EMI

About EMI

The EMI Group is a British music company comprised of the major record company EMI Music – which operates several labels and is based in Kensington in London, England, United Kingdom – and EMI Music Publishing, based in New York. EMI Music is one of the "big four" record companies.
EMI has been owned by Terra Firma Capital Partners since August 2007. Terra Firma bought EMI for £3.2 billion after a dramatic decline in sales and the announcement that EMI had sustained a loss of £260 million in 2006/2007. At the same time, EMI's British market share dropped from 16% to 9%. Following the transition, several important artists walked out of EMI, including Radiohead. Paul McCartney left ahead of the takeover. The Rolling Stones have signed a one-album deal outside of their contract with EMI, which expired on February 2008.
Guy Hands, CEO of Terra Firma Capital Partners, came to EMI with restructuring plans to cut 1500–2000 jobs to reduce costs by £200 million a year. In January 2008, EMI's UK chief executive Tony Wadsworth left the company after 25 years. The cuts take effect over the year 2008, and would affect up to a third of EMI's 5500 staff.

The Electric and Musical Industries Ltd formed in March 1931 from the merger of the UK Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramophone Company, famous at the time for its record label "His Master's Voice". From its beginning, the company was involved in both the manufacture of recording and playback equipment and the provision of music to play on its machines.
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 October of 1979 THORN Electrical Industries merged with EMI Ltd to form Thorn EMI. n October of 1979 THORN Electrical Industries merged with EMI Ltd to form Thorn EMI.

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.[10]
Warner Music Group launched a Pac-Man defense, offering to buy EMI. EMI rejected the offer. Representatives from both sides are thought to be still having meetings and deciding if one company will buy the other, however the European Commission's decision to overturn a previous decision allowing a similar merger between Sony and BMG is likely to have raised issues as to the wisdom of pursuing such a move at this time.

Website: www.emigroup.com