Indies hope price is right

INDIE TAKES: “They’re saying their preference is to sell to the independent community,” Kenny Gates of PIAS told the Financial Times “The funds are the problem for the independent community.” Daniel Miller, who sold Mute to EMI, said he wanted to buy it back, but “it depends how much they want. I can only hope I can do it”. “We’d sure as hell like to try” to buy some of the labels Universal is offering, said Domino’s Laurence Bell. “I think it’s important for the health of the new music sector that these catalogs do end up being bought by independent firms rather than being swallowed up by big companies.” One industry adviser said he had received calls from five parties interested in financing offers, while another said BMG/KKR could bid for some assets. Buying one or more labels “could be an unusual opportunity to figure out what to do with all those masters,” a third industry adviser commented. (7/23a)