Nameless Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 (edited) Facebook Billionaire Sean Parker To Buy Warner Music? How’s this for irony? Newly minted billionaire Sean Parker was responsible for the notorious music-sharing site Napster that precipitated the record industry’s decline a decade ago. Now All Things Digital reports that Parker has joined a consortium looking to buy Warner Music Group, one of the major mainstream labels that sued Napster for copyright violation and had a hand in shutting the site down. Parker has reportedly joined a group of investors including fellow billionaire Ron Burkle in bidding for the music giant, which is expected to fetch over $2 billion when the sale is decided next month. His name is said to be on a letter of interest from Burkle’s Yucaipa holding company to Goldman Sachs, the bank handling the Warner sale. Parker debuted on the Forbes Billionaires List last week thanks to his 3% stake in Facebook, where he was founding president — a role fictionalized by Justin Timberlake in the hit film ‘The Social Network’. More recently, though, Parker has been working as a consultant for European music streaming site Spotify, trying to get the service off the ground in the U.S. This has led to rumors that he’s only interested in buying Warner Music to get Spotify a license to stream its back catalog. Peter Kafka at All Things Digital doesn’t buy it. Says Kafka: "Easier conclusion: Parker believes that intellectual property — in this case, Warner’s catalog — is undervalued, in part because of the digital revolution he helped usher in more than a decade ago."The UK’s Sky News reports that Burkle’s consortium, which includes Parker, is the frontrunner for the bid, but watch this space as the field is a competitive one. Other billionaire bidders reported to be in the running for WMG include Russian-American industrialist Len Blavatnik and buyout king Henry Kravis‘ private equity firm KKR. Source: Forbes.com Edited March 17, 2011 by Nameless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xero21 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I can only assume this would be a good thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briangoins44@yahoo.com Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 What does this mean for linkin park? Should they and can they leave? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark_Adolescent Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Interesting news, what do you guys think this may lead to? Would the sale have any effect on Warner Music at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONDREUS240 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Justin Timberlake...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bliss Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 hmm very interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FearOfTheDuck Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 This will piss Metallica off no end... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardyWilderness Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 What does this mean for linkin park? Should they and can they leave? They CAN leave if, when new management falls into place, the contract itself changes. It's then in Linkin Park's right to terminate the contract upon unfavoured change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astat Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 This could mean a lot, it could mean nothing. It depends on a couple factors: -Whether or not the new owners keep the old management team in place. Considering Tom Whalley just retired in September and a new management team was put in place at that point, I'd say they'd most likely be retained. -What kind of wording is in LP's contract. Generally, higher-ups can't change a contract without consulting with the other party/parties involved first, otherwise they'd effectively be voiding the contract. However, some contracts have clauses in them that are tailored to this specific situation - if Warner's ownership changes, there might be a clause in LP's contract that would keep them bound to it, provided that the new ownership doesn't change the existing terms. I'd imagine a lot of Warner's major artists have this type of deal in place, because if they didn't, their entire roster could conceivably walk away if the company changed hands, which would be no good. -And there's always the biggest "what if" involved - Even if LP was legally permitted to walk away should the company change hands, who's to say that they would? Ever since LP re-negotiated their contract with Warner about 5 years ago, the relationship between the two sides has seemed pretty amicable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anality Posted March 19, 2011 Share Posted March 19, 2011 If LP did decide to leave Warner, would they still be able to release demos they recorded while under Warner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astat Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 If LP did decide to leave Warner, would they still be able to release demos they recorded while under Warner? Probably not without purchasing the rights to the recordings first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deafandblind Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 wow i thought was this was a joke but if this happens i don't think there will be any change i mean hopefully LP will be treated better and machine shop recording will be taken out of retirement lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr X Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Hearing this news/rumor made me think of this at about 40secs into Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HybridThe0ry97 Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 If this happens, it will be very interesting to see how Warner Music progresses as a company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
florez411 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 At the same time, there could be no heavily noticable changes, but if it happens, all we can do is sit back and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanowardust Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Some bands need record sales. But Linkin Park could pull a Radiohead (donate what you think they albums worth) and still make a bomb. While they are stuck with Warner all i can see happeneing is albums every 4 years while juicing out live albums to make money from us lot who eat it up like chocolate cake. I can even see Warner re releasing HT or Meteora in the near future with demos that were exclusive to LPU as a "Special Edition" just to make the fans not in the LPU gobble it up. LP need to provide the albums to Warner and get out of that deal. But i'm not entirely sure if the live albums/Remix albums count towards the actual contractual agreement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanowardust Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 If LP did decide to leave Warner, would they still be able to release demos they recorded while under Warner? just to go back and put my 2 cents on this comment also. If LP did leave Warner....Warner would put those demos out in a heartbeat because they know it will sell. They might even drip feed them like include 1 on 1 special edition then the next year re release with a new demo. Copy Paste Repeat...etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TripCore Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Not sure if this was mentioned, but parker plans on buying warner to help out his investment in UK, a new way to distribute ditigal music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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