CRUNCHTIME: Warner Music Group.(Brief Article)

Advertising Age, May, 2001 by Friedman, Wayne

Warner music group needs to rewrite its music business, preferably with an upbeat tempo.

Market share for Warner Music dropped to just 13% in 2001, according to Soundscan, a music research company measuring retail activity, from a high of more than 20% just five years ago. Cash flow has dropped to just under $450 million from a high of more than $600 million in 1996.

In its heyday, under former Warner Communications chief Steve Ross, the music division was a jewel of the empire. ``It was a cash cow, and it fed investment in other areas, such as cable,'' said Harold Vogel, president of Vogel Capital Management. ``Now it is being overshadowed. It's kind of an appendage.''

After a number of executive changes at the top, Warner Music began to...

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