Jim Furfield is worthy of being the head of a multinational company, and his eyes are really vicious, he doesn't talk much, but he points to the biggest shortcoming of Fire Lion Records - time!

Britney's lightning rise has both advantages and disadvantages, on the one hand, Britney's rise has made the originally weakly based Fire Lion Records an instant hit, and it has made a name for itself in the record industry and fans, especially among singers and producers. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

But on the other hand, Fire Lion Records has a weak foundation after all, and it was originally just a reorganization of Jive Records, a subsidiary of Sony Records. Therefore, in terms of publicity channels, it is not enough to turn Britney's popularity into tangible benefits, which is really a "hateful" waste.

This was one of the important reasons why Sid quickly approved Barry Weiss's expansion plans, and also, for Sid. If Britney's popularity can't be turned into profit, that kind of economic loss is secondary.

More importantly, if Britney Spears in this life can't create the best-selling debut female singer record in history as "historically" because of the constraints of hardware channels, and then create a miracle era belonging to Britney, it will be a great pity.

Jim Fofield looked at Barry Weiss's embarrassed face, and knew that he had successfully poked the other party's weakness, which made him relax happily, and he leaned back on the sofa, waiting for the other party to make a higher offer.

But when he looked at Sid, he was very strange to see Sid give him a confident smile, which made Jim Furfield feel bad in his heart, but he didn't know where he was wrong?

"I've heard that EMI's operating costs have been increasing in recent years. Sid's first sentence made people feel a little confused, but he didn't wait for everyone to think about it, and then said: "I recently heard that there is an American entertainment group that wants to ...... with a British record label."

"Stop!!" Jim Furfield suddenly shouted, his hair standing on end and a ghostly expression on his face looking at Sid, he didn't expect his biggest secret to be in the hands of the other party, which made him embarrassed in front of Sid's confident smile.

"Sid, I wonder if you'd be interested in sitting in the lounge inside?" said Jim Furfield, his face turning, with a rare modest smile.

"Of course. Sid stood up, and after gesturing to his men, he followed Jim Furfield into the exquisite lounge of the luxurious suite. Sid found out that there is an electric fireplace here!? This is Los Angeles that is as warm as summer all year round! Ordinary people don't need this kind of pretending to be forced at all, and the Hilton Hotel actually has it?

As soon as the two entered, Jim Furfield couldn't wait to slam the door shut, and he looked at Sid with a serious face, he wasn't sure if Sid really knew the big secret of EMI, or was it just a fake shot?

Sid, however, ignored his staring gaze, and sat down in front of the wide electronic fireplace wall beside him.

Jim Furfield watched Sid act like a master with some amusement, but he didn't say anything to stop it, but after Sid sat down, Jim Foerfield sat solemnly opposite him and said, "Sid, you really know...... That British company wants to talk to ......"

Looking at Jim Furfield, who was about to stop talking, Sid took a sip of the best brandy with ice, mixed with cold and warm amber liquor to make him feel refreshed, "You mean Warner Records?"

Sid's words immediately made Jim Furfield's eyes narrow, damn it! He really knew! Jim Furfield secretly cursed in his heart.

Sid looked at Jim Furfield's unpredictable face, smiled and added, "Or should I say, Time Warner?"

If you want to talk about the most tortuous mergers and acquisitions in the record industry around the new millennium, then there is no doubt that it is a ten-year feud and six mergers and acquisitions between EMI EMI and Warner Records.

Although the coming year 2000 will usher in the highest annual revenue in the history of the global record industry, the MP3 player and Internet digital music turmoil that has appeared since the previous two years has planted the seeds of the current record industry's demise.

With the popularity of online music, the existing record industry model that relies on the sale of physical CD albums to make money will face comprehensive challenges, and in the face of this unprecedented and earth-shaking change, the best way for the clumsy and slow record industry giants to think of is to merge.

From the Big Five to the Big Four, and then from the Big Four to the Big Three.

Compared with the boom of its peers in the film and television industry, the record industry has collectively fallen into chaos and panic after the new millennium. As the first EMI to smell this direction, since 2000, it has intended to merge with Warner Records 6 times.

Of course, this painful journey of hard seeking either changed halfway, or ate closed-door, or ended fruitlessly, and eventually led to the bankruptcy of EMI Momoyo.

One of the main reasons for the repeated failures of EMI's merger journey is "anti-monopoly", which is that in countries with highly developed marketization, such as Europe and North America, trade institutions are quite sensitive to monopoly and anti-monopoly.

Even Microsoft, which is now in full swing, will inevitably face a split investigation in the US federal court this year (99), and the European Commission, which has touched the antitrust nerves because of the merger of EMI and Warner Records, is even less likely to turn a blind eye to the marriage of the two.

Although the official merger will not wait until next year, EMI EMI and Warner Records' contact has begun this year, in order to avoid the intervention of trade institutions in Europe and the United States as much as possible, EMI and Warner Records have kept this matter the biggest secret, and only a few people at the highest level know about it.

Now Sid has poked out what should have been a secret, much to the cramp of Jim Furfieldton, the head of EMI.

But Sid, in the spirit of chasing after the poor, seemed to be careless, but in fact he chased and said: "You know, our Fire Lion is doing you EMI a great favor now." ”

"Help us!?" said Jim Furfield, looking at Sid with a smile.

"Of course!" Sid nodded "sincerely", "If the merger between your company and Warner Records worth tens of billions of dollars is lost because of a mere deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars, it will be because of a small loss~~~" Sid said with a smile like a little fox.

This made Jim Furfield suddenly feel like he had his teeth shattered and had to swallow blood in his stomach, and he asked sullenly, "How do you know about the merger?"

"It's not about why I knew you wanted to merge with Warner Records. Sid stretched out his finger and shook it and laughed, "Rather, do you really think that without the 'help' of our Fire Lion, you EMI can really merge with Warner Records?"

Sid's words made Jim Furfield furrow his brow, "What do you mean?" he asked deliberately dumbfounded.

"Huh. Seeing that the other party was still not giving up, Sid couldn't help but shrug his shoulders: "Okay, since you asked sincerely, then I will answer it compassionately." I think that if the news of the merger of EMI EMI and Warner Records, which are already huge, comes out, then neither the North American Federal Trade Commission nor the European Commission will be indifferent. ”

Sid's words immediately made Jim Furfield feel a toothache, if there is anything that these giant companies are most afraid of, it is definitely the trade investigation agencies of the major countries.

"What's more, I think the EU has a strict red line for the market share of record companies after merger. I don't know, if EMI and Warner Records merge, will the market share cross this red line?" Jim Furfield, who looked at Sid's smiling expression, hated in his heart, but he had to admit that Sid's words did hit him to the point.

"Therefore, now EMI can get rid of useless branches at a fair price, which can not only get a lot of revenue, but also reduce its market share technically, and avoid risks for future large mergers. No matter how you look at it, this is a big deal. Sid smiled and spread his hands, his eyes burning at Jim Furfield.

Jim Furfield looked at the young Sid with solemn eyes, he didn't expect that this opponent, who was less than 20 years old, had already seen the chess game so far, and he lost unjustly.

"I'm afraid it's more than that. Jim Furfield said, "If the merger between our EMI and Warner Records fails in the future due to antitrust investigations, and if you Fire Lion release the news that you want to buy Viking Records from us this year and fail, then I, the CEO, will have a lot of trouble." ”

"Really, Jim, how can you think of people as 'bad'?" Sid said with a smile in his "pure" eyes.

Jim Furfield has been able to sit in the position of CEO of EMI for ten years, and he also has his own unique ability. He looked at Sid's hippie smile on his face, and smiled slightly, and since he had made up his mind in his heart, he didn't drag his feet.

He took the initiative to extend his hand to Sid, "Happy cooperation, Sid." ”

When Sid saw his movements, he immediately put away his smile and solemnly shook Jim Furfield's right hand: "Of course, happy cooperation, Jim. ”