“Universal Didn’t Buy This To Destroy It” EMI Exec Speaks Out About Sale

In an interview published on theMusic.com.au today, EMI Music's Executive Vice President for Marketing in Europe and the Rest of the World Bart Cools offers a quiet confidence that his label will continue to thrive after its acquisition.

"I think this is a healthy company in most territories making quite a bit of money,” he says. “Universal didn't buy this to destroy it, obviously. There is a sort of worry, but not too much. We're doing well, we're developing nicely, we do what we have to do...”

He admits that news of the label being taken over was a shock and that there was a great deal of uncertainty

"First of all, after the initial shock that it was going to happen, is the realisation that we've been in this position for years now - Terra Firma, Citibank, Warners, not Warners, maybe Warners, now it's Universal,” he says.

"I think there's also a realisation from everybody in this company that there's no point in thinking about it 24 hours a day, because there's really nothing we can do about it at the moment but try and do our job as good as possible and be the best possible company we can be by the time that it actually happens and make our point, if you like."

Read the full interview here!