Indie Music Leaders Launch UMG-Downtown Deal Opposition Campaign – Billboard

The “100 Voices” campaign argues that the proposed acquisition “would narrow the range of voices, styles and cultures that reach the public.” Trending on Billboard Leaders across indie music are once again teaming up to speak out against Universal Music Group’s proposed acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings with a new campaign. Dubbed “100 Voices,” the campaign argues that the deal, which is currently the subject of an investigation by the European Commission, “poses a serious threat to competition, diversity and fair access across the music industry,” according to a press release. Downtown operates distribution platforms FUGA and CD Baby, the royalty accounting service Curve and the indie publishing admin services provider Songtrust, among others — all of which are heavily utilized by independent labels and artists. Related The “100 Voices” publication was delivered in person on Thursday (Oct. 2) to Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity. Dombrovskis is leading the current phase of the investigation into the proposed deal, the results of which were originally slated for release in December but are now set to be revealed sometime next year (the probe was halted last month because documents were not submitted in a timely manner, according to
Read More