Sony / BMG merger approved, gargantuan new label blocks out sun

The European Commission unconditionally approved a merger between major labels Sony Music and BMG.The resulting company, called Sony BMG, will have over 20% of the global market share, second only to Universal. The 50-50 combination of the Japanese and German companies is expected to officially close in August.

It is expected that 2000 jobs, or 25% of the new major's combined workforce will be cut.

Martin Mills, a board member of Impala, a trade group for independent European labels, spoke out about the deal in a Reuters interview: "In an over-regulated world, the regulators have sadly chosen not to support creativity in music, meaning that the values of open market access for music from all sources have been subordinated to the economic desires of multi-national corporations -- precisely the kind of regulation that Europe's citizens actually need and want."

Bands signed to these labels include: The Blood Brothers, The Icarus Line, Coheed & Cambria, Amen, Hazen Street, Reel Big Fish, Modest Mouse, Foo Fighters, Ben Kweller, The Ataris, The Mooney Suzuki, The Strokes, The Offspring, Zebrahead, Franz Ferdinand, Midtown, The White Stripes, Phantom Planet and others.