WMG BEGINS SELLING OFF PARLOPHONE ASSETS

More than three years after Warner Music Group agreed to divest north of $200m of recorded-music assets to indie labels following the acquisition of Parlophone, the process is about to begin.

“We are making good progress with the voluntary divestment process that Impala/Merlin and WMG agreed as part of our acquisition of Parlophone Label Group,” a WMG rep tells MBW. “Numerous independent labels are involved in these negotiations, and we are not commenting on individual deals at this stage. We expect to make a joint announcement with Impala/Merlin in due course.”

A major piece of those Parlophone assets has already been moved with Beggars/XL’s purchase of Radiohead’s pre-2004 catalog, The Guardian reports, though the deal’s connection to the EU-stipulated divestments hasn’t yet been confirmed. XL had previously released 2007’s In Rainbows and 2011’s King of Limbs outside North America, as well as Thom Yorke’s The Eraser in 2006 and Atoms for Peace’s Amok in 2013).