EMI threat to anti-p2p funding

Posted on 28 Nov 2007 at 11:10

EMI is threatening to withdraw half its funding for two of the main music industry trade bodies.

The record company contributes an estimated £25 million each year to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), some of which helps to fund both organisations' legal campaigns against p2p file sharing.

But according to the Financial Times EMI's new owner, private equity firm Terra Firma, is looking a ways of reducing the company's costs after paying £4 billion for it in May. In blog posting, the FT says Terra Firma's chief executive Guy Hands is now in a "wild panic about his impulsive acquisition and how he'll manage to make a return".

According to the FT he believes that trade groups are one instance of record company profligacy. In addition to cutting funding, Terra Firma's chief executive is also said to have suggested a merger of the IFPI and the UK trade body, the BPI.

Author: Simon Aughton

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