News about job cuts are everywhere. I really don’t want to add anything to that kind of static. People are being handed pink slips in the run-up to the holidays in every corner of the media industry. It’s depressing and probably only the beginning.
Hypebot has a summary of the latest developments, inluding Viacom, RealNetworks, Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Buzznet and Pinnacle.
Bailouts for Detroit’s Big Three? Yeah right …
Never believe anyone who tells you piracy can be contained or even stopped.
Watch this screen cast and be scared (if you are one of the people who believe in the deterring effect of piracy lawsuits).
This has been reported on by quite a few blogs now. Here is a little explanation.
UPDATE: I think we all knew this wasn’t going to last – Pirates of the Amazon hits the rocks
The situation for music trading in the UK is deteriorating alarmingly. It’s amazing, though, how well the market seems to hold up so far. But still, the sudden bankruptcy of independent distributor Pinnacle Entertainment is only beginning to hurt the British industry. At yesterday’s emergency meeting Pinnacle client labels were voicing their concerns regarding two major issues: returning stock and getting paid.
According to Cooking Vinyl MD Martin Goldschmidt, freeing product shipped to Pinnacle is turning into a “logistical nightmare”. Some labels are also not happy with the administrator BDO Stoy Hayward’s conditions for returning stock: Sources told Billboard BDO was looking for ten pence per unit plus a storage fee. Reportedly there are some two million units sitting in Pinnacle’s warehouse.
Worse yet: It looks increasingly like labels won’t get paid for product sold in the last couple of months. Goldschmidt said Cooking Vinyl is owed payments for part of September as well as October and November. Dramatico, the label which is most known for artist Katie Melua, told the Financial Times its losses would be in the tens of thousands.
Added Peter PIAS MD Peter Thompson: ”I can’t rule out that small indie labels will have to close. It has been a tough year for everybody and a blow like this at this stage of the year will hurt. Nobody is likely to be paid for October or November and some labels will struggle to pay bills. Some of the large labels will find new deals and get a cash injection, but others won’t be able to.”
Dramatico was quick to take action: Within hours of hearing about Pinnacle’s insolvency the label signed a distro deal with Warner Music’s ADA. And Cooking Vinyl has found a work-around, too. The company, which five years ago founded Essential Music & Marketing as a comprehensive one-stop service for indies requiring distribution, label management and marketing, has added Essential Sales & Marketing. This new division, run by former Sanctuary sales manager Lance Meade, will offer distribution services.
Essential used to work with Pinnacle but on December 15 will switch to Cinram, which is also handling physical distribution (pick, pack & ship) for Warner and ADA in the UK.
There is renewed speculation on EMI Music’s plans to exit phyical distribution in the United States. As reported before in late October, the British major company is still in talks with competitors about outsourcing the so-called “pick, pack and ship” function of the business. The Financial Times reports EMI owner Terra Firma is talking to Warner Music, Universal and Sony BMG.
The three are said to have put a price sticker of $20-$30 million on EMI’s warehouses and the distribution network. Naturally, Terra Firma is aiming for a larger amount. But this number seems to be a lot closer to reality than the $300 million reported by Fortune earlier, and which have been denied anyway.
Terra Firma’s negotiations circle only around selling the distribution business of physical product. Sales and marketing are said to remain with EMI, as is digital distribution. The FT also heard that Terra Firma’s Chris Roling who recently left the company had pushed for a sale of certain label assets. No details on that, though.
