Private equity, not piracy, caused the music industry’s revenue collapse

Evidence

Private equity is a destructive force in the music industries, as seen for example in the takeover of Warner Music Group by Bain, THL, and Providence in 2004. In the intervening years, EMI, Clear Channel (now called iHeartMedia), Cumulus, and other music companies were also subjected to acquisition by private equity, resulting in massive layoffs, debt, homogenization, and profit extraction. Though piracy is often considered the determining factor for the revenue losses in the music industry during this period, I argue that financialization is the true culprit, as Wall Street plundered the vulnerable record labels and radio companies. — Andrew deWaard, Derivative Media, 50

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s broader thesis about ownership structure leaving fingerprints; directly relevant to distinguishing financialization vs. piracy in music industry decline.