EU Kicks Off Investigation of UMG’s Downtown Music Deal

The EU review of Universal Music’s proposed Downtown Music buyout is moving forward – including with a July deadline for the European Commission to decide whether the deal warrants an intensive investigation.

That development just recently came to light in the appropriate docket. About six months have passed since the major announced plans to acquire (via Virgin Music Group) Downtown for $775 million.

And as we’ve covered in detail, the indie sector hasn’t hesitated to criticize the move and voice related antitrust concerns. Said concerns set the stage for competition-watchdog referrals out of the Netherlands (where UMG has its corporate HQ) and Austria.

Those referrals, for their part, laid the groundwork for the European Commission’s late-April review kickoff. Besides pausing the deal process (which had originally been expected to wrap in mid-2025) pending UMG’s formal notification, that review announcement brought some not-so-subtle pushback from the EU executive arm.

“In particular,” the European Commission indicated at the time, “the transaction threatens to significantly affect competition in certain markets of the music value chain, where both companies are active, in Austria and in the Netherlands, as well as in many other Member States.”

Enter the initially mentioned deadline, referring specifically to a July 22nd cutoff for the Commission to decide between green-lighting the purchase or doubling down on the investigation, which technically remains in its first phase.

At least according to the Commission’s website, “[m]ore than 90% of all cases are resolved in Phase I, generally without remedies.” Unsurprisingly, then, the second phase would potentially span months and bring with it “more extensive information gathering” and comparatively involved scrutiny, the same resource explains in more words.

But that scrutiny – and a straight block on the Downtown buyout – is exactly what the situation warrants, per IMPALA and others. In a statement, the indie representative today reiterated calls for the Commission to pull the plug on the transaction.

“We welcomed the news last month that the EC had decided to investigate and we have been keen to see the assessment get started, so this is great news,” summed up IMPALA executive chair Helen Smith. “There is only one outcome to prevent harm and that is for the EC to block this outright, to secure balance, harmony and diversity in the ecosystem.”

And in remarks of her own, PMI VP and IMPALA president Francesca Trainini emphasized economist Amelia Fletcher’s recent open letter encouraging “an in-depth investigation into the proposed acquisition.”