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Message: [QUOTE="Queen, post: 84749, member: 27"] The biggest music monopoly just secured permission to swallow a massive chunk of the independent sector. Regulators across the Atlantic reportedly plan to approve Universal Music Group acquiring Downtown Music Holdings for seven hundred seventy-five million dollars. Officials apparently require no further sacrifices after the conglomerate agreed to ditch the Curve royalty business to satisfy antitrust concerns regarding data privacy. This agreement lets Virgin Music Group seize control over major distribution engines like CD Baby and FUGA while grabbing the Songtrust administration service. However, the corporate giant must sever ties with Curve completely. That specific concession involves selling the entire accounting software division to some neutral third party, ensuring the major label cannot peek at sensitive financial numbers from rivals. Bureaucrats previously launched a deep investigation, fearing the market leader would suffocate wholesale distribution competition using secret intelligence. Management addressed this friction through a binding plan to offload the controversial unit, keeping only two engineers while transferring all other staff and assets. Executives claim this remedy solves the single remaining headache preventing the merger clearance. Smaller players remain absolutely furious despite the compromise. Organizations representing indie labels continue urging authorities to kill the agreement entirely. Hundreds of industry workers signed petitions claiming this consolidation hurts the ecosystem, but the antitrust watchdog seemingly ignored those pleas to block the transaction before the final deadline arrives next month. [/QUOTE]

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