Universal Music has revealed more details of its plans for V2 Music, which it acquired off bank Morgan Stanley back in August. The former indie will become an imprint of Universal UK's Mercury division under its president Jason Iley.
V2's CEO Tony Harlow, a key player in the Universal acquisition, is expected to have a role in the reinvented label, though it isn't exactly clear quite what that role will be just yet. Elsewhere, about fifty of V2's existing staff are expected to stay on, either within the new V2 imprint or elsewhere in Universal, though the major admits that other V2 employees over and above that fifty will be made redundant, while it remains unclear what will happen to teams working in V2's smaller affiliates in France, Germany and Italy - they may or may not be absorbed into their local Universal Music companies.
Whether the workforce downsize will be accompanied by a roster cull still isn't clear. Bands like Stereophonics, currently number one in the album chart, will be safe, of course, and Universal say they remain committed to V2's Co-operative Music programme which works in partnership with smaller indies like Wichita, Bella Union and City Slang. But some reckon some of the former indie's less well performing artists are sure to be cut.
In a statement Universal said it was "confident that V2 and its artists have a strong future" adding that its commitment to the former indie was "international in scope" and would give "new resources and new energy to the V2 identity, its heritage and its artists".