More shoes are dropping as the EMI consolidation/restructuring/whatever continues. Capitol and Virgin are being merged into a combined Capitol Music Group, with Virgin head Jason Flom taking control of the unit. The odd man out is longtime (well, six years is longtime in the music industry) Capitol prez Andrew Slater. According to a release, the full restructuring program is “designed to deliver £110m ($217 million) in annual savings across [EMI’s] business. For those who like to think about org chars, Flom will report to Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group, and will Blue Note head Bruce Lundvall, EMI NA COO Ivan Gavin, and EMI NA CFO Colin Finkelstein. On his instant analysis blog, Bob Lefsetz praises Flom (smart), sees the overall consolidation as easing an eventual merger with Warner (astute), and comes across crankier than usual (understandable).
But if someone should be cranky, it’s EMI. If it’s 2007 and your hottest act is the Beatles, you’ve got a big problem to solve. But, with the physical CD market shrinking and the remaining major labels both fighting to keep their share of a shrinking pie and unable to figure out a coherent online strategy (the rumors coming out of Spiral Frog are as unpleasant as a Crazy Frog song, moving around executives has a deck-chairs-on-the-Titanic feel. Forget consolidation—how about delivering something people might want to listen to and even ... pay for?
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