Analysis: Is Sony buying time - or problems?

[Chark]

kowenicki said:

Chark said:

kowenicki said:

Gaikai?  perhaps, but I doubt the patents are that valuable given that onlive had no pressure from them with their discrete business.

1st place in Music?  Thats Universal, who Sony jointly bought the parts of EMI with  (Sony is publishing).  Making money from music is difficult these days.

The Olympus deal is a good long term strategy, but it is VERY long term.

I dont see any quick returns here and thats the issue people are concerned with.

I read discussion that Gaikai's patents were more valuable than the ones Onlive have, not sure exactly what though. This is by far the longest term potential gain.

Shouldn't revenue streams be bolstered immediately by buying EMI? I thought the EMI venture put Sony up top? Something like 1 in every 3 songs. Maybe it changed already but there is this article.  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304830704577496851972013284.html

Olympus is long term, but very nice projected returns. That and it is the smallest of the  purchases and the selling off of the chemical division covered that cost, though that isn't actually related.

Like I said, thats music publishing.

Universal are the biggest in recorded music

 

here:

 

The FTC and the European Union were concerned that the proposed purchase would impede competition in the music publishing world. But the E.U. cleared the deal in April after Sony agreed to divest various catalogues of songs it owns. The FTC followed suit, unanimously agreeing to the acquisition without requiring additional divestitures.

With this purchase, Sony will control the largest number of copyrights in the music publishing business — more than 2 million. Even so, the company will have less than 30 percent of the revenues for music publishing rights in this country, a Sony spokesman said Friday.

In trying to convince regulators that the deal would not be anti-competitive, Sony’s lawyers emphasized the fragmented nature of the business. They pointed to other well-established rivals, including Universal Music Publishing, which works with Adele, ­Maroon 5 and other top artists. Other competitors, the Sony lawyers said, also have gained a foothold in recent years, including Warner/Chapell Music, Kobalt Music Group and BMG.

With the deal complete, EMI will be folded into Sony/ATV in New York, a Sony subsidiary that is run as a joint venture between Sony and Michael Jackson’s estate. Sony/ATV represents the copyrights of Jackson, Bob Dylan and other legendary artists.

Among the coalition of investors involved in the purchase, the largest financial backer is an Abu Dhabi-based firm called Mubadala Development.

The deal came about after the previous owner of EMI Music was foreclosed upon by Citibank, which proceeded to separately sell the British company’s publishing arm and its recorded music division.

Universal Music Group has made a $1.9 billion bid for the recorded music portion of the business. That deal remains in limbo, however, while U.S. regulators investigate the competitive implications. The proposal has attracted more scrutiny in part because it is taking place in a highly concentrated industry, people familiar with the deal said.

While the publishing side of the business licenses musical compositions to television stations, filmmakers and a variety of other businesses, the recording side sells recordings directly to consumers.

Alright, makes sense. I never said number 1 in recording though. But I suppose number 1 in music is too broad.