Independent digital music aggregator The Orchard has announced plans to merge with one of its competitors, the Digital Music Group. According to the New York Times the combined company will continue to trade publicly under the Digital Music Group's existing Nasdaq listing, but will be controlled and 60% owned by The Orchard, which is in turn owned by Dimensional Associates, the private equity arm of JDS Capital Management. While the combined operation will be listed as Digital Music Group it will trade under The Orchard name.
Both The Orchard and Digital Music Group represent a wide range of independent content owners in the digital space, licensing their aggregated catalogue to all kinds of digital music services. Unlike The Orchard, the Digital Music Group controls the online rights to some classic TV shows as well as music, and also owns some content outright. The merger will, therefore, enable The Orchard to branch into new areas, as well as giving them the ability to raise money in the public markets.
Confirming the deal, The Times quote The Orchard boss Greg Scholl as saying: "This company has been uniquely designed entirely around the exploitation of digital music rights. We'll have more songs for sale so we'll be a bigger partner for the retailers we supply and we'll have more leverage in the market".