TENCENT’S PROPOSED $3BN INVESTMENT IN UNIVERSAL TO BE CHALLENGED BY INDEPENDENT MUSIC COMPANIES
Belgium-based, independent music trade body IMPALA has said that it is ‘gearing up to oppose Tencent’s buyout of a 10% stake of Universal Music Group.’ The European organization argues that ‘the impact of such a sale would change the whole music ecosystem’, and that smaller companies will be at a competitive disadvantage. In a statement issue today (November 26), IMPALA, which represents over 4,000 independent music companies and national associations, says that it is also ‘concerned about who might buy the additional UMG stakes that are up for grabs’. Tencent Music Holdings is the majority shareholder of Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), which owns QQ Music, Kugou and Kuwo and has an estimated 90% market share of digital music in China. According to TME’s latest Q3 results, it reached a total of 35.4m paying music subscribers in the three months to end of September, while the firm’s online music services – including both streaming and downloads – generated RMB 1.85bn (US $...