I spent half an hour this morning in the rather impressive office of a CEO. It was different from the usual set-up - there was a guitar in one corner, a keyboard in another, and the office's owner told me that Amy Winehouse had been sitting where I was just a while back, belting out a few songs for him. The office belonged to Lucian Grainge, the chairman and chief executive of Universal Music Group International. Also present was Mike Darcey, chief operating officer of BskyB, who confessed that his own office on Sky's charmless industrial estate in Osterley was rather less impressive. Still, it's Mr Darcy whose company is the real powerhouse in the deal that the satellite broadcaster has just signed with Universal to launch a new music service. For years, record industry moguls have been telling Internet Service Providers (and don't forget Sky is now one of Britain's fastest growing ISPs) that they can have a lucrative stake in the music business - and presumably get to meet the likes of Amy Winehouse - if they only do something to crack down on illegal file-sharing. Now Sky has won the reward - access to Universal's huge catalaogue - without apparently paying the price. Its joint venture with the music label is being touted by the two firms as "a world first" - a susbscription service with all-you-can-eat streaming plus a set number of DRM-free downloads. But Mr Darcey was being very coy about whether Sky would return Universal's ...
Anytime
I spent half an hour this morning in the rather impressive office of a CEO. It was different from the usual set-up - there was a guitar in one corner, a keyboard in another, and the office's owner told me that Amy Winehouse had been sitting where I was just a while back, belting out a few songs for him. The office belonged to Lucian Grainge, the chairman and chief executive of Universal Music Group International. Also present was Mike Darcey, chief operating officer of BskyB, who confessed that his own office on Sky's charmless industrial estate in Osterley was rather less impressive. Still, it's Mr Darcy whose company is the real powerhouse in the deal that the satellite broadcaster has just signed with Universal to launch a new music service. For years, record industry moguls have been telling Internet Service Providers (and don't forget Sky is now one of Britain's fastest growing ISPs) that they can have a lucrative stake in the music business - and presumably get to meet the likes of Amy Winehouse - if they only do something to crack down on illegal file-sharing. Now Sky has won the reward - access to Universal's huge catalaogue - without apparently paying the price. Its joint venture with the music label is being touted by the two firms as "a world first" - a susbscription service with all-you-can-eat streaming plus a set number of DRM-free downloads. But Mr Darcey was being very coy about whether Sky would return Universal's ...