Mergers and Acquisitions: BMG Rights Management Buys Evergreen

Dow Jones reports that BMG Rights Management, a European joint venture that isn't part of Sony, has purchased Evergreen Copyright, which holds the rights to likes of Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton and Nick Drake. The company apparently has a lot of deals in the works, with 70 smaller deals in the U.S. alone, as the music industry continues to fragment.

BMG may even go after EMI's publishing business, if the troubled major label ever gets split, although chief Hartwig Masuch said it "wouldn't necessarily need EMI's entire publishing business, but would be happy with Western European assets."

Gotta love the kicker here: "Still, the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar in his office suggests the rock 'n' roll spirit hasn't entirely vanished." Eh, if it hasn't vanished, it's at least gone digital.