There was much speculation as to the future plans of Edgar Bronfman Jnr over at Warner Records last week.
Firstly, as the group publicly released its six-month financial results, investment people in the US became more convinced Bronfman plans to float the major record company sooner rather than later. Warner Music has been a private company ever since Bronfmann and his consortium bought it off Time Warner, however the New York Times reckons its owners may take the company public as soon as next year.
Elsewhere, more speculation as to whether EMI and Warners will try to merge in order to compete with what are now two much bigger competitors - Sony BMG and the Universal Music Group. While talk of merger ambitions, especially in the Warner camp, are still rife, some say that the two labels are not equal in terms of value and that Warner's owners would be lucky to get a 50:50 deal with EMI, but would be unwilling to accept less. Therefore any merger ambitions might need considerable diplomacy before even reaching the regulator stage.