Internet giant's subsidiary mulling purchase of stake in Universal Music
LOS ANGELES - Tencent Music Entertainment Group, one of China's largest media companies, is mulling a purchase of 10 percent of music monolith Universal Music Group, UMG's parent company Vivendi reported.
UMG, with global revenue in excess of $7 billion, is considered one of the "Big Three" music companies in the world, along with Warner Music Group and Sony Music. It was named by FastCompany, a leading business magazine in the United States, as "one of the Top 50 most innovative companies in the world - "redefining what a modern label should look like".
"It's a smart business move on Tencent's part," said Eddie Cane, former UMG label representative. "They may dominate the market in China, but UMG dominates the global music market. It's simple math: the more songs you have to license and the bigger the artists, the more money you make."
