Imagem factor benefits EMI.

Universal's catalogue sales to new Dutch indie publisher Imagem tip the balance in EMI's favour for the first time in six months

One of the consequences of winning approval for its E1.63bn (#1.2bn) takeover of BMG Music Publishing was Universal having to say goodbye to such lucrative catalogues as Rondor UK and Zomba UK.

That deal condition, set by the European Commission last spring, was finally delivered upon in February when the major sold off a bunch of catalogues, also including 19 Songs and BBC Songs, to Imagem, a new company formed by leading Dutch-based independent publishing company CP Masters and Dutch pension fund ABP.

Although those purchases are only enough for Imagem to make a modest first appearance on the publishing market share tables, for Universal the Dutch company's score tells something of a story of what could have been. Buoyed by its Universal purchases, Imagem claimed a 1.2% share of the singles sector in quarter one, good enough itself to take 10th spot but, in market share terms, the difference between Universal finishing second on the table or in first place. As the figures stand, EMI led singles in the quarter with a 21.8% share, marginally ahead of Universal with 21.3%, but had Universal not had to sell off those catalogues it would have been Paul Connolly's company that would have been Q1's top singles player.

However, even if Universal remained in possession of all those catalogues, it still would not have been enough to have overturned chief rival EMI on the all-important combined table, which takes in both singles and albums sales. Here EMI finished top for the first time since the second period of 2007 with a 23.7% share as Universal grabbed second spot with 22.6%. Had Universal retained those catalogues sold off to Imagem, EMI would still have won - albeit by only one-tenth of a percentage point.

Prior to Universal buying BMG Publishing, Guy Moot and his EMI team were favourites each quarter to finish as top publisher, but given the expanded size of its main rival now, these quarterly victories for the UK company are much harder to come by.

To pull off such a victory clearly needed something special and in Duffy EMI had the undoubted biggest new star of the quarter as her 60% EMI-controlled Mercy finished as the period's second-biggest single and her debut album Rockferry emerged as the top-selling artist album, being outsold overall only by Now! 69. EMI grabbed a 52% share of the Duffy album, although it was a useful release for Universal, too, as it claimed a 28% stake.