CM Junkies, Well my Monday got off to a rocky start when I turn on my TV
and hear about the latest massive-super-mega-merger - EMI and Time Warner.
My immediate reaction was "Nooooooo!...more mergers equals less music for
the beleagured CM audience".  What can we expect?

1.  So far it has appeared to me that the Polygram merging of DG, London
and Phillips has led to more reissues at lower prices and less new music.
However, I think that this has more to do with Naxos making it harder for
Polygram to sell recordings at full price and thus impacting new recordings
that for lack of a better term "must" be sold at full price to make up for
the costs of recording expensive artists like the Berlin Philharmaonic for
instance.  In other words, I don't think that this trend is due to the
merging of these companies.

2.  The market for new recordings has to a large degree been taken over by
Hyperion and Naxos.  New recording do still appear from the big boys but
other labels seem to be picking up the slack and going for the more obscure
repetoire.

3.  EMI is no different from Polygram, thus we can expect to see similar
behavior following the merger ie.  a continuation of the pattern where the
big hitters seem content to rely on their back catalogs.

4.  EMI has been worse than Polygram about deleting titles.  Will the
merger exacerbate this trend? I suspect that we will not see much of a
difference.  EMI will distribute only what it thinks will make money.

5.  Will the merger mean that those of us in the States will see more EMI
titles that are so readily available overseas? In theory the merger should
mean easier access to EMI material into the American market and yet I
suspect that the gap will continue to exist.  If EMI wanted to make this
material available in the States it would already be doing so.

7.  The media will have us believe that the new AOLTIMEWARNEREMI
monstrosity will create huge increases in internet sales.  Doesn't effect
me because I don't buy over the Net.  Again if EMIs catalog was to be made
available through a domestic distribution chain then it would be a boon for
us CM consumers.  However, I suspect that in five years, those of us in the
States will still be paying through the nose to have CDs shipped from
overseas.

8.  One day we might be able to download MP3s of the entire EMI catalog
via our AOL connection to the net.  Don't hold your breath.  I don't plan
to stop browsing at a record store anytime soon.

In conclusion, IMHO past mega-mergers have not really had any major impact
on us CM listeners.  The merger means that EMI artists like the Spice Girls
will have an easier way of being promoted via AOL.  The irony is that these
artists who already have their music advertised everywhere and distributed
to every Wal-Mart from the Florida keys to Alaska.  The availability of CM
will be dictated by market forces that are already at work.

Steve M. (Northern Virginia)