Warner begins catalogue divestment

Warner Music Group is making a portion of its artist catalogue available to independent labels in order to meet regulatory approval for its acquisition of Parlophone.

The divestment process comes after WMG acquired EMI Music Group’s Parlophone label in February 2013 for US$765 million. As Billboard reports, trade bodies Impala and Merlin had previously lobbied to ensure the major music company divest licensing or distribution assets to indie labels for an amount equivalent to about 25%-33% of Parlophone’s cumulative sales.

Impala and Merlin’s endorsements of the Parlophone acquisition were considered essential in gaining EU regulatory approval.

Independents and distributors were invited to express interest - up until Saturday - in any artist or catalogue included in a complete list which is said to be thousands of pages long, however WMG will have final say as to who gets what. The indie labels or distributors must have been members of Merlin or Impala at the time the deal was struck to be eligible.

The trade groups have hired entertainment lawyer and International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) former Chairman and CEO John Kennedy to broker the divestment.

Sources suggest the process could run right up until the end of the year.