Sony Corp. (6758) has no plans to sell the music publishing business that controls rights to songs from the Beatles and Taylor Swift, as was suggested by leaked e-mails, Sony Entertainment Chief Executive Officer Michael Lynton said.
Sony’s music-publishing business, the largest in the world, has a catalog of more than 2 million songs. Music publishers collect songwriting royalties from album sales, use on TV and other performances.
E-mails and documents released in the cyber-attack on Sony mentioned a “top secret” plan to sell the music publishing business because it had few growth prospects, Bloomberg News reported last month. Top management at Tokyo-based Sony was concerned about the complex ownership and governance of the business.
In an Jan. 8 interview, Lynton said a sale isn’t under consideration.
Music publishing accounts for 14 percent of Sony’s music revenue, with recorded music generating the larger part. The business includes Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a joint venture with the estate of Michael Jackson, and EMI Music Publishing, in which Sony has a 30 percent stake.
Sony/ATV CEO Martin Bandier said in a memo to staff on Jan. 9 that he’s been advised by Sony Corp. that the venture isn’t for sale, the New York Post reported.
Sony/ATV was established in 1995 in partnership with Jackson, who had acquired rights to the Beatles songs a decade earlier.
Sony’s Partners
In 2012, Sony paid $2.2 billion for the larger EMI Music Publishing, along with investors including Jackson’s estate, Blackstone Group’s GSO Capital Partners LP, entertainment mogul David Geffen and Mubadala Development Co., owned by the Abu Dhabi government. Sony/ATV administers EMI on behalf of the investors.
The combined Sony publishing business represents stars from Bruce Springsteen to Lady Gaga and songs including “New York, New York,” “Jailhouse Rock” and “I Heard It Through the Grapevine.”
Sony and Jackson’s estate each own half of Sony/ATV, which contains more than 750,000 songs, according to a 2012 press release. EMI Music Publishing has 1.3 million songs in its catalog.
SOURCE: Bloomberg
