Ireland against EMI

The last of the major music companies

Of course, this story wouldn't be complete without mentioning the Warner Music Group, famous for forcing YouTube to mute audio* on infringing videos. I call this the black sheep for two reasons. One, as the Wikipedia page mentions, is that it has history neither in Columbia Phonograph Company nor Berliner Gramophone. The other is that is is the only one of these companies not currently involved with EMI. Granted, it did bid for EMI, but it lost (and, as a result, it is now trying to block the merger with Vivendi). Anyway, WMG is also partaking in the lawsuit against the state.

Warner Bros.-Elektra-Atlantic Records

And what's this? WMG was formerly known as WEA? But isn't WEA one of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit too? Check out http://highcourtsearch.courts.ie (Search for cases in 2012 with plaintiff named "EMI RECORDS [IRELAND] LTD"). It seems that two divisions of the same conglomerate are breaking out the lawyers and going against a government that's just trying to do its job. I'm not totally familiar with the complexities of this issue, but my instinct is to call foul play.

WMG/WEA and you

Again, you'll want to check the lists of labels and artists involved with this conglomerate, as well as the music published by its publishing division, Warner/Chapell Music. Recently, the entire music group was sold to Access Industries. This makes things even more interesting, as this conglomerate has many diverse interests. None of them seem to affect us in Ireland much, though.

*Note: Don't click on the CNET link - that would go against Black March by sending traffic and advertising revenue to CBS Interactive!