertical integration". Terramedia. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  92. ^ a b c d e f EMI Annual Report 1978 Archived 5 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Accessed: 4 February 2016.
  93. ^ a b c d e "THF buys £16m Thorn EMI leisure interests". The Times. 1 November 1980. p. 17.
  94. ^ Economist Intelligence Unit (February 1973). "Catering". Retail Business (180): 19.
  95. ^ Gunn, Catherine (31 July 1980). "Brewery buys Thorn EMI hotels". The Times. p. 17.
  96. ^ "Thorn to sell Tricity". The Times. 16 August 1980. p. 17.
  97. ^ "Hannah takes Thistle Hotels to the country". Caterer & Hotelkeeper. 177 (3405): 81. 30 January 1986.
  98. ^ Williams, Paul (18 April 2009). "Too close to call in publishing battle". Music Week. Archived from the original on 17 January 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  99. ^ Roxborough, Scott (21 December 2012). "BMG Buys Virgin, Famous Music Catalog From Sony/ATV". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
  100. ^ a b Stephen Labaton (11 May 2000). "5 Music Companies Settle Federal Case on CD Price-Fixing". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  101. ^ David Lieberman (30 September 2002). "5 Music Companies Settle Federal Case on CD Price-Fixing". USA Today. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  102. ^ "MLK's 'I Have a Dream' speech censored on Internet Freedom Day". Digital Trends. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2022.

Further reading

[edit]
  • International Directory of Company Histories, St. James Press.
  • Joshua R. Wueller, Mergers of Majors: Applying the Failing Firm Doctrine in the Recorded Music Industry, 7 Brook. J. Corp. Fin. & Com. L. 589, 597–604 (2013) (describing Terra Firma's purchase of EMI, Citigroup's seizure of the company, and the subsequent break-up, sale, and antitrust scrutiny surrounding the music company).
  • Peter Martland, Since Records Began: EMI, the first hundred years. Batsford (London) 1997. 359pp. ISBN 0-7134-6207-8
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=EMI&oldid=1256578604"