Geffen the equivalent of common share holdings slightly greater than those held by Lew R. Record companies are profiting from the increasing popularity of compact disks, which are more profitable than albums or cassette tapes, and sales are robust in a variety of musical categories. Geffen has prospered during a healthy period for the industry. It earned about $40 million last year on sales of $225 million.
In 1980, he formed the Geffen Company and Geffen Records, which over the last few years has been one of the fastest-growing labels. Geffen went into retirement for several years, only to learn that he was not suffering from that condition. Geffen ran the combined Elektra/Asylum labels for Warner for three years and then was made vice chairman of Warner Brothers Pictures.Īfter being told by doctors that he had cancer, Mr. Its hottest act is Guns 'n' Roses, and its roster includes Don Henley, Rickie Lee Jones and Aerosmith. Geffen last year ranked third on Billboard's pop album charts, with 8 percent of the market. The deal appears to be a good fit for MCA, whose primary strengths are in black, jazz and country music. ''They had a burning need for product and for greater product flow, and Geffen is one of the last remaining significantly sized music acquisitions available.'' ''The reason MCA is paying so much is that they're in a strategically weak position vis-a-vis the other five major companies in the music business,'' said Harold Vogel, an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Company. of West Germany -have been scrambling for several years to buy up smaller labels, often bidding prices up sharply.Īnalysts said that MCA sorely needs Geffen Records to strengthen its recording business. Philips of the Netherlands and the BMG division of Bertelsmann A.G. The six big recording companies - the others are the Sony Corporation's CBS Records, the Polygram Records subsidiary of N.V.
Geffen records series#
The MCA-Geffen deal is latest of a series of mergers in the industry. ''I will continue to run my company exactly as I have in the past, except that I will plug into MCA's distribution and manufacturing.'' ''For me this is not about the dividend and not about the stock, its about running my company,'' Mr.
Geffen records movie#
Geffen will retain ownership of his movie production company, which has made films including ''Beetlejuice,'' ''Risky Business'' and the current ''Men Don't Leave.'' He had also been negotiating with Time Warner Inc., which has long distributed Geffen's recordings. Geffen had been on the verge of signing a deal with Thorn-EMI P.L.C. The announcement today ended weeks of offers and counteroffers for Geffen Records by three big entertainment companies.
Geffen's record company has long been apparent in the industry. The $23 billion-a-year industry has been pushed into fewer hands in recent years as the leading companies have sought to acquire greater efficiencies in manufacturing, more power in distribution, and the financial resources to be more aggressive in signing big-name stars and marketing their recordings. The purchase of Geffen Records, the largest independently owned company left in the business, caps a long period of consolidation in the record industry and it dramatically shows the immense values being put on record companies. Geffen, who is 47 years old, one of the nation's richest individuals. David Geffen, the pop culture impresario behind musicians ranging from the folk singer Joni Mitchell in the 1960's to the heavy metal group Guns 'n' Roses, agreed today to sell his record company to the entertainment conglomerate MCA Inc.
0 kommentar(er)
