Sony to become world’s biggest music publisher with $2.3 billion EMI deal

The Japanese technology and content giant has said it will buy control of EMI for $2.3 billion, making Sony the biggest music publisher in the world, reports Reuters. The acquisition will give Sony a music catalog of over 2 million songs from artists including Kanye West, Sam Smith, and Sia. Sony already currently owns about 30% of EMI. Its $2.3 billion deal will give the company control of another 60%, bringing its total control of EMI to 90%. The Sony/EMI deal is being struck at a time of resorting profits for the music industry thanks to streaming services. That follows almost a decade and a half of declining music sales with the advent of MP3 download services.