IMPALA’S INDIE BETRAYAL

A guest editorial by Victory Records head Tony Brummel:

Sony BMG and Universal Music Group have been the least predatory majors when it comes to poaching and preying upon the independent record companies for talent and/or marketshare. I find it extremely bizarre and hypocritical for Impala to attack the Sony BMG merger along with UMG’s purchase of BMG’s publishing business while endorsing WMG’s potential takeover of EMI. This is compounded by the fact that, in reality, Warner and EMI are the least “independent-friendly” majors in the music industry.

If Impala or anyone else wants to see more artists dropped, along with the people that work in the trenches become jobless as casualties of further consolidation, that is their business. But, it comes with the substantial compromise of taking money and promises from people that are not re-investing in the music business. Is compromise worth bolstering someone’s share price and executive dividend payouts? If Warner wanted true solidarity with the independent label community, it would provide an equity stake in its private equity-controlled, publicly traded company as a proportionate and appropriate concession. The independent labels realize no benefit from a chintzy, “shut up and go away” pay-off.

Independent labels have never been about compromise. When you make a deal with a “sugar daddy,” your independence is exchanged for dependence. Any independent label that supports Warner taking over EMI is a dependent label—dependent on a self-serving, condescending, patronizing hand out from a company that just experienced its lowest share price in 52 weeks. They are also, by far, not close to being the market leader.

Warner needs the independents far more than the independents need them. A company that just announced a first quarter 74% drop in quarterly profit over the previous year is not in a position to “strengthen the independent sector” or provide it “assistance.”