EC begins SonyBMG merger re-review

Those wacky European Commission regulators have started their re-review of the 2004 merger of Sony and Bertelsmann's recorded music companies. Which is interesting, because I thought they'd started ages ago. As you'll remember, while the EC gave permission for the creation of SonyBMG back in 2004, that decision was ruled "dumb" (or something like that) by the European courts last year, after pan-European independent labels body IMPALA appealed against the merger. As a result EC officials are having to assess the merger anew, even though the merged company has been in operation well over two years now. Officials are now expected to announce their new findings on 1 Mar, though some insiders say to expect further delays. The majors say they remain confident their merger proposals will still be deemed fair in the re-review despite last year's court ruling. I used to think they were right but, you know, part of me now thinks the EC might surprise us all by siding with the independents on this one, who claim the SonyBMG merger was a consolidation too far for the music business. Though God knows what will happen should officials say the SonyBMG merger should never have taken place. Forced de-merger I guess, but we'd be in unprecedented territory and I've no idea how that would work.