Warner boss sees rebound despite CD sales decline
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Warner Music Group Corp&#39;s Chief  Executive said on Monday the music company&#39;s business was  poised to rebound as it tapped new revenue streams to counter  the decline in sales of traditional CDs.
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Away from the headlines of job  losses, grumbling artists and falling global sales, the music  industry is trying new business models to boost digital sales  and offset the decline in CDs.
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Even though DVD sales  have been falling for much of the year and next-generation  discs aren&#39;t having much of an impact, studio executives are  hoping for a fourth-quarter bounty from a parade of high-octane  theatrical hits and pricey collectable gift sets.
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(InfoWorld) - The head of Warner Music Group defended the use of DRM (digital rights management) with digital music on Wednesday in an apparent response toÂ recent criticism from Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Jobs roiled the music industry last week by suggesting in aÂ letter published on Apple's Web siteÂ that the music labels are to blame for the fact that music from Apple's iTunes music store can only be played on Apple's iPod music players -- something Apple has been criticized for. "DRM and interoperability are not the same thing," Edgar Dorfman Jr., chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group, said in a speech at theÂ 3GSM World CongressÂ in Barcelona on Wednesday. "We believe in interoperability," he said. "Consumers want it and should have it. We at Warner, and I hope the rest of the music and content industry, will make it as easy as possible to achieve interoperability." Jobs said last week that Apple uses a proprietary DRM system because the music industry requires it to fix any failures in the technology in a short amount of time. If Apple shared its DRM technology it would not be able to meet that requirement, he said. Dorfman did not mention Jobs or Apple by name but his remarks appeared to be in response to the criticism. Apple hasÂ come under fire,Â particularly in Europe, for its DRM technology, which ties its music stores to its players. Apple isn't alone, however. Microsoft and Sony also operate digital music stores that require customers to play the music only on their own music players. iTunes is the biggest digital music store, however, and the second largest, eMusic.com, only sells music that has no DRM. Jobs also wrote that he would prefer to sell music without any DRM protection. That's a concept Dorfman doesn't think is up for discussion. "I don't agree that intellectual property should have no protection. We should all agree that intellectual property deserves some measure of protection," he said. "But that is distinct from the issue around interoperability." Today's music protection environment isn't ideal, Dorfman admitted. "There can't be so much protection that we create a poor consumer experience. We need to work to find perhaps a better balance than works today." Â
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Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman isn't singing the same tune as Apple Inc. Steve Jobs when it comes to protecting digital music. Jobs wants to end digital rights management; Bronfman flat out rejected the idea yesterday.
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EMI, the worldâs third-biggest music company, today said trends in the global music market were improving, despite posting a drop in first-half profit.
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NEW YORK -- Warner Music Group is "actively" considering making a new offer to buy rival EMI Group, which accepted a buyout bid for $4.8 billion from Terra Firma Capital Partners last month.
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The chief executive of Warner Music   Group Corp. is paving the way for a new bid for EMI Group Plc   by trumpeting the benefits of a merger with the firm's   shareholders, the Times reported on Wednesday.
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While digital revenues were up 41 percent from last year, Warner's overall profits dropped 45 percent and revenues remained stagnant.
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EMI, the world&#39;s third-largest music group, reported a drop in first-half profits on Friday but said the beleaguered industry was rebounding as online music sales start to take off.
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A swing to growth in U.S. album sales  and surging consumption of music on DVD helped slow the decline  in first-half global sales of recorded music, the trade body  for the world's largest record companies said Thursday.
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As physical CD sales continue their  free fall, digital downloads again reached record sales figures  for the year.
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Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s WMT.N Chief  Executive Lee Scott is "optimistic" about the holiday season  and expects a "strong finish" to the year, he said on Tuesday.
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International Business Machines Corp. could inject some optimism into the market Monday if its third-quarter earnings report indicates information technology spending is on the rebound.
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EMI reported a fall in interim profits but said booming digital music sales and efforts to stamp out piracy had put the industry as a whole well along the road to recovery.
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A key Warner Bros. executive late yesterday blamed the state of the US economy for having driven its decision to back out of the HD DVD group and publish high-def movies on Blu-ray exclusively.
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A swing to growth in US album sales and surging consumption of music on DVD helped slow the decline in first-half global sales of recorded music, the trade body for the