Warner Music Group is preparing to begin divesting parts of the Parlophone catalogue to indie labels, reports Billboard.
As previously reported, Warner made agreements with indie label reps IMPALA and Merlin when it was bidding for the Parlophone Label Group last year, agreeing to subsequently sell off some of the label’s assets in exchange for independents not opposing the deal; PLG being the bits of EMI that Universal had been forced to sell off in order to gain regulator approval for its big acquisition. Universal agreed to sell PLG to Warner for £487 million in February last year, with the European Commission giving its approval in May, while the indie community applauded from the sidelines.
According to Billboard, Warner will now shift 25-33% of Parlophone to indies, though it will obviously keep the best stuff for itself. Sources told the publication that what exactly goes is based on a complex formula, so it’s not entirely clear at this stage what will be sold. Indie labels had until last Friday to say which catalogues they were interested in, with negotiations due to begin shortly.
