Universal Music Group wants to offload Downtown's Curve royalty accounting operation to calm down European Commission regulators who are side-eyeing the $775 million Downtown Music Holdings buyout. UMG pitched a remedy plan that involves selling the entire Curve business as a standalone unit to some independent buyer, and the Commission already started reaching out to potential purchasers.
The main worry here is that UMG could peek at sensitive competitor data sitting in Curve's systems and use that intel to dominate rivals. The divestment package dumps everything about Curve, including almost all staff, customer deals, and the platform software itself. UMG gets to keep a sanitized duplicate copy with zero access to customer info from whoever sticks with Curve under new ownership.
The Commission has until late February 2026 to greenlight the deal, add conditions, or tank it completely. Independent music groups are still pushing hard for regulators to kill the whole acquisition outright.
The main worry here is that UMG could peek at sensitive competitor data sitting in Curve's systems and use that intel to dominate rivals. The divestment package dumps everything about Curve, including almost all staff, customer deals, and the platform software itself. UMG gets to keep a sanitized duplicate copy with zero access to customer info from whoever sticks with Curve under new ownership.
The Commission has until late February 2026 to greenlight the deal, add conditions, or tank it completely. Independent music groups are still pushing hard for regulators to kill the whole acquisition outright.
