Form 10-K
Table of Contents

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

 

x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2011

OR

 

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from              to             

Commission File Number 001-32502

Warner Music Group Corp.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware   13-4271875

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

75 Rockefeller Plaza

New York, NY

  10019
(Address of principal executive offices)   (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 275-2000

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  ¨    No  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulations S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨

Indicate by check mark if the disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendments to this Form 10-K.  x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer  ¨   Accelerated filer  ¨
Non-accelerated filer  x   Smaller reporting company  ¨

(Do not check if a smaller reporting company)

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.)    Yes  ¨    No  x

There is no public market for the Registrant’s common stock. As of December 8, 2011 the number of shares of the Registrant’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, outstanding was 1,000. All of the Registrant’s common stock is owned by AI Entertainment Holdings LLC (formerly Airplanes Music LLC), which is an affiliate of Access Industries, Inc.

 

 

 


Table of Contents

WARNER MUSIC GROUP CORP.

INDEX

 

               Page
Number
 
Part I.    Item 1.   

Business

     1   
   Item 1A.   

Risk Factors

     23   
   Item 1B.   

Unresolved Staff Comments

     35   
   Item 2.   

Properties

     35   
   Item 3.   

Legal Proceedings

     36   
   Item 4.   

(Removed and Reserved)

     36   
Part II.    Item 5.   

Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

     37   
   Item 6.   

Selected Financial Data

     38   
   Item 7.   

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

     39   
   Item 7A.   

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

     90   
   Item 8.   

Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

     91   
   Item 9.   

Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

     144   
   Item 9A.   

Controls and Procedures

     144   
   Item 9B.   

Other Information

     145   
Part III.    Item 10.   

Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

     146   
   Item 11.   

Executive Compensation

     152   
   Item 12.   

Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

     178   
   Item 13.   

Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

     179   
   Item 14.   

Principal Accountant Fees and Services

     183   
Part IV.    Item 15.   

Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules

     185   
Signatures      192   


Table of Contents
ITEM 1. BUSINESS

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industry in which we operate, management’s beliefs and assumptions made by management. Words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” or “continue” or the negative thereof or variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in such forward-looking statements. We disclaim any duty to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—‘Safe Harbor’ Statement Under Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.”

Explanatory Note

Pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of May 6, 2011 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among the Company, AI Entertainment Holdings LLC (formerly Airplanes Music LLC), a Delaware limited liability company (“Parent”) and an affiliate of Access Industries, Inc. (“Access”) and Airplanes Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (“Merger Sub”), on July 20, 2011 (the “Closing Date”), Merger Sub merged with and into the Company with the Company surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (the “Merger”).

On July 20, 2011, in connection with the Merger, each outstanding share of common stock of the Company (other than any shares owned by the Company or its wholly owned subsidiaries, or by Parent and its affiliates, or by any stockholders who were entitled to and who properly exercised appraisal rights under Delaware law, and shares of unvested restricted stock granted under the Company’s equity plan) was cancelled and converted automatically into the right to receive $8.25 in cash, without interest and less applicable withholding taxes (collectively, the “Merger Consideration”).

On July 20, 2011, the Company notified the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (the “NYSE”) of its intent to remove the Company’s common stock from listing on the NYSE and requested that the NYSE file with the SEC an application on Form 25 to report the delisting of the Company’s common stock from the NYSE. On July 21, 2011, in accordance with the Company’s request, the NYSE filed the Form 25 with the SEC in order to provide notification of such delisting and to effect the deregistration of the Company’s common stock under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). On August 2, 2011, the Company filed a Form 15 with the SEC in order to provide notification of a suspension of its duty to file reports under Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. We continue to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the Exchange Act in accordance with certain covenants contained in the instruments governing our outstanding indebtedness.

In accordance with United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), we have separated our historical financial results for the period from July 20, 2011 to September 30, 2011 (“Successor”) and from October 1, 2010 to July 19, 2011 (“Predecessor”). Successor period and the Predecessor periods are presented on different bases and are, therefore, not comparable. However, we have also combined results for the Successor and Predecessor periods for 2011 in the presentations below (and presented as the results for the “twelve months ended September 30, 2011”) because, although such presentation is not in accordance with GAAP, we believe that it enables a meaningful comparison of results. The combined operating results have not been prepared on a pro forma basis under applicable regulations and may not reflect the actual results we would have achieved absent the Merger and the transactions related to the Merger and may not be predictive of future results of operations.

 

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Our Company

We are one of the world’s major music content companies. Our company is composed of two businesses: Recorded Music and Music Publishing. We believe we are the world’s third-largest recorded music company and also the world’s third-largest music publishing company. We are a global company, generating over half of our revenues in more than 50 countries outside of the U.S. We generated revenues of $2.869 billion during the twelve months ended September 30, 2011.

Our Recorded Music business produces revenue primarily through the marketing, sale and licensing of recorded music in various physical (such as CDs, LPs and DVDs) and digital (such as downloads, streaming, and ringtones) formats. We have one of the world’s largest and most diverse recorded music catalogs, including 28 of the top 100 best selling albums in the U.S. of all time. Our Recorded Music business also benefits from additional revenue streams associated with artists, including merchandising, sponsorships, touring and artist management. We often refer to these rights as “expanded rights” and to the recording agreements which provide us with participations in such rights as “expanded-rights deals” or “360° deals.” Prior to intersegment eliminations, our Recorded Music business generated revenues of $2.344 billion during the twelve months ended September 30, 2011.

Our Music Publishing business owns and acquires rights to musical compositions, exploits and markets these compositions and receives royalties or fees for their use. We publish music across a broad range of musical styles. We hold rights in over one million copyrights from over 65,000 songwriters and composers. Prior to intersegment eliminations, our Music Publishing business generated revenues of $544 million during the twelve months ended September 30, 2011.

Our Business Strengths

We believe the following competitive strengths will enable us to grow our revenue and increase our margins and cash flow and to continue to generate recurring revenue through our diverse base of Recorded Music and Music Publishing assets:

Evergreen Catalog of Recorded Music Content, Library of Classic Songs and Vibrant Roster of Recording Artists and Songwriters. We believe the depth and quality of our Recorded Music catalog and Music Publishing library stand out with a collection of owned and controlled evergreen recordings and songs that generate steady cash flows. We believe these assets demonstrate our historical success in developing talent and will help to attract future talent in order to enable our continued success. We have been able to consistently attract, develop and retain successful recording artists and songwriters. Our talented artist and repertoire (“A&R”) teams are focused on finding and nurturing future successful recording artists and songwriters, as evidenced by our roster of recording artists and songwriters and our recent successes in our Recorded Music and Music Publishing businesses. We believe our relative size, the strength and experience of our management team, our ability to respond to industry and consumer trends and challenges, our diverse array of genres, our large catalog of hit recordings and songs and our A&R skills will help us continue to generate steady cash flows.

Highly Diversified Revenue Base. Our revenue base is derived largely from recurring sources such as our Recorded Music catalog and our Music Publishing library and new recordings and songs from our roster of recording artists and songwriters. In any given year, only a small percentage of our total revenue depends on recording artists and songwriters without an established track record and our revenue base does not depend on any single recording artist, songwriter, recording or song. We have built a large and diverse catalog of recordings and songs that covers a wide breadth of musical styles, including pop, rock, jazz, country, R&B, hip-hop, rap, reggae, Latin, alternative, folk, blues, gospel and other Christian music. We are a significant player in each of our major geographic regions. Continuing to enter into additional expanded-rights deals will further diversify the revenue base of our Recorded Music business.

 

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Flexible Cost Structure With Low Capital Expenditure Requirements. We have a highly variable cost structure, with substantial discretionary spending and minimal capital requirements. We have contractual flexibility with regard to the timing and amounts of advances paid to existing recording artists and songwriters as well as discretion regarding future investment in new recording artists and songwriters, which further allows us to respond to changing industry conditions. The vast majority of our contracts cover multiple deliverables, most of which are only deliverable at our option. Our significant discretion with regard to the timing and expenditure of variable costs provides us with considerable latitude in managing our expenses. In addition, our capital expenditure requirements are predictable. We had an increased level of capital expenditures in fiscal year 2010 and 2011 as a result of several information technology infrastructure projects, including the delivery of an SAP enterprise resource planning application in the U.S. for fiscal year 2011 and improvements to our royalty systems for fiscal year 2012. We continue to seek sensible opportunities to convert fixed costs to variable costs (such as the sale of our CD and DVD manufacturing, packaging and physical distribution operations in 2003) and to enhance our effectiveness, flexibility, structure and performance by reducing and realigning long-term costs. We also continue to implement changes to better align our workforce with the changing nature of the music industry by continuing to shift resources from our physical sales channels to efforts focused on digital distribution and emerging technologies and other new revenue streams. In addition, we continue to look for opportunities to outsource additional back-office functions where it can make us more efficient, increase our capabilities and lower our costs.

Continued Transition to Higher-Margin Digital Platforms. We derive revenue from different digital business models and products, including digital downloads of single audio tracks and albums, digital subscription services, interactive webcasting, video streaming and downloads and mobile music, in the form of ringtones, ringback tones and full-track downloads. We have established ourselves as a leader in the music industry’s transition to the digital era by expanding our distribution channels, including through internet cloud-based services, establishing a strong partnership portfolio and developing innovative products and initiatives to further leverage our content and rights. For the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, digital revenue represented approximately 33% of our Recorded Music revenue.

We believe that product innovation is crucial to digital growth. We have integrated the development of innovative digital products and strategies throughout our business and established a culture of product innovation across the company aimed at leveraging our assets to drive creative product development. Through our digital initiatives we have established strong relationships with our customers, developed new products and become a leader in the expanding worldwide digital music business. Due to the absence of certain costs associated with physical products, such as manufacturing, distribution, inventory and returns, we continue to experience higher margins on our digital product offerings than our physical product offerings.

Diversified, Growing and Higher-Margin Revenue Streams through Expanded-Rights Deals. We have been expanding our relationships with recording artists to partner with them in other areas of their careers by entering into expanded-rights, or 360°, deals. Under these arrangements, we participate in sources of revenue outside of the recording artist’s record sales, such as live performances, merchandising, fan clubs, artist management and sponsorships. These opportunities have allowed us, and we believe will continue to allow us, to further diversify our revenue base and offset declines in revenue from physical record sales over time. Expanded- rights deals allow us to leverage our existing brand management infrastructure, generating higher incremental margins. As of the end of fiscal year 2011, we had expanded-rights deals in place with over 50% of our active global Recorded Music roster. The vast majority of these agreements have been signed with recording artists in the early stages of their careers. As a result, we expect the revenue streams derived from these deals to increase in value over time as we help recording artists on our active global Recorded Music roster gain prominence.

Experienced Management Team and Strategic Investor. We have a strong management team that includes executives with a successful record of managing transitions in the recorded music industry. Edgar Bronfman, Jr., who currently serves as our Chairman of the Board, Lyor Cohen, who currently serves as our Chairman and CEO, Recorded Music, and many other members of top management have been with our company since its

 

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acquisition from Time Warner in 2004. Since that time, we have successfully implemented an A&R strategy that focuses on the return on investment (ROI) for each artist and songwriter. Our management team has also delivered strong results in our digital business, which, along with our efforts to diversify our revenue mix, is helping us transform our company. At the same time, management has remained vigilant in managing costs and maintaining financial flexibility. Stephen Cooper, who was appointed as our CEO in August 2011, has over 30 years of experience as a financial advisor, and has served as chairman or chief executive officer of various businesses. In connection with the appointment of Mr. Cooper as CEO, Mr. Bronfman was appointed Chairman in order to focus on strategy and growth opportunities. Mr. Bronfman has informed the Board of Directors that due to other commitments he intends to step down as Chairman, effective January 31, 2012. Subsequent to January 31, 2012, Mr. Bronfman will remain a director of the Company and a new Chairman will be appointed in due course. In January 2011, Cameron Strang was appointed CEO of our Music Publishing business following our purchase of Southside Independent Music Publishing, a company he founded in 2004.

In addition, following the consummation of the Merger, we believe we will benefit from the extensive investment experience of our strategic owner, Access, a privately held, U.S.-based industrial group founded by Len Blavatnik. Access is a long-term, strategic investor with significant equity stakes in businesses with combined annual revenues of over $90 billion. Access has partnered with strong, proven management teams to provide strategic direction in its relationships with existing and previously owned companies.

Our Strategy

We intend to increase revenues and cash flow through the following business strategies:

Attract, Develop and Retain Established and Emerging Recording Artists and Songwriters. A critical element of our strategy is to find, develop and retain recording artists and songwriters who achieve long-term success, and we intend to enhance the value of our assets by continuing to attract and develop new recording artists and songwriters with staying power and market potential. Our A&R teams seek to sign talented recording artists with strong potential, who will generate a meaningful level of revenues and increase the enduring value of our catalog by continuing to generate sales on an ongoing basis, with little additional marketing expenditure. We also work to identify promising songwriters who will write musical compositions that will augment the lasting value and stability of our music publishing library. We intend to evaluate our recording artist and songwriter rosters continually to ensure we remain focused on developing the most promising and profitable talent and remain committed to maintaining financial discipline in evaluating agreements with artists. We will also continue to evaluate opportunities to add to our catalog or acquire or make investments in companies engaged in businesses that are similar or complementary to ours on a selective basis.

Maximize the Value of Our Music Assets. Our relationships with recording artists and songwriters, along with our recorded music catalog and our music publishing library are our most valuable assets. We intend to continue to exploit the value of these assets through a variety of distribution channels, formats and products to generate significant cash flow from our music content. We believe that the ability to monetize our music content should improve over time as new distribution channels and the number of formats increase. We will seek to exploit the potential of previously unmonetized content in new channels, formats and product offerings, including premium-priced album bundles and full-track video and full-track downloads on mobile phones. For example, we have a large catalog of music videos that we have yet to fully monetize, as well as unexploited album art, lyrics and B-side tracks that have never been released. We will also continue to work with our partners to explore creative approaches and constantly experiment with new deal structures and product offerings to take advantage of new distribution channels.

Capitalize on Digital Distribution Emerging digital formats should continue to produce new means for the distribution, exploitation and monetization of the assets of our Recorded Music and Music Publishing businesses. We believe that the continued development of legitimate online and mobile channels for the consumption of music content presents significant promise and opportunity for the music industry. Digital tracks and albums are

 

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not only reasonably priced for the consumer, but also offer a superior customer experience relative to illegal alternatives. Legitimate digital music is easy to use, fosters discovery, presents gift options, offers uncorrupted, high-quality song files and integrates seamlessly with popular portable music players such as Apple’s iPod/iPhone/iPad devices and smartphones which run on operating systems such as Google’s Android, RIM’s Blackberry and Microsoft’s Windows. Research conducted by NPD in December 2010 shows that legitimate digital music offerings are driving additional uptake. More than 40% of U.S. Internet consumers age 13+ who started buying or bought more digital albums in the year covered by the survey, and more than 30% who started buying or bought more digital tracks, did so in order to get content for their portable devices. Approximately 20%—30% of these consumers did so because it was easy to find music through digital music stores and services, because they had established a level of comfort with purchasing music through such services, and because they discovered more music through them; about a quarter received a digital gift card, or more digital gift cards than in the past, which encouraged such purchasing. We believe digital distribution will drive incremental Recorded Music catalog sales given the ability to offer enhanced presentation and searchability of our catalog.

We intend to continue to extend our global reach by executing deals with new partners and developing optimal business models that will enable us to monetize our content across various platforms, services and devices. Our research conducted in late 2009 shows that the average U.S. consumer actively uses 3.6 different means of consuming music, with online video services like YouTube and online radio services like Pandora having emerged as key outlets for music. Research conducted by NPD in December 2010 shows that more than two out of every five U.S. Internet consumers age 13+ listened to music via an online video site in the period covered by the 2010 survey, and more than a third listened to music via an online radio service. In addition, with worldwide smartphone users expected to reach nearly 1.4 billion by 2015, we expect that the mobile platform will represent an area of significant opportunity for music content. Figures from comScore’s September 2011 MobiLens data release show that the uptake of music among users of such phones is significant: three-month averages through September 2011 found that 45% of existing smartphone users in the U.S. and 41% of their counterparts across five major European territories (the U.K., Germany, France, Spain and Italy) listened to music downloaded and stored or streamed on their handsets from services such as iTunes, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Deezer, and Spotify in the periods covered by monthly surveys. We believe that demand for music-related products, services and applications that are optimized for smartphones as well as devices like Apple’s iPad will continue to grow with the continued development of these platforms.

Enter into Expanded-Rights Deals to Form Closer Relationships with Recording Artists and Capitalize on the Growth Areas of the Music Industry. Since the end of calendar 2005, we have adopted a strategy of entering into expanded-rights deals with new recording artists. We have been very successful in entering into expanded-rights deals. This strategy has allowed us to create closer relationships with our recording artists through our provision of additional artist services and greater financial alignment. This strategy also has allowed us to diversify our Recorded music revenue streams in order to capitalize on growth areas of the music industry such as merchandising, fan clubs, sponsorship and touring. We have built significant in-house resources through hiring and acquisitions in order to provide additional services to our recording artists and third-party recording artists. We believe this strategy will contribute to Recorded Music revenue growth over time.

Focus on Continued Management of Our Cost Structure. We will continue to maintain a disciplined approach to cost management in our business and to pursue additional cost-savings with a focus on aligning our cost structure with our strategy and optimizing the implementation of our strategy. As part of this focus, we will continue to monitor industry conditions to ensure that our business remains aligned with industry trends. We will also continue to aggressively shift resources from our physical sales channels to efforts focused on digital distribution and other new revenue streams. As digital revenue makes up a greater portion of total revenue, we will manage our cost structure accordingly. In addition, we will continue to look for opportunities to convert fixed costs to variable costs through outsourcing certain functions. Our outsourcing initiatives are another component of our ongoing efforts to monitor our costs and to seek additional cost savings. As of the completion of our Merger on July 20, 2011, we have targeted cost-savings over the next nine fiscal quarters of $50 million to

 

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$65 million based on identified cost-savings initiatives and opportunities, including targeted savings expected to be realized as a result of shifting from a public to a private company, reduced expenses related to finance, legal and information technology and reduced expenses related to certain planned corporate restructuring initiatives.

Contain Digital Piracy. Containing piracy is a major focus of the music industry and we, along with the rest of the industry, are taking multiple measures through the development of new business models, technological innovation, litigation, education and the promotion of legislation and voluntary agreements to combat piracy, including filing civil lawsuits, participating in education programs, lobbying for tougher anti-piracy legislation and international efforts to preserve the value of music copyrights. We also believe technologies geared towards degrading the illegal filesharing process and tracking the source of pirated music offer a means to reduce piracy. We believe these actions and technologies, in addition to the expansive growth of legitimate online and mobile music offerings, will help to limit the revenue lost to digital piracy.

Company History

Our history dates back to 1929, when Jack Warner, president of Warner Bros. Pictures, founded Music Publishers Holding Company (“MPHC”) to acquire music copyrights as a means of providing inexpensive music for films. Encouraged by the success of MPHC, Warner Bros. extended its presence in the music industry with the founding of Warner Bros. Records in 1958 as a means of distributing movie soundtracks and further exploiting actors’ contracts. For over 50 years, Warner Bros. Records has led the industry both creatively and financially with the discovery of many of the world’s biggest recording artists. Warner Bros. Records acquired Frank Sinatra’s Reprise Records in 1963. Our Atlantic Records label was launched in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson as a small New York-based label focused on jazz and R&B and Elektra Records was founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman as a folk music label. Atlantic Records and Elektra Records were merged in 2004 to form The Atlantic Records Group. Warner Music Group is today home to a collection of record labels, including Asylum, Atlantic, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Nonesuch, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Bros. and Word.

Since 1970, we have operated our Recorded Music business internationally through Warner Music International (“WMI”). WMI is responsible for the sale and marketing of our U.S. recording artists abroad as well as the discovery and development of international recording artists. Chappell & Intersong Music Group, including Chappell & Co., a company whose history dates back to 1811, was acquired in 1987, expanding our Music Publishing business. We continue to diversify our presence through acquisitions and joint ventures with various labels, such as the acquisition of a majority interest in Word Entertainment in 2002, our acquisition of Ryko in 2006, our acquisition of a majority interest in Roadrunner Music Group B.V. (“Roadrunner”) in 2007 (we also acquired the remaining interest in Roadrunner in 2010) and the acquisition of music publishing catalogs and businesses, such as the Non-Stop Music production music catalog in 2007 and Southside Independent Music Publishing and 2011.

In 2004, an investor group consisting of Thomas H. Lee Partners L.P. and its affiliates (“THL”), Bain Capital, LLC and its affiliates (“Bain Capital”), Providence Equity Partners, Inc. and its affiliates (“Providence Equity”) and Music Capital Partners L.P. (collectively, the “Investor Group”) acquired Warner Music Group from Time Warner Inc. (“Time Warner”) (the “2004 Acquisition”). Warner Music Group became the only stand-alone music content company with publicly traded common stock in the U.S. in May 2005.

In July 2011, AI Entertainment Holdings LLC (formerly Airplanes Music LLC), which is an affiliate of Access, acquired Warner Music Group and our common stock was delisted from the New York stock exchange.

Recorded Music (81%, 82% and 82% of consolidated revenues, before intersegment eliminations, for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and in each of fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009)

Our Recorded Music business primarily consists of the discovery and development of artists and the related marketing, distribution and licensing of recorded music produced by such artists.

 

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We are also diversifying our revenues beyond our traditional businesses by entering into expanded-rights deals with recording artists in order to partner with artists in other areas of their careers. Under these agreements, we provide services to and participate in artists’ activities outside the traditional recorded music business. We have built artist services capabilities and platforms for exploiting this broader set of music-related rights and participating more broadly in the monetization of the artist brands we help create. In developing our artist services business, we have both built and expanded in-house capabilities and expertise and have acquired a number of existing artist services companies involved in artist management, merchandising, strategic marketing and brand management, ticketing, concert promotion, fan club, original programming and video entertainment.

We believe that entering into expanded-rights deals and enhancing our artist services capabilities will permit us to diversify revenue streams to better capitalize on the growth areas of the music industry and permit us to build stronger long-term relationships with artists and more effectively connect artists and fans.

In the U.S., our Recorded Music operations are conducted principally through our major record labels—Warner Bros. Records and The Atlantic Records Group. Our Recorded Music operations also include Rhino, a division that specializes in marketing our music catalog through compilations and re-issuances of previously released music and video titles, as well as in the licensing of recordings to and from third parties for various uses, including film and television soundtracks. Rhino has also become our primary licensing division focused on acquiring broader licensing rights from certain catalog recording artists. For example, we have an exclusive license with The Grateful Dead to manage the band’s intellectual property and in November 2007 we acquired a 50% interest in Frank Sinatra Enterprises, an entity that administers licenses for use of Frank Sinatra’s name and likeness and manages all aspects of his music, film and stage content. We also conduct our Recorded Music operations through a collection of additional record labels, including, among others, Asylum, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Nonesuch, Reprise, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire and Word.

Outside the U.S., our Recorded Music activities are conducted in more than 50 countries primarily through WMI and its various subsidiaries, affiliates and non-affiliated licensees. WMI engages in the same activities as our U.S. labels: discovering and signing artists and distributing, marketing and selling their recorded music. In most cases, WMI also markets and distributes the records of those artists for whom our domestic record labels have international rights. In certain smaller markets, WMI licenses to unaffiliated third-party record labels the right to distribute its records. Our international artist services operations also include a network of concert promoters through which WMI provides resources to coordinate tours.

Our Recorded Music distribution operations include WEA Corp., which markets and sells music and DVD products to retailers and wholesale distributors in the U.S.; ADA, which distributes the products of independent labels to retail and wholesale distributors in the U.S.; various distribution centers and ventures operated internationally; an 80% interest in Word Entertainment, which specializes in the distribution of music products in the Christian retail marketplace; and ADA Global, which provides distribution services outside of the U.S. through a network of affiliated and non-affiliated distributors.

We play an integral role in virtually all aspects of the music value chain from discovering and developing talent to producing albums and promoting artists and their products. After an artist has entered into a contract with one of our record labels, a master recording of the artist’s music is created. The recording is then replicated for sale to consumers primarily in the CD and digital formats. In the U.S., WEA Corp., ADA and Word market, sell and deliver product, either directly or through sub-distributors and wholesalers, to record stores, mass merchants and other retailers. Our recorded music products are also sold in physical form to online physical retailers such as Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and bestbuy.com and in digital form to online digital retailers like Apple’s iTunes and mobile full-track download stores such as those operated by Verizon or Sprint. In the case of expanded-rights deals where we acquire broader rights in a recording artist’s career, we may provide more comprehensive career support and actively develop new opportunities for an artist through touring, fan clubs, merchandising and sponsorships, among other areas. We believe expanded-rights deals create a better partnership with our artists, which allows us to work together more closely with them to create and sustain artistic and commercial success.

 

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We have integrated the sale of digital content into all aspects of our Recorded Music and Music Publishing businesses including A&R, marketing, promotion and distribution. Our new media executives work closely with A&R departments to make sure that while a record is being made, digital assets are also created with all of our distribution channels in mind, including subscription services, social networking sites, online portals and music-centered destinations. We also work side by side with our mobile and online partners to test new concepts. We believe existing and new digital businesses will be a significant source of growth for the next several years and will provide new opportunities to monetize our assets and create new revenue streams. As a music-based content company, we have assets that go beyond our recorded music and music publishing catalogs, such as our music video library, which we have begun to monetize through digital channels. The proportion of digital revenues attributed to each distribution channel varies by region and since digital music is still in the relatively early stages of growth, proportions may change as the roll out of new technologies continues. As an owner of musical content, we believe we are well positioned to take advantage of growth in digital distribution and emerging technologies to maximize the value of our assets.

Artists and Repertoire (“A&R”)

We have a decades-long history of identifying and contracting with recording artists who become commercially successful. Our ability to select artists who are likely to be successful is a key element of our Recorded Music business strategy and spans all music genres and all major geographies and includes artists who achieve national, regional and international success. We believe that this success is directly attributable to our experienced global team of A&R executives, to the longstanding reputation and relationships that we have developed in the artistic community and to our effective management of this vital business function.

In the U.S., our major record labels identify potentially successful recording artists, sign them to recording agreements, collaborate with them to develop recordings of their work and market and sell these finished recordings to retail stores and legitimate digital channels. Increasingly, we are also expanding our participation in image and brand rights associated with artists, including merchandising, sponsorships, touring and artist management. Our labels scout and sign talent across all major music genres, including pop, rock, jazz, country, R&B, hip-hop, rap, reggae, Latin, alternative, folk, blues, gospel and other Christian music. WMI markets and sells U.S. and local repertoire from its own network of affiliates and numerous licensees in more than 50 countries. With a roster of local artists performing in various local languages throughout the world, WMI has an ongoing commitment to developing local talent aimed at achieving national, regional or international success.

Many of our recording artists have continued to appeal to audiences long after we cease to release their new recordings. We have an efficient process for generating continued sales across our catalog releases, as evidenced by the fact that catalog usually generates more than 40% of our recorded music album sales on a unit basis in the U.S. in a typical year. Relative to our new releases, we spend comparatively small amounts on marketing for catalog sales.

We maximize the value of our catalog of recorded music through our Rhino business unit and through activities of each of our record labels. We use our catalog as a source of material for re-releases, compilations, box sets and special package releases, which provide consumers with incremental exposure to familiar songs and artists.

 

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Representative Worldwide Recorded Music Artists

 

3Oh!3

 

Donkeyboy

 

Killswitch Engage

 

Notorious B.I.G.

 

Stone Sour

Avenged Sevenfold

 

The Doors

 

Mark Knopfler

 

Paolo Nutini

 

Sublime with Rome

A-Ha

 

Eagles

 

Kobukuro

 

Panic At the Disco

 

Superfly

The Baseballs

 

Missy Elliott

 

Korn

 

Pantera

 

Billy Talent

Jeff Beck

 

The Enemy

 

k.d. lang

 

Paramore

 

Mariya Takeuchi

Bee Gees

 

Enya

 

Lenny Kravitz

 

Sean Paul

 

Serj Tankian

Big & Rich

 

Estelle

 

Larry the Cable Guy

 

Laura Pausini

 

Rod Stewart

The Black Keys

 

Lupé Fiasco

 

Hugh Laurie

 

Pendulum

 

The Streets

Black Sabbath

 

Flaming Lips

 

Led Zeppelin

 

Tom Petty

 

Theory of a Deadman

B.o.B

 

Fleetwood Mac

 

Ligabue

 

Christina Perri

 

Rob Thomas

Miguel Bosé

 

Flo Rida

 

Linkin Park

 

Plan B

 

Rush

James Blunt

 

Peter Fox

 

Theophilus London

 

Plies

 

T.I.

Michelle Branch

 

Aretha Franklin

 

Lynyrd Skynyrd

 

Primal Scream

 

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Bruno Mars

 

Foreigner

 

Christophe Maé

 

The Ramones

 

Randy Travis

Michael Bublé

 

Genesis

 

Maná

 

The Ready Set

 

Trey Songz

The Cars

 

Gloriana

 

Mastodon

 

Red Hot Chili Peppers

 

Twisted Sister

Cee Lo Green

 

Gnarls Barkley

 

matchbox twenty

 

R.E.M.

 

Uncle Kracker

Tracy Chapman

 

Goo Goo Dolls

 

MC Solaar

 

Damien Rice

 

Van Halen

Ray Charles

 

Josh Groban

 

Metallica

 

Rumer

 

Paul Wall

Cher

 

Grateful Dead

 

Bette Midler

 

Todd Rundgren

 

Westernhagen

Chicago

 

Green Day

 

Luis Miguel

 

Alejandro Sanz

 

White Stripes

Eric Clapton

 

Gucci Mane

 

Janelle Monáe

 

Jill Scott

 

Wilco

Biffy Clyro

 

Gym Class Heroes

 

The Monkees

 

Seal

 

Wiz Khalifa

Cobra Starship

 

Halestorm

 

Alanis Morissette

 

Seeed

 

The Wombats

Phil Collins

 

Johnny Hallyday

 

Jason Mraz

 

Ed Sheeran

 

Neil Young

Alice Cooper

 

Emmylou Harris

 

Muse

 

Blake Shelton

 

Youssou N’Dour

The Corrs

 

Hard-Fi

 

Musiq Soulchild

 

Shinedown

 

Zac Brown Band

Crosby, Stills & Nash

 

Don Henley

 

My Chemical Romance

 

Simple Plan

 

ZZ Top

Death Cab for Cutie

 

Faith Hill

 

Nek

 

Skillet

 

Deftones

 

Hugh Laurie

 

New Boyz

 

Slipknot

 

Jason Derulo

 

Iyaz

 

New Order

 

The Smiths

 

DEVO

 

Jaheim

 

Never Shout Never

 

Regina Spektor

 

Disturbed

 

Katherine Jenkins

 

Nickelback

 

Staind

 

Alesha Dixon

 

Kid Rock

 

Stevie Nicks

 

Stone Temple Pilots

 

Recording Artists’ Contracts

Our artists’ contracts define the commercial relationship between our recording artists and our record labels. We negotiate recording agreements with artists that define our rights to use the artists’ copyrighted recordings. In accordance with the terms of the contract, the artists receive royalties based on sales and other forms of exploitation of the artists’ recorded works. We customarily provide up-front payments to artists called advances, which are recoupable by us from future royalties otherwise payable to artists. We also typically pay costs associated with the recording and production of albums, which are treated in certain countries as advances recoupable from future royalties. Our typical contract for a new artist covers a single initial album and provides us with a series of options to acquire subsequent albums from the artist. Royalty rates and advances are often increased for optional albums. Many of our contracts contain a commitment from the record label to fund video production costs, at least a portion of which is generally an advance recoupable from future royalties.

Our established artists’ contracts generally provide for greater advances and higher royalty rates. Typically, established artists’ contracts entitle us to fewer albums, and, of those, fewer are optional albums. In contrast to new artists’ contracts, which typically give us ownership in the artist’s work for the full term of copyright, some established artists’ contracts provide us with an exclusive license for some fixed period of time. It is not unusual for us to renegotiate contract terms with a successful artist during a term of an existing agreement, sometimes in return for an increase in the number of albums that the artist is required to deliver.

 

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We are also continuing to transition to other forms of business models with recording artists to adapt to changing industry conditions. The vast majority of the recording agreements we currently enter into are expanded-rights deals, in which we share in the touring, merchandising, sponsorship/endorsement, fan club or other non-traditional music revenues associated with those artists.

Marketing and Promotion

WEA Corp., ADA and Word market and sell our recorded music product in the U.S. Our approach to marketing and promoting our artists and their recordings is comprehensive. Our goal is to maximize the likelihood of success for new releases as well as stimulate the success of previous releases. We seek to maximize the value of each artist and release, and to help our artists develop an image that maximizes appeal to consumers.

We work to raise the profile of our artists, through an integrated marketing approach that covers all aspects of their interactions with music consumers. These activities include helping the artist develop creatively in each album release, setting strategic release dates and choosing radio singles, creating concepts for videos that are complementary to the artists’ work and coordinating promotion of albums to radio and television outlets. For example, we have partnered with MTV Music Group to give MTV Networks exclusive rights to sell ad inventory around our music video content in the U.S. across MTV Music Group’s digital properties and mobile services, as well as on our artist sites and third-party affiliate sites. Through the partnership, our artists are able to promote their music through MTV Music Group’s content channels (MTV Networks, VH1 etc.) including on the network’s Unplugged series, VH1’s Behind the Music and CMT’s Crossroads. We also continue to experiment with ways to promote our artists through digital channels with initiatives such as windowing of content and creating product bundles by combining our existing album assets with other assets, such as bonus tracks and music videos. Digital distribution channels create greater marketing flexibility that can be more cost effective. For example, direct marketing is possible through access to consumers via websites and pre-release activity can be customized. When possible, we seek to add an additional personal component to our promotional efforts by facilitating television and radio coverage or live appearances for our key artists. Our corporate, label and artist websites provide additional marketing venues for our artists.

In further preparation for and subsequent to the release of an album, we coordinate and execute a marketing plan that addresses specific digital and physical retail strategies to promote the album. Aspects of these promotions include in-store appearances, advertising, displays and placement in album listening stations. These activities are overseen by our label marketing staffs to ensure that maximum visibility is achieved for the artist and the release.

Our approach to the marketing and promotion of recorded music is carefully coordinated to create the greatest sales momentum, while maintaining financial discipline. We have significant experience in our marketing and promotion departments, which we believe allows us to achieve an optimal balance between our marketing expenditure and the eventual sales of our artists’ recordings. We use a budget-based approach to plan marketing and promotions, and we monitor all expenditures related to each release to ensure compliance with the agreed-upon budget. These planning processes are evaluated based on updated artist retail sales reports and radio airplay data, so that a promotion plan can be quickly adjusted if necessary.

While marketing efforts extend to our catalog albums, most of the expenditure is directed toward new releases. Rhino specializes in marketing our catalog through compilations and reissues of previously released music and video titles, licensing tracks to third parties for various uses and coordinating film and television soundtrack opportunities with third-party film and television producers and studios.

Manufacturing, Packaging and Physical Distribution

Cinram International Inc. (collectively, with its affiliates and subsidiaries, “Cinram”) is currently our primary supplier of manufacturing, packaging and physical distribution services in the U.S., Canada and most of Europe. We believe that the pricing terms of our Cinram agreements reflect market rates. Pursuant to the terms of

 

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our agreement with Cinram, we have the option to use third-party vendors for up to a certain percentage of the volume provided to us during the 2010 calendar year by Cinram (and up to a higher percentage upon the occurrence of certain events). We also have arrangements with other suppliers and distributors as part of our manufacturing, packaging and physical distribution network throughout the rest of the world.

Sales

We generate sales from the new releases of current artists and our catalog of recordings. In addition, we actively repackage music from our catalog to form new compilations. Most of our sales are currently generated through the CD format, although we also sell our music through both historical formats, such as cassettes and vinyl albums, and newer digital formats.

Most of our physical sales represent purchases by a wholesale or retail distributor. Our return policies are in accordance with wholesale and retailer requirements, applicable laws and regulations, territory- and customer-specific negotiations, and industry practice. We attempt to minimize the return of unsold product by working with retailers to manage inventory and SKU counts as well as monitoring shipments and sell-through data.

We sell our physical recorded music products through a variety of different retail and wholesale outlets including music specialty stores, general entertainment specialty stores, supermarkets, mass merchants and discounters, independent retailers and other traditional retailers. Although some of our retailers are specialized, many of our customers offer a substantial range of products other than music.

The digital sales channel—both online and mobile—has become an increasingly important sales channel. Online sales include sales of traditional physical formats through both the online distribution arms of traditional retailers such as fye.com and walmart.com and traditional online physical retailers such as Amazon.com, bestbuy.com and barnesandnoble.com. In addition, there has been a proliferation of legitimate online sites, which sell digital music on a per-album or per-track basis or offer subscription and streaming services. Several carriers also offer their subscribers the ability to download music on mobile devices. We currently partner with a broad range of online and mobile providers, such as iTunes, Napster, MOG, Rdio, Rhapsody, MTV, Nokia, Spotify, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Orange, Vodafone, eMusic, Virgin Mobile, China Mobile, YouTube and MySpace Music, and are actively seeking to develop and grow our digital business. In digital formats, per-unit costs related directly to physical products such as manufacturing, distribution, inventory and return costs do not apply. While there are some digital-specific variable costs and infrastructure investments needed to produce, market and sell digital products, it is reasonable to expect that we will generally derive a higher contribution margin from digital sales than physical sales.

Our agreements with online and mobile service providers generally last one to two years. We believe that the short-term nature of our contracts enables us to maintain the flexibility that we need given the infancy of the digital business models.

We enter into agreements with digital service providers to make our masters available for sale in digital formats (e.g., digital downloads, mobile ringtones, etc.). We then provide digital assets for our masters to digital service providers in saleable form. Our agreements with digital service providers establish our fees for the sale of our product, which vary based on the type of product being sold. We typically receive sales accounting reports from digital service providers on a monthly basis, detailing the sales activity, with payments rendered on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Our business has historically been seasonal. In the recorded music business, purchases have historically been heavily weighted towards the last three months of the calendar year. However, since the emergence of digital sales, we have noted our business is becoming less seasonal in nature and driven more by the timing of our releases. As digital revenue increases as a percentage of our total revenue, this may continue to affect the overall seasonality of our business. For example, sales of MP3 players or gift cards to purchase digital music sold in the holiday season tend to result in sales of digital music in subsequent periods. However, seasonality with respect to the sale of music in new formats, such as digital, is still developing.

 

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Music Publishing (19% of consolidated revenues, before intersegment eliminations, for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and 18% of consolidated revenues, before intersegment eliminations, in each of fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009)

Where recorded music is focused on exploiting a particular recording of a song, music publishing is an intellectual property business focused on the exploitation of the song itself. In return for promoting, placing, marketing and administering the creative output of a songwriter, or engaging in those activities for other rightsholders, our music publishing business garners a share of the revenues generated from use of the song.

Our music publishing operations include Warner/Chappell, our global music publishing company headquartered in New York with operations in over 50 countries through various subsidiaries, affiliates and non-affiliated licensees. We own or control rights to more than one million musical compositions, including numerous pop hits, American standards, folk songs and motion picture and theatrical compositions. Assembled over decades, our award-winning catalog includes over 65,000 songwriters and composers and a diverse range of genres including pop, rock, jazz, country, R&B, hip-hop, rap, reggae, Latin, folk, blues, symphonic, soul, Broadway, techno, alternative, gospel and other Christian music. In January 2011, we acquired Southside Independent Music Publishing, a leading independent music publishing catalog, further adding to Warner/Chappell’s catalog. Warner/Chappell also administers the music and soundtracks of several third-party television and film producers and studios, including Lucasfilm, Ltd., Hallmark Entertainment, Disney Music Publishing and Turner Music Publishing. In 2007, we entered the production music library business with the acquisition of Non-Stop Music. We have subsequently continued to expand our production music operations with the acquisitions of Groove Addicts Production Music Library and Carlin Recorded Music Library in 2010 and 615 Music in 2011.

 

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Music Publishing Portfolio

Representative Songwriters

 

Michelle Branch

   James Otto    T.I.

Michael Bublé

   Johnny Mercer    Timbaland

Eric Clapton

   George Michael    Van Halen

Bryan-Michael Cox

   Van Morrison    Kurt Weill

Dido

   Muse    Barry White

Dream

   Tim Nichols    John Williams

Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff

   Nickelback    Lucinda Williams

George and Ira Gershwin

   Harry Nilsson    Rob Zombie

Green Day

   Paramore   

Dave Grohl

   Katy Perry   

Don Henley

   Plain White T’s   

Michael Jackson

   Cole Porter   

Claude Kelly

   Radiohead   

Lady Antebellum

   The Ramones   

Led Zeppelin

   R.E.M.   

Lil Wayne

   Damien Rice   

Little Big Town

   Alejandro Sanz   

Madonna

   Stephen Sondheim   

Maná

   Staind   

Representative Songs

 

1950s and Prior

  

1960s

   1970s

Summertime

   People    Behind Closed Doors

Happy Birthday To You

   I Only Want To Be With You    Ain’t No Stopping Us Now

Night And Day

   When A Man Loves A Woman    For The Love Of Money

The Lady Is A Tramp

   I Got A Woman    A Horse With No Name

Too Marvelous For Words

   People Get Ready    Moondance

Dancing In The Dark

   Love Is Blue    Peaceful Easy Feeling

Winter Wonderland

   For What It’s Worth    Layla

Ain’t She Sweet

   This Magic Moment    Staying Alive

Frosty The Snowman

   Save The Last Dance For Me    Star Wars Theme

When I Fall In Love

   Viva Las Vegas    Killing Me Softly

Misty

   Walk On By    Stairway To Heaven

The Party’s Over

   Build Me Up Buttercup    Hot Stuff

On The Street Where You Live

   Everyday People    Superfly

Blueberry Hill

   Whole Lotta Love    Listen To The Music

Makin’ Whoopee

     

Dream A Little Dream Of Me

     

It Had To Be You

     

You Go To My Head

     

As Times Go By

     

Rhapsody In Blue

     

Jingle Bell Rock

     

 

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1980s

  

1990s

   2000 and After

Eye Of The Tiger

   Creep    It’s Been Awhile

Slow Hand

   Macarena    Photograph

The Wind Beneath My Wings

   Sunny Came Home    Complicated

Endless Love

   Amazed    U Got It Bad

Morning Train

   This Kiss    Crazy In Love

Beat It

   Believe    Cry Me A River

Jump

   Smooth    White Flag

We Are the World

   Livin’ La Vida Loca    Dilemma

Indiana Jones Theme

   Losing My Religion    Work It

Celebration

   Gonna Make You Sweat    Miss You

Like A Prayer

   All Star    Burn

Flashdance

      American Idiot
      Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)
      We Belong Together
      Promiscuous
      Crazy
      Gold Digger
      Hey There Delilah
      Sexy Back
      Whatever You Like
      I Kissed A Girl
      All Summer Long
      Gotta Be Somebody
      Single Ladies
      Blame It
      Touch My Body
      Rockstar
      Misery Business
      4 Minutes
      Home
      Let It Rock
      Circus
      Take Me There

Music Publishing Royalties

Warner/Chappell, as a copyright owner and/or administrator of copyrighted musical compositions, is entitled to receive royalties for the exploitation of musical compositions. We continually add new musical compositions to our catalog, and seek to acquire rights in songs that will generate substantial revenue over long periods of time.

Music publishers generally receive royalties pursuant to mechanical, public performance, synchronization and other licenses. In the U.S., music publishers collect and administer mechanical royalties, and statutory rates are established by the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, as amended, for the royalty rates applicable to musical compositions for sales of recordings embodying those musical compositions. In the U.S., public performance royalties are typically administered and collected by performing rights organizations and in most countries outside the U.S., collection, administration and allocation of both mechanical and performance income are undertaken and regulated by governmental or quasi-governmental authorities. Throughout the world, each synchronization license is generally subject to negotiation with a prospective licensee and, by contract, music publishers pay a contractually required percentage of synchronization income to the songwriters or their heirs and to any co-publishers.

 

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Warner/Chappell acquires copyrights or portions of copyrights and/or administration rights from songwriters or other third-party holders of rights in compositions. Typically, in either case, the grantor of rights retains a right to receive a percentage of revenues collected by Warner/Chappell. As an owner and/or administrator of compositions, we promote the use of those compositions by others. For example, we encourage recording artists to record and include our songs on their albums, offer opportunities to include our compositions in filmed entertainment, advertisements and digital media and advocate for the use of our compositions in live stage productions. Examples of music uses that generate publishing revenues include:

Mechanical: sale of recorded music in various physical formats

 

   

Physical recordings (e.g., CDs and DVDs)

Performance: performance of the song to the general public

 

   

Broadcast of music on television, radio, cable and satellite

 

   

Live performance at a concert or other venue (e.g., arena concerts, nightclubs)

 

   

Broadcast of music at sporting events, restaurants or bars

 

   

Performance of music in staged theatrical productions

Synchronization: use of the song in combination with visual images

 

   

Films or television programs

 

   

Television commercials

 

   

Videogames

 

   

Merchandising, toys or novelty items

Digital:

 

   

Internet and mobile downloads

 

   

Mobile ringtones

 

   

Online and mobile streaming

Other:

 

   

Licensing of copyrights for use in sheet music

Composers’ and Lyricists’ Contracts

Warner/Chappell derives its rights through contracts with composers and lyricists (songwriters) or their heirs, and with third-party music publishers. In some instances, those contracts grant either 100% or some lesser percentage of copyright ownership in musical compositions and/or administration rights. In other instances, those contracts only convey to Warner/Chappell rights to administer musical compositions for a period of time without conveying a copyright ownership interest. Our contracts grant us exclusive exploitation rights in the territories concerned excepting any pre-existing arrangements. Many of our contracts grant us rights on a worldwide basis. Contracts typically cover the entire work product of the writer or composer for the duration of the contract. As a result, Warner/Chappell customarily possesses administration rights for every musical composition created by the writer or composer during the duration of the contract.

While the duration of the contract may vary, many of our contracts grant us ownership and/or administration rights for the duration of copyright. See “Intellectual Property-Copyrights”. U.S. copyright law permits authors or their estates to terminate an assignment or license of copyright (for the U.S. only) after a set period of time.

 

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Marketing and Promotion

We actively seek, develop and maintain relationships with songwriters. We actively market our copyrights to licensees such as recorded music companies (including our Recorded Music business), filmed entertainment, television and other media companies, advertising and media agencies, event planners and organizers, computer and video game companies and other multimedia producers. We also market our musical compositions for use in live stage productions and merchandising. In addition, we actively seek new and emerging outlets for the exploitation of songs such as ringtones for mobile phones, new wireless and online uses and webcasting.

Competition

In both Recorded Music and Music Publishing we compete based on price (to retailers in recorded music and to various end users in music publishing), on marketing and promotion (including both how we allocate our marketing and promotion resources as well as how much we spend on a dollar basis) and on artist signings. We believe we currently compete favorably in these areas.

Our Recorded Music business is also dependent on technological development, including access to, selection and viability of new technologies, and is subject to potential pressure from competitors as a result of their technological developments. In recent years, due to the growth in piracy, we have been forced to compete with illegal channels such as unauthorized, online, peer-to-peer filesharing and CD-R activity. See “Industry Overview—Recorded Music—Piracy.” Additionally, we compete, to a lesser extent, for disposable consumer income with alternative forms of entertainment, content and leisure activities, such as cable and satellite television, pre-recorded films on DVD, the Internet, computers, mobile applications and videogames.

The recorded music industry is highly competitive based on consumer preferences, and is rapidly changing. At its core, the recorded music business relies on the exploitation of artistic talent. As such, competitive strength is predicated upon the ability to continually develop and market new artists whose work gains commercial acceptance. According to Music and Copyright, in 2010, the four largest major record companies were Universal, Sony Music Entertainment (“Sony”), WMG and EMI Music (“EMI”), which collectively accounted for approximately 77% of worldwide recorded music sales. There are many mid-sized and smaller players in the industry that accounted for the remaining 23%, including independent music companies. Universal was the market leader with a 29% worldwide market share in 2010, followed by Sony with a 23% share. WMG and EMI held a 15% and 11% share of worldwide recorded music sales, respectively.

The music publishing business is also highly competitive. The top four music publishers collectively account for approximately 69% of the market. Based on Music & Copyright’s most recent estimates published in March 2011, Universal Music Publishing Group, having acquired BMG Music Publishing Group in 2007, was the market leader in music publishing in 2010, holding a 23% global share. EMI Music Publishing was the second largest music publisher with a 20% share, followed by WMG (Warner/Chappell) at 14% and Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC (“Sony/ATV”) at 13%. Independent music publishers represent the balance of the market, as well as many individual songwriters who publish their own works.

In November 2011, Universal announced it had signed an agreement to acquire EMI’s recorded music division and a group including Sony Corporation of America (an affiliate of Sony/ATV) announced they had signed an agreement to acquire EMI Music Publishing. Both transactions remain subject to a number of conditions, including regulatory approvals. The sale of EMI’s recorded music business may affect the competitive landscape and relative market share of the major record companies going forward. The sale of EMI Music Publishing may affect the competitive landscape and relative market share of the major music publishers going forward.

 

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Intellectual Property

Copyrights

Our business, like that of other companies involved in music publishing and recorded music, rests on our ability to maintain rights in musical works and recordings through copyright protection. In the U.S., copyright protection for works created as “works made for hire” (e.g., works of employees or certain specially commissioned works) after January 1, 1978 generally lasts for 95 years from first publication or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first. The period of copyright protection for works created on or after January 1, 1978 that are not “works made for hire” lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. Works created and published or registered in the U.S. prior to January 1, 1978 generally enjoy a total copyright life of 95 years, subject to compliance with certain statutory provisions including notice and renewal. In the U.S., sound recordings created prior to February 15, 1972 are not subject to federal copyright protection but are protected by common law rights or state statutes, where applicable. The term of copyright in the European Union (“E.U.”) for musical compositions in all member states lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. In the E.U., the term of copyright for sound recordings currently lasts for 50 years from the date of release. However, by November 1, 2013, member states of the E.U. are to have extended the term of copyright for sound recordings to 70 years from the date of release in the case of any recording still protected on October 30, 2011. The E.U. also recently harmonized the copyright term for joint musical works by requiring E.U. member states to calculate the 70 year term for musical compositions with words from the date of death of the last surviving of the author of the lyrics and the composer of the musical composition provided that both contributions were specifically created for the respective song.

We are largely dependent on legislation in each territory to protect our rights against unauthorized reproduction, distribution, public performance or rental. In all territories where we operate, our products receive some degree of copyright protection, although the extent of effective protection varies widely. In a number of developing countries, the protection of copyright remains inadequate.

The potential growth of new delivery technologies, such as digital broadcasting, the Internet and entertainment-on-demand has focused attention on the need for new legislation that will adequately protect the rights of producers. We actively lobby in favor of industry efforts to increase copyright protection and support the efforts of organizations such as the RIAA, IFPI and the World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”).

Trademarks

We consider our trademarks to be valuable assets to our business. As such, we endeavor to register our major trademarks in every country where we believe the protection of these trademarks is important for our business. Our major trademarks include Atlantic, Elektra, Sire, Reprise, Rhino, WEA and Warner/Chappell. We also use certain trademarks pursuant to royalty-free license agreements. Of these, the duration of the license relating to the WARNER and WARNER MUSIC marks and “W” logo is perpetual. The duration of the license relating to the WARNER BROS. RECORDS mark and WB & Shield designs is fifteen years from February 29, 2004. Each of the licenses may be terminated under certain limited circumstances, which may include material breaches of the agreement, certain events of insolvency, and certain change of control events if we were to become controlled by a major filmed entertainment company. We actively monitor and protect against activities that might infringe, dilute, or otherwise harm our trademarks.

Joint Ventures

We have entered into joint venture arrangements pursuant to which we or our various subsidiary companies manufacture, distribute and market (in most cases, domestically and internationally) recordings owned by the joint ventures. An example of this arrangement is Frank Sinatra Enterprises, a joint venture established to administer licenses for use of Frank Sinatra’s name and likeness and manage all aspects of his music, film and stage content.

 

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Employees

As of September 30, 2011, we employed approximately 3,700 persons worldwide, including temporary and part-time employees. None of our employees in the U.S. is subject to a collective bargaining agreement, although certain employees in our non-domestic companies are covered by national labor agreements. We believe that our relationship with our employees is good.

Financial Information About Segments and Foreign and Domestic Operations

Financial and other information by segment, and relating to foreign and domestic operations, for each of the last three fiscal years is set forth in Note 15 to the Consolidated Audited Financial Statements.

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Recorded Music

Recorded music is one of the primary mediums of entertainment for consumers worldwide and in calendar 2010, according to IFPI, generated $23.4 billion in retail value of sales. Over time, major recorded music companies have built significant recorded music catalogs, which are long-lived assets that are exploited year after year. The sale of catalog material is typically more profitable than that of new releases, given lower development costs and more limited marketing costs. Through the end of calendar Q3 2011 (i.e., week ending October 2, 2011), according to SoundScan, 47% of all calendar year-to-date U.S. album unit sales were from recordings more than 18 months old, with 37% from recordings more than three years old.

According to IFPI, the top five territories (the U.S., Japan, Germany, the U.K. and France) accounted for 74% of the related sales in the recorded music market in calendar year 2010. The U.S., which is the most significant exporter of music, is also the largest territory for recorded music sales, constituting 29% of total calendar year 2010 recorded music sales on a retail basis. The U.S. and Japan are largely local music markets, with 93% and 81% of their calendar year 2010 physical music sales consisting of domestic repertoire, respectively. In contrast, markets like the U.K. have higher percentages of international sales, with domestic repertoire in that territory constituting only 38% of sales.

There has been a major shift in distribution of recorded music from specialty shops towards mass-market and online retailers. According to RIAA, record stores’ share of U.S. music sales declined from 45% in calendar year 1999 to 30% in calendar year 2008, and according to the market research firm NPD, record/entertainment/ electronics stores’ share of U.S. music sales totaled 18% in 2009. Over the course of the last decade, U.S. mass-market and other stores’ share grew from 38% in calendar 1999 to 54% in calendar year 2004, and with the subsequent growth of sales via online channels since that time, their share contracted to 28% in calendar year 2008 and remained so in 2009. In recent years, online sales of physical product as well as digital downloads have grown to represent an increasing share of U.S. sales and combined they accounted for 48% of music sales in calendar year 2009. In terms of genre, rock remains the most popular style of music in the U.S., representing 35% of 2009 U.S. unit sales, although genres such as rap/hip-hop, R&B, country and Latin music are also popular.

According to RIAA, from calendar years 1990 to 1999, the U.S. recorded music industry grew at a compound annual growth rate of 7.6%. This growth, largely paralleled around the world, was driven by demand for music, the replacement of vinyl LPs and cassettes with CDs, price increases and strong economic growth. The industry began experiencing negative growth rates in calendar year 1999, on a global basis, primarily driven by an increase in digital piracy. Other drivers of this decline were and are the overall recessionary economic environment, bankruptcies of record retailers and wholesalers, growing competition for consumer discretionary spending and retail shelf space and the maturation of the CD format, which has slowed the historical growth pattern of recorded music sales. Since that time, annual dollar sales of physical music product in the U.S. are

 

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estimated to have declined at a compound annual growth rate of 12%, although there was a 2.5% year-over-year increase recorded in 2004. In calendar year 2010, the physical business experienced a 20% year-over-year decline on a value basis. Performance in calendar year 2011 thus far has been somewhat more encouraging, although it remains to be seen if this can be sustained. According to SoundScan, through the end of calendar Q3 2011 (i.e., week ending October 2, 2011), calendar year-to-date U.S. recorded music album unit sales (excluding sales of digital tracks) were up 3% year-over-year. According to SoundScan, adding digital track sales to the unit album totals based on SoundScan’s standard ten-tracks-per-album equivalent, the U.S. music industry was up 5% in overall album unit sales calendar year-to-date through Q3 2011. Year-to-date 2011 performance notwithstanding, the overall declining trend that has been experienced in the U.S. has also been witnessed in international markets, with the extent of declines driven primarily by differing penetration levels of piracy-enabling technologies, such as broadband access and CD-R technology, and economic conditions.

Notwithstanding these factors, we believe that music industry results could improve based on the continued mobilization of the industry as a whole against piracy and the development of legitimate digital distribution channels.

Piracy

One of the industry’s biggest challenges is combating piracy. Music piracy exists in two primary forms: digital (which includes illegal downloading and CD-R piracy) and industrial:

 

   

Digital piracy has grown dramatically, enabled by the increasing penetration of broadband Internet access and the ubiquity of powerful microprocessors, fast optical drives (particularly with writable media, such as CD-R) and large inexpensive disk storage in personal computers. The combination of these technologies has allowed consumers to easily, flawlessly and almost instantaneously make high-quality copies of music using a home computer by “ripping” or converting musical content from CDs into digital files, stored on local disks. These digital files can then be distributed for free over the Internet through anonymous peer-to-peer file sharing networks such as BitTorrent and Frostwire (“illegal downloading”). Alternatively, these files can be burned onto multiple CDs for physical distribution (“CD-R piracy”). IFPI estimates that 40 billion songs were illegally downloaded in 2008.

 

   

Industrial piracy (also called counterfeiting or physical piracy) involves mass production of illegal CDs and cassettes in factories. This form of piracy is largely concentrated in developing regions, and has existed for more than two decades. The sale of legitimate recorded music in these developing territories is limited by the dominance of pirated products, which are sold at substantially lower prices than legitimate products. The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) estimates that U.S. trade losses due to physical piracy of records and music in 39 key countries/territories around the world with copyright protection and/or enforcement deficiencies totaled $1.5 billion in 2009. The IIPA also believes that piracy of records and music is most prevalent in territories such as Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Mexico, India and Argentina, where piracy levels are at 60% or above.

In 2003, the industry launched an intensive campaign to limit piracy that focused on four key initiatives:

 

   

Technological: The technological measures against piracy are geared towards degrading the illegal filesharing process and tracking providers and consumers of pirated music. These measures include spoofing, watermarking, copy protection, the use of automated webcrawlers and access restrictions.

 

   

Educational: Led by RIAA and IFPI, the industry has launched an aggressive campaign of consumer education designed to spread awareness of the illegality of various forms of piracy through aggressive print and television advertisements. These efforts have yielded positive results in impacting consumer behaviors and attitudes with regard to filesharing of music. A survey conducted by The NPD Group, a market research firm, in December 2010 showed that about one out of ten U.S. Internet users aged 13 or older who stopped or decreased their usage of filesharing services for music in the year covered by the

 

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survey did so because they were concerned about being sued and/or the legality of such services, or because they felt it was wrong to download music from such services. A separate survey conducted by NPD in September 2010 found that half of U.S. consumers aged 13 or older felt that music sales had declined because of people using filesharing services to obtain music, and 38% agreed that stopping people from freely sharing copyrighted music files through a filesharing network is the honest and fair thing to do.

 

   

Legal: In conjunction with its educational efforts, the industry has taken aggressive legal action against file-sharers and is continuing to fight industrial pirates. These actions include civil lawsuits in the U.S. and E.U. against individual pirates, arrests of pirates in Japan and raids against filesharing services in Australia. U.S. lawsuits have largely targeted individuals who illegally share large quantities of music content. A number of court decisions, including the decisions in the cases involving Grokster and KaZaA, have held that one who distributes a device, such as P2P software, with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright can be liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties using the device regardless of the lawful uses of the device. In May 2011, the major record companies reached a global out-of-court settlement of copyright litigation against Limewire. Under the terms of the settlement, the Limewire defendants agreed to pay compensation to record companies that brought the action, including us.

 

   

Development of online and mobile alternatives: We believe that the development and success of legitimate digital music channels will be an important driver of recorded music sales and monetization going forward, as they represent both an incremental revenue stream and a potential inhibitor of piracy. The music industry has been encouraged by the proliferation and early success of legitimate digital music distribution options. We believe that these legitimate online distribution channels offer several advantages to illegal peer-to-peer networks, including greater ease of use, higher quality and more consistent music product, faster downloading and streaming, better search and discovery capabilities and seamless integration with portable digital music players. Legitimate online download stores and subscription music services began to be established between early 2002 and April 2003 beginning with the launch of Rhapsody in late 2001 and continuing through the launch of Apple’s iTunes music store in April 2003. Since then, many others (both large and small) have launched download, subscription, and ad-supported music services, offering a variety of models, including per-track pricing, per-album pricing and monthly subscriptions. According to IFPI in their “Digital Music Report 2011” publication, there are more than 400 legal digital music services providing alternatives to illegal filesharing in markets around the world. The mobile music business is also significant, with mobile music revenues delivering nearly $1.4 billion in trade value worldwide in 2010, according to IFPI data. While revenues from ringtones initially drove the mobile music business, new mobile phones equipped with new capabilities are increasingly offering the capability for full-track downloads and streaming audio and video. These categories are accounting for a greater share of mobile music revenues while further expanding legitimate options.

These efforts are incremental to the long-standing push by organizations such as RIAA and IFPI to curb industrial piracy around the world. In addition to these actions, the music industry is increasingly coordinating with other similarly impacted industries (such as software and filmed entertainment) to combat piracy.

We believe these actions have had a positive effect. A survey conducted by NPD in December 2009 showed that 38% of U.S. Internet users aged 13 or older who downloaded music from a filesharing service at any point in the past two years stopped or decreased their usage of such filesharing services in the year covered by the survey.

Internationally, several recent governmental initiatives should also be helpful to the music industry and measures are being adopted in an increasing number of countries to achieve better ISP cooperation. In 2009, France enacted “graduated response” legislation pursuant to which repeat copyright infringers could have their Internet connections revoked and be subject to criminal penalties. Chile, Denmark, Hong Kong, South Korea and

 

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Taiwan have also passed or introduced legislation to adopt graduated response laws. In July 2011, an agreement was reached between music and film rightholders and most major U.S. ISPs to establish a voluntary graduated response program. In addition the Digital Economy Act was passed into law in the UK in April 2010. The Act places obligations on UK ISPs to send notifications to subscribers who infringe copyright. It also contains provisions for the Secretary of State to require ISPs to impose technical measures on infringing subscribers, which could include account suspension. In April 2009, Sweden implemented the Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement Directive, which was intended to ensure, among other things, the ability to effectively enforce copyright and other civil remedies. There is evidence to suggest that this is having a positive effect in reducing unlawful filesharing on the Internet in Sweden. Similar legislation has also recently been enacted in New Zealand in September 2011. Solutions to online piracy and making progress towards meaningful ISP cooperation against online piracy are also being adopted or pursued through government-sponsored negotiations of codes of practice or cross-industry agreements and remedies arising out of litigation, such as obtaining injunctions requiring ISPs to block access to infringing sites. We believe these actions, as well as other actions also currently being taken in many countries around the world, represent a positive trend internationally and a recognition by governments around the world that urgent action is required to reduce online piracy and in particular unlawful filesharing because of the harm caused to the creative industries. While these government actions have not come without some controversy abroad, we continue to lobby for legislative change through music industry bodies and trade associations in jurisdictions where enforcement of copyright in the context of online piracy remains problematic due to existing local laws or prior court decisions.

In the U.S., in May 2011, a bill, the PROTECT IP Act, was introduced in the U.S. Senate that would enable the Attorney General to file civil actions against non-U.S. websites dedicated to infringing activity, and enable rightsholders to obtain injunctions against both non-U.S. and U.S. sites. A similar bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), was introduced in the House of Representatives in October 2011. We believe all of these actions further the efforts of the music industry to reduce the level of illegal filesharing on the Internet, providing tools to help address illegal websites and prevent digital theft.

Music Publishing

Background

Music publishing involves the acquisition of rights to, and licensing of, musical compositions (as opposed to recordings) from songwriters, composers or other rightsholders. Music publishing revenues are derived from five main royalty sources: Mechanical, Performance, Synchronization, Digital and Other.

In the U.S., mechanical royalties are collected directly by music publishers from recorded music companies or via The Harry Fox Agency, a non-exclusive licensing agent affiliated with NMPA, while outside the U.S., collection societies generally perform this function. Once mechanical royalties reach the publisher (either directly from record companies or from collection societies), percentages of those royalties are paid to any co-owners of the copyright in the composition and to the writer(s) and composer(s) of the composition. Mechanical royalties are paid at a penny rate of 9.1 cents per song per unit in the U.S. for physical formats (e.g., CDs and vinyl albums) and permanent digital downloads (recordings in excess of five minutes attract a higher rate) and 24 cents for ringtones. There are also rates set for interactive streaming and non-permanent downloads based on a formula that takes into account revenues paid by consumers or advertisers with certain minimum royalties that may apply depending on the type of service. In some cases, “controlled composition” provisions contained in some recording agreements may apply to the rates mentioned above pursuant to which artist/songwriters license their rights to their record companies for as little as 75% of these rates. The foregoing rates are in effect through December 31, 2012. In most other territories, mechanical royalties are based on a percentage of wholesale price for physical product and based on a percentage of consumer price for digital products. In international markets, these rates are determined by multi-year collective bargaining agreements and rate tribunals.

Throughout the world, performance royalties are typically collected on behalf of publishers and songwriters by performance rights organizations and collection societies. Key performing rights organizations and collection

 

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societies include: The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), SESAC and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) in the U.S.; Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society and The Performing Right Society (“MCPS/PRS”) in the U.K.; The German Copyright Society in Germany (“GEMA”) and the Japanese Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers in Japan (“JASRAC”). The societies pay a percentage (which is set in each country) of the performance royalties to the copyright owner(s) or administrators (i.e., the publisher(s)), and a percentage directly to the songwriter(s), of the composition. Thus, the publisher generally retains the performance royalties it receives other than any amounts attributable to co-publishers.

The music publishing market has proven to be more resilient than the recorded music market in recent years as revenue streams other than mechanical royalties are largely unaffected by piracy, and are benefiting from additional sources of income from digital exploitation of music in downloads and mobile ringtones. The worldwide professional music publishing market was estimated to have generated approximately $3.9 billion in revenues in 2010 according to figures contained in the March 23, 2011 issue of Music & Copyright. Trends in music publishing vary by royalty source:

 

   

Mechanical and Digital: Although the decline in the physical business has an impact on mechanical royalties, this decline has been partly offset by the regular and predictable statutory increases in the mechanical royalty rate in the U.S. in the past, the increasing efficiency of local collection societies worldwide and the growth of new revenue sources such as mobile ringtones and legitimate online and mobile downloads.

 

   

Performance: Continued growth in the performance royalties category is expected, largely driven by television advertising, live performance and online streaming and advertising royalties.

 

   

Synchronization: We believe synchronization revenues have experienced strong growth in recent years and will continue to do so, benefiting from the proliferation of media channels, a recovery in advertising, robust videogames sales and growing DVD film sales/rentals.

In addition, major publishers have the opportunity to generate significant value by the acquisition of small publishers by extracting cost savings (as acquired libraries can be administered with little or no incremental cost) and by increasing revenues through more aggressive marketing efforts.

 

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

In addition to the other information contained in this annual report on Form 10-K, certain risk factors should be considered carefully in evaluating our business. The risks and uncertainties described below may not be the only ones facing us. Additional risks and uncertainties that we do not currently know about or that we currently believe are immaterial may also adversely impact our business operations. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition or results of operations would likely suffer.

Risks Related to our Business

The recorded music industry has been declining and may continue to decline, which may adversely affect our prospects and our results of operations.

The industry began experiencing negative growth rates in 1999 on a global basis and the worldwide recorded music market has contracted considerably. Illegal downloading of music, CD-R piracy, industrial piracy, economic recession, bankruptcies of record wholesalers and retailers, and growing competition for consumer discretionary spending and retail shelf space may all be contributing to a declining recorded music industry. Additionally, the period of growth in recorded music sales driven by the introduction and penetration of the CD format has ended. While CD sales still generate most of the recorded music revenues, CD sales continue to decline industry-wide and we expect that trend to continue. However, new formats for selling recorded music product have been created, including the legal downloading of digital music and the distribution of music on mobile devices and revenue streams from these new channels have emerged. These new digital revenue streams are important as they are beginning to offset declines in physical sales and represent a growing area of our Recorded Music business. In addition, we are also taking steps to broaden our revenue mix into growing areas of the music business, including sponsorship, fan clubs, artist websites, merchandising, touring, ticketing and artist management. As our expansion into these new areas is recent, we cannot determine how our expansion into these new areas will impact our business. Despite the increase in digital sales, artist services revenues and expanded-rights revenues, revenues from these sources have yet to fully offset declining physical sales on a worldwide industry basis and it is too soon to determine the impact that sales of music through new channels might have on the industry or when the decline in physical sales might be offset by the increase in digital sales, artist services revenues and expanded-rights revenues. Accordingly, the recorded music industry performance may continue to negatively impact our operating results. While it is believed within the recorded music industry that growth in digital sales will re-establish a growth pattern for recorded music sales, the timing of the recovery cannot be established with accuracy nor can it be determined how these changes will affect individual markets. A declining recorded music industry is likely to lead to reduced levels of revenue and operating income generated by our Recorded Music business. Additionally, a declining recorded music industry is also likely to have a negative impact on our Music Publishing business, which generates a significant portion of its revenues from mechanical royalties attributable to the sale of music in CD and other physical recorded music formats.

There may be downward pressure on our pricing and our profit margins and reductions in shelf space.

There are a variety of factors that could cause us to reduce our prices and reduce our profit margins. They are, among others, price competition from the sale of motion pictures in Blu-Ray/DVD-Video format and videogames, the negotiating leverage of mass merchandisers, big-box retailers and distributors of digital music, the increased costs of doing business with mass merchandisers and big-box retailers as a result of complying with operating procedures that are unique to their needs and any changes in costs associated with new digital formats. In addition, we are currently dependent on a small number of leading online music stores, which allows them to significantly influence the prices we can charge in connection with the distribution of digital music. Over the course of the last decade, U.S. mass-market and other stores’ share of U.S. physical music sales has continued to grow. While we cannot predict how future competition will impact music retailers, as the music industry continues to transform it is possible that the share of music sales by mass-market retailers such as Wal-Mart and Target and online music stores such as Apple’s iTunes will continue to grow as a result of the decline of specialty

 

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music retailers, which could further increase their negotiating leverage. During the past several years, many specialty music retailers have gone out of business. The declining number of specialty music retailers may not only put pressure on profit margins, but could also impact catalog sales as mass-market retailers generally sell top chart albums only, with a limited range of back catalog. See “—We are substantially dependent on a limited number of online music stores, in particular Apple’s iTunes Music Store, for the online sale of our music recordings and they are able to significantly influence the pricing structure for online music stores.”

Our prospects and financial results may be adversely affected if we fail to identify, sign and retain artists and songwriters and by the existence or absence of superstar releases and by local economic conditions in the countries in which we operate.

We are dependent on identifying, signing and retaining recording artists with long-term potential, whose debut albums are well received on release, whose subsequent albums are anticipated by consumers and whose music will continue to generate sales as part of our catalog for years to come. The competition among record companies for such talent is intense. Competition among record companies to sell records is also intense and the marketing expenditures necessary to compete have increased as well. We are also dependent on signing and retaining songwriters who will write the hit songs of today and the classics of tomorrow. Our competitive

position is dependent on our continuing ability to attract and develop artists whose work can achieve a high degree of public acceptance. Our financial results may be adversely affected if we are unable to identify, sign and retain such artists under terms that are economically attractive to us. Our financial results may also be affected by the existence or absence of superstar artist releases during a particular period. Some music industry observers believe that the number of superstar acts with long-term appeal, both in terms of catalog sales and future releases, has declined in recent years. Additionally, our financial results are generally affected by the worldwide economic and retail environment, as well as the appeal of our Recorded Music catalog and our Music Publishing library.

We may have difficulty addressing the threats to our business associated with home copying and Internet downloading.

The combined effect of the decreasing cost of electronic and computer equipment and related technology such as CD burners and the conversion of music into digital formats have made it easier for consumers to obtain and create unauthorized copies of our recordings in the form of, for example, “burned” CDs and MP3 files. For example, about 95% of the music downloaded in 2008, or more than 40 billion files, were illegal and not paid for, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (“IFPI”) 2009 Digital Music Report. IFPI, citing data from third-party company Envisional, also reported in its Recording Industry in Numbers 2011 publication that 23.8% of global Internet traffic is infringing. In addition, while growth of music-enabled mobile consumers offers distinct opportunities for music companies such as ours, it also opens the market up to certain risks from behaviors such as “sideloading” of unauthorized content and illegitimate user-created ringtones. A substantial portion of our revenue comes from the sale of audio products that are potentially subject to unauthorized consumer copying and widespread digital dissemination without an economic return to us. The impact of digital piracy on legitimate music sales is hard to quantify but we believe that illegal filesharing has a substantial negative impact on music sales. We are working to control this problem in a variety of ways including further litigation, by lobbying governments for new, stronger copyright protection laws and more stringent enforcement of current laws, through graduated response programs achieved through cooperation with ISPs and legislation being advanced or considered in many countries, through technological measures and by establishing legitimate new media business models. We cannot give any assurances that such measures will be effective. If we fail to obtain appropriate relief through the judicial process or the complete enforcement of judicial decisions issued in our favor (or if judicial decisions are not in our favor), if we are unsuccessful in our efforts to lobby governments to enact and enforce stronger legal penalties for copyright infringement or if we fail to develop effective means of protecting our intellectual property (whether copyrights or other rights such as patents, trademarks and trade secrets) or our entertainment-related products or services, our results of operations, financial position and prospects may suffer.

 

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Organized industrial piracy may lead to decreased sales.

The global organized commercial pirate trade is a significant threat to content industries, including the music sector. A study by Frontier Economics cited by IFPI, estimates that digitally pirated music, movies and software is valued at $30 billion to $75 billion. In addition, an economic study conducted by Tera Consultants in Europe found that if left unabated, digital piracy could result in an estimated loss of 240 billion Euros in retail revenues for the creative industries—including music—in Europe over the period from 2008—2015. Unauthorized copies and piracy have contributed to the decrease in the volume of legitimate sales and put pressure on the price of legitimate sales. They have had, and may continue to have, an adverse effect on our business.

Legitimate channels for digital distribution of our creative content are a recent development, and their impact on our business is unclear and may be adverse.

We have positioned ourselves to take advantage of online and mobile technology as a sales distribution channel and believe that the continued development of legitimate channels for digital music distribution holds promise for us in the future. Digital revenue streams of all kinds are important to offset continued declining revenue from physical CD sales industry-wide over time. However, legitimate channels for digital distribution are a recent development and we cannot predict their impact on our business. In digital formats, certain costs associated with physical products such as manufacturing, distribution, inventory and return costs do not apply. Partially eroding that benefit are increases in mechanical copyright royalties payable to music publishers that only apply in the digital space. While there are some digital-specific variable costs and infrastructure investments necessary to produce, market and sell music in digital formats, we believe it is reasonable to expect that we will generally derive a higher contribution margin from digital sales than physical sales. However, we cannot be sure that we will generally continue to achieve higher margins from digital sales. Any legitimate digital distribution channel that does develop may result in lower or less profitable sales for us than comparable physical sales. In addition, the transition to greater sales through digital channels introduces uncertainty regarding the potential impact of the “unbundling” of the album on our business. It remains unclear how consumer behavior will continue to change when customers are faced with more opportunities to purchase only favorite tracks from a given album rather than the entire album. In addition, if piracy continues unabated and legitimate digital distribution channels fail to gain consumer acceptance, our results of operations could be harmed. Furthermore, as new distribution channels continue to develop, we may have to implement systems to process royalties on new revenue streams for potential future distribution channels that are not currently known. These new distribution channels could also result in increases in the number of transactions that we need to process. If we are not able to successfully expand our processing capability or introduce technology to allow us to determine and pay royalty amounts due on these new types of transactions in a timely manner, we may experience processing delays or reduced accuracy as we increase the volume of our digital sales, which could have a negative effect on our relationships with artists and brand identity.

We are substantially dependent on a limited number of online music stores, in particular Apple’s iTunes Music Store, for the online sale of our music recordings and they are able to significantly influence the pricing structure for online music stores.

We derive an increasing portion of our revenues from sales of music through digital distribution channels. We are currently dependent on a small number of leading online music stores that sell consumers digital music. Currently, the largest U.S. online music store, iTunes, typically charges U.S. consumers prices ranging from $0.69 to $1.29 per single-track download. We have limited ability to increase our wholesale prices to digital service providers for digital downloads as we believe Apple’s iTunes controls more than two-thirds of the legitimate digital music track download business in the U.S. If Apple’s iTunes were to adopt a lower pricing model or if there were structural change to other download pricing models, we may receive substantially less per download for our music, which could cause a material reduction in our revenues, unless it is offset by a corresponding increase in the number of downloads. Additionally, Apple’s iTunes and other online music stores

 

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at present accept and make available for sale all the recordings that we and other distributors deliver to them. However, if online stores in the future decide to limit the types or amount of music they will accept from music content owners like us, our revenues could be significantly reduced.

Our involvement in intellectual property litigation could adversely affect our business.

Our business is highly dependent upon intellectual property, an area that has encountered increased litigation in recent years. If we are alleged to infringe the intellectual property rights of a third party, any litigation to defend the claim could be costly and would divert the time and resources of management, regardless of the merits of the claim. There can be no assurance that we would prevail in any such litigation. If we were to lose a litigation relating to intellectual property, we could be forced to pay monetary damages and to cease the sale of certain products or the use of certain technology. Any of the foregoing may adversely affect our business.

Due to the nature of our business, our results of operations and cash flows may fluctuate significantly from period to period.

Our net sales, operating income and profitability, like those of other companies in the music business, are largely affected by the number and quality of albums that we release or that include musical compositions published by us, timing of our release schedule and, more importantly, the consumer demand for these releases. We also make advance payments to recording artists and songwriters, which impact our operating cash flows. The timing of album releases and advance payments is largely based on business and other considerations and is made without regard to the impact of the timing of the release on our financial results. We report results of operations quarterly and our results of operations and cash flows in any reporting period may be materially affected by the timing of releases and advance payments, which may result in significant fluctuations from period to period.

We may be unable to compete successfully in the highly competitive markets in which we operate and we may suffer reduced profits as a result.

The industries in which we operate are highly competitive, are subject to ongoing consolidation among major music companies, are based on consumer preferences and are rapidly changing. Additionally, they require substantial human and capital resources. We compete with other recorded music companies and music publishers to identify and sign new recording artists and songwriters who subsequently achieve long-term success and to renew agreements with established artists and songwriters. In addition, our competitors may from time to time reduce their prices in an effort to expand market share and introduce new services, or improve the quality of their products or services. We may lose business if we are unable to sign successful recording artists or songwriters or to match the prices or the quality of products and services, offered by our competitors. Our Recorded Music business competes not only with other recorded music companies, but also with the recorded music efforts of live events companies and recording artists who may choose to distribute their own works. Our Music Publishing business competes not only with other music publishing companies, but also with songwriters who publish their own works. Our Recorded Music business is to a large extent dependent on technological developments, including access to and selection and viability of new technologies, and is subject to potential pressure from competitors as a result of their technological developments. For example, our Recorded Music business may be further adversely affected by technological developments that facilitate the piracy of music, such as Internet peer-to-peer filesharing and CD-R activity, by an inability to enforce our intellectual property rights in digital environments and by a failure to develop successful business models applicable to a digital environment. The Recorded Music business also faces competition from other forms of entertainment and leisure activities, such as cable and satellite television, pre-recorded films on DVD, the Internet and computer and videogames.

 

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We may be materially and adversely affected by the acquisition of EMI’s recorded music division by Universal and the acquisition of EMI Music Publishing by a group including Sony Corporation of America (an affiliate of Sony/ATV).

In November 2011, Vivendi and its subsidiary, Universal Music Group (UMG), announced that it had signed with Citigroup, Inc. (“Citi”) a definitive agreement to purchase EMI’s recorded music division. The proposed acquisition would combine the largest and the fourth-largest recorded music companies. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Also in November 2011, an investor group comprised of Sony Corporation of America (an affiliate of Sony/ATV), in conjunction with the Estate of Michael Jackson, Mubadala Development Company PJSC, Jynwel Capital Limited, the Blackstone Group’s GSO Capital Partners LP and David Geffen announced that they had signed with Citi a definitive agreement to purchase EMI Music Publishing. The proposed acquisition would combine the second- and fourth-largest music publishers. The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Should these transactions close, we cannot predict what impact they might have on the competitive landscape of the industries in which we operate or on our results of operations.

Our business operations in some foreign countries subject us to trends, developments or other events which may affect us adversely.

We are a global company with strong local presences, which have become increasingly important as the popularity of music originating from a country’s own language and culture has increased in recent years. Our mix of national and international recording artists and songwriters provides a significant degree of diversification for our music portfolio. However, our creative content does not necessarily enjoy universal appeal. As a result, our results can be affected not only by general industry trends, but also by trends, developments or other events in individual countries, including:

 

   

limited legal protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights;

 

   

restrictions on the repatriation of capital;

 

   

fluctuations in interest and foreign exchange rates;

 

   

differences and unexpected changes in regulatory environment, including environmental, health and safety, local planning, zoning and labor laws, rules and regulations;

 

   

varying tax regimes which could adversely affect our results of operations or cash flows, including regulations relating to transfer pricing and withholding taxes on remittances and other payments by subsidiaries and joint ventures;

 

   

exposure to different legal standards and enforcement mechanisms and the associated cost of compliance;

 

   

difficulties in attracting and retaining qualified management and employees or rationalizing our workforce;

 

   

tariffs, duties, export controls and other trade barriers;

 

   

longer accounts receivable settlement cycles and difficulties in collecting accounts receivable;

 

   

recessionary trends, inflation and instability of the financial markets;

 

   

higher interest rates; and

 

   

political instability.

 

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We may not be able to insure or hedge against these risks, and we may not be able to ensure compliance with all of the applicable regulations without incurring additional costs. Furthermore, financing may not be available in countries with less than investment-grade sovereign credit ratings. As a result, it may be difficult to create or maintain profit-making operations in developing countries.

In addition, our results can be affected by trends, developments and other events in individual countries. There can be no assurance that in the future other country-specific trends, developments or other events will not have such a significant adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition. Unfavorable conditions can depress sales in any given market and prompt promotional or other actions that affect our margins.

Our business may be adversely affected by competitive market conditions and we may not be able to execute our business strategy.

We intend to increase revenues and cash flow through a business strategy which requires us, among other things, to continue to maximize the value of our music assets, to significantly reduce costs to maximize flexibility and adjust to new realities of the market, to continue to act to contain digital piracy and to diversify our revenue streams into growing segments of the music business by entering into expanded-rights deals with recording artists and by operating our artist services businesses and to capitalize on digital distribution and emerging technologies.

Each of these initiatives requires sustained management focus, organization and coordination over significant periods of time. Each of these initiatives also requires success in building relationships with third parties and in anticipating and keeping up with technological developments and consumer preferences and may involve the implementation of new business models or distribution platforms. The results of our strategy and the success of our implementation of this strategy will not be known for some time in the future. If we are unable to implement our strategy successfully or properly react to changes in market conditions, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected.

Our ability to operate effectively could be impaired if we fail to attract and retain our executive officers.

Our success depends, in part, upon the continuing contributions of our executive officers. Although we have employment agreements with our executive officers, there is no guarantee that they will not leave. The loss of the services of any of our executive officers or the failure to attract other executive officers could have a material adverse effect on our business or our business prospects.

A significant portion of our Music Publishing revenues is subject to rate regulation either by government entities or by local third-party collection societies throughout the world and rates on other income streams may be set by arbitration proceedings, which may limit our profitability.

Mechanical royalties and performance royalties are the two largest sources of income to our Music Publishing business and mechanical royalties are a significant expense to our Recorded Music business. In the U.S., mechanical rates are set pursuant to an arbitration process under the U.S. Copyright Act unless rates are determined through voluntary industry negotiations and performance rates are set by performing rights societies and subject to challenge by performing rights licensees. Outside the U.S., mechanical and performance rates are typically negotiated on an industry-wide basis. The mechanical and performance rates set pursuant to such processes may adversely affect us by limiting our ability to increase the profitability of our Music Publishing business. If the mechanical rates are set too high it may also adversely affect us by limiting our ability to increase the profitability of our Recorded Music business. In addition, rates our Recorded Music business receives in the U.S. for, among other sources of income and potential income, webcasting and satellite radio are set by an arbitration process under the U.S. Copyright Act unless rates are determined through voluntary industry negotiations. It is important as sales shift from physical to diversified distribution channels that we receive fair value for all of the uses of our intellectual property as our business model now depends upon multiple revenue streams from multiple sources. If the rates for Recorded Music income sources that are established through legally prescribed rate-setting processes are set too low, it could have a material adverse impact on our Recorded Music business or our business prospects.

 

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An impairment in the carrying value of goodwill or other intangible and long-lived assets could negatively affect our operating results and equity.

On September 30, 2011, we had $1.366 billion of goodwill and $102 million of indefinite-lived intangible assets. Financial Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 350, Intangibles—Goodwill and other (“ASC 350”) requires that we test these assets for impairment annually (or more frequently should indications of impairment arise) by estimating the fair value of each of our reporting units (calculated using a discounted cash flow method) and comparing that value to the reporting units’ carrying value. If the carrying value exceeds the fair value, there is a potential impairment and additional testing must be performed. In performing our annual tests and determining whether indications of impairment exist, we consider numerous factors including actual and projected operating results of each reporting unit, external market factors such as market prices for similar assets, the market capitalization of our stock, and trends in the music industry. As noted, the Merger was completed during the fourth quarter of fiscal year ended September 30, 2011 and resulted in all assets and liabilities being recognized at fair value as of July 20, 2011. This eliminated the need for the Company to perform a separate annual assessment of the recoverability of its goodwill and intangibles. No indicators of impairment were identified during the Predecessor period that required the Company to perform an interim assessment or recoverability test, nor were any identified during the Successor period. However, future events may occur that could adversely affect the estimated fair value of our reporting units. Such events may include, but are not limited to, strategic decisions made in response to changes in economic and competitive conditions and the impact of the economic environment on our operating results. Failure to achieve sufficient levels of cash flow at our reporting units could also result in impairment charges on goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets. If the value of the acquired goodwill or acquired indefinite-lived intangible assets is impaired, our operating results and shareholders’ equity could be adversely affected.

We also had $2.718 billion of definite-lived intangible assets as of September 30, 2011. FASB ASC Topic 360-10-35, (“ASC 360-10-35”) requires companies to review these assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts may not be recoverable. If similar events occur as enumerated above such that we believe indicators of impairment are present, we would test for recoverability by comparing the carrying value of the asset to the net undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated from the asset. If those net undiscounted cash flows do not exceed the carrying amount, we would perform the next step, which is to determine the fair value of the asset, which could result in an impairment charge. Any impairment charge recorded would negatively affect our operating results and shareholders’ equity.

Unfavorable currency exchange rate fluctuations could adversely affect our results of operations.

The reporting currency for our financial statements is the U.S. dollar. We have substantial assets, liabilities, revenues and costs denominated in currencies other than U.S. dollars. To prepare our consolidated financial statements, we must translate those assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses into U.S. dollars at then-applicable exchange rates. Consequently, increases and decreases in the value of the U.S. dollar versus other currencies will affect the amount of these items in our consolidated financial statements, even if their value has not changed in their original currency. These translations could result in significant changes to our results of operations from period to period. Prior to intersegment eliminations, approximately 60% of our revenues related to operations in foreign territories for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011. From time to time, we enter into foreign exchange contracts to hedge the risk of unfavorable foreign currency exchange rate movements. As of September 30, 2011, we have hedged a portion of our material foreign currency exposures related to royalty payments remitted between our foreign affiliates and our U.S. affiliates through the end of the current fiscal year.

We may not have full control and ability to direct the operations we conduct through joint ventures.

We currently have interests in a number of joint ventures and may in the future enter into further joint ventures as a means of conducting our business. In addition, we structure certain of our relationships with

 

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recording artists and songwriters as joint ventures. We may not be able to fully control the operations and the assets of our joint ventures, and we may not be able to make major decisions or may not be able to take timely actions with respect to our joint ventures unless our joint venture partners agree.

The enactment of legislation limiting the terms by which an individual can be bound under a “personal services” contract could impair our ability to retain the services of key artists.

California Labor Code Section 2855 (“Section 2855”) limits the duration of time any individual can be bound under a contract for “personal services” to a maximum of seven years. In 1987, Subsection (b) was added, which provides a limited exception to Section 2855 for recording contracts, creating a damages remedy for record companies. Legislation was introduced in New York in 2009 to create a statute similar to Section 2855 to limit contracts between artists and record companies to a term of seven years which term may be reduced to three years if the artist was not represented in the negotiation and execution of such contracts by qualified counsel experienced with entertainment industry law and practices, potentially affecting the duration of artist contracts. There is no assurance that California will not introduce legislation in the future seeking to repeal Subsection (b). The repeal of Subsection (b) of Section 2855 and/or the passage of legislation similar to Section 2855 by other states could materially affect our results of operations and financial position.

We face a potential loss of catalog if it is determined that recording artists have a right to recapture rights in their recordings under the U.S. Copyright Act.

The U.S. Copyright Act provides authors (or their heirs) a right to terminate U.S. licenses or assignments of rights in their copyrighted works in certain circumstances. This right does not apply to works that are “works made for hire.” Since the effective date of U.S. federal copyright protection for sound recordings (February 15, 1972), virtually all of our agreements with recording artists provide that such recording artists render services under a work-made-for-hire relationship. A termination right exists under the U.S. Copyright Act for U.S. rights in musical compositions that are not “works made for hire.” If any of our commercially available sound recordings were determined not to be “works made for hire,” then the recording artists (or their heirs) could have the right to terminate the U.S. federal copyright rights they granted to us, generally during a five-year period starting at the end of 35 years from the date of release of a recording under a post-1977 license or assignment (or, in the case of a pre-1978 grant in a pre-1978 recording, generally during a five-year period starting at the end of 56 years from the date of copyright). A termination of U.S. federal copyright rights could have an adverse effect on our Recorded Music business. From time to time, authors (or their heirs) can terminate our U.S. rights in musical compositions. However, we believe the effect of those terminations is already reflected in the financial results of our Music Publishing business.

If we acquire, combine with or invest in other businesses, we will face certain risks inherent in such transactions.

We may pursue strategic transactions in the future, which could be difficult to implement, disrupt our business or change our business profile significantly.

We have in the past considered and will continue to, from time to time, consider opportunistic strategic transactions, which could involve acquisitions, combinations or dispositions of businesses or assets, or strategic alliances or joint ventures with companies engaged in businesses that are similar or complementary to ours. Any such strategic combination could be material. Any future strategic transaction could involve numerous risks, including:

 

   

potential disruption of our ongoing business and distraction of management;

 

   

potential loss of recording artists or songwriters from our rosters;

 

   

difficulty integrating the acquired businesses or segregating assets to be disposed of;

 

   

exposure to unknown and/or contingent or other liabilities, including litigation arising in connection with the acquisition, disposition and/or against any businesses we may acquire;

 

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reputational or other damages to our business as a result of a failure to consummate such a transaction for, among other reasons, failure to gain anti-trust approval; and

 

   

changing our business profile in ways that could have unintended consequences.

If we enter into significant strategic transactions in the future, related accounting charges may affect our financial condition and results of operations, particularly in the case of any acquisitions. In addition, the financing of any significant acquisition may result in changes in our capital structure, including the incurrence of additional indebtedness. Conversely, any material disposition could reduce our indebtedness or require the amendment or refinancing of our outstanding indebtedness or a portion thereof. We may not be successful in addressing these risks or any other problems encountered in connection with any strategic transactions. We cannot assure you that if we make any future acquisitions, investments, strategic alliances or joint ventures or enter into any business combination that they will be completed in a timely manner, that they will be structured or financed in a way that will enhance our creditworthiness or that they will meet our strategic objectives or otherwise be successful. We also may not be successful in implementing appropriate operational, financial and management systems and controls to achieve the benefits expected to result from these transactions. Failure to effectively manage any of these transactions could result in material increases in costs or reductions in expected revenues, or both. In addition, if any new business in which we invest or which we attempt to develop does not progress as planned, we may not recover the funds and resources we have expended and this could have a negative impact on our businesses or our company as a whole.

We have outsourced our information technology infrastructure and certain finance and accounting functions and may outsource other back-office functions, which will make us more dependent upon third parties.

In an effort to make our information technology, or IT, more efficient and increase our IT capabilities and reduce potential disruptions, as well as generate cost savings, we signed a contract during fiscal year 2009 with a third-party service provider to outsource a significant portion of our IT infrastructure functions. This outsourcing initiative was a component of our ongoing strategy to monitor our costs and to seek additional cost savings. As a result, we rely on third parties to ensure that our IT needs are sufficiently met. This reliance subjects us to risks arising from the loss of control over IT processes, changes in pricing that may affect our operating results, and potentially, termination of provisions of these services by our supplier. In addition, in an effort to make our finance and accounting functions more efficient, as well as generate cost savings, we signed a contract during fiscal year 2009 with a third-party service provider to outsource certain finance and accounting functions. A failure of our service providers to perform services in a satisfactory manner may have a significant adverse effect on our business. We may outsource other back-office functions in the future, which would increase our reliance on third parties.

We have engaged in substantial restructuring activities in the past, and may need to implement further restructurings in the future and our restructuring efforts may not be successful or generate expected cost savings.

The recorded music industry continues to undergo substantial change. These changes continue to have a substantial impact on our business. See “—The recorded music industry has been declining and may continue to decline, which may adversely affect our prospects and our results of operations.” Following the 2004 Acquisition, we implemented a broad restructuring plan in order to adapt our cost structure to the changing economics of the music industry. We continue to shift resources from our physical sales channels to efforts focused on digital distribution, emerging technologies and other new revenue streams. In addition, in order to help mitigate the effects of the recorded music transition, we continue our efforts to reduce overhead and manage our variable and fixed cost structure to minimize any impact. As of the completion of the Merger in July 2011, we have targeted cost-savings over the next nine fiscal quarters of $50 million to $65 million based on identified cost-savings initiatives and opportunities. There can be no assurances that these cost-savings will be achieved in full or at all.

 

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We cannot be certain that we will not be required to implement further restructuring activities, make additions or other changes to our management or workforce based on other cost reduction measures or changes in the markets and industry in which we compete. Our inability to structure our operations based on evolving market conditions could impact our business. Restructuring activities can create unanticipated consequences and negative impacts on the business, and we cannot be sure that any future restructuring efforts will be successful or generate expected cost savings.

Access, which indirectly owns all of our outstanding capital stock following the consummation of the Merger, controls our company and may have conflicts of interest with the holders of our debt or us in the future. Access may also enter into, or cause us to enter into, strategic transactions that could change the nature or structure of our business, capital structure or credit profile.

Following the consummation of the Merger, Access indirectly owns all of our common stock, and the actions that Access undertakes as the sole ultimate shareholder may differ from or adversely affect the interests of debt holders. Because Access ultimately controls our voting shares and those of all of our subsidiaries, it has the power, among other things, to affect our legal and capital structure and our day-to-day operations, as well as to elect our directors and those of our subsidiaries, to change our management and to approve any other changes to our operations. Access also has the power to direct us to engage in strategic transactions, with or involving other companies in our industry, including acquisitions, combinations or dispositions, and any such transaction could be material. Any such transaction would carry the risks set forth above under “—If we acquire, combine with or invest in other businesses, we will face certain risks inherent in such transactions.”

Additionally, Access is in the business of making investments in companies and is actively seeking to acquire interests in businesses that operate in our industry and may compete, directly or indirectly, with us. Access may also pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business, which could have the effect of making such acquisition opportunities unavailable to us. Access could elect to cause us to enter into business combinations or other transactions with any business or businesses in our industry that Access may acquire or control, or we could become part of a group of companies organized under the ultimate common control of Access that may be operated in a manner different from the manner in which we have historically operated. Any such business combination transaction could require that we or such group of companies incur additional indebtedness, and could also require us or any acquired business to make divestitures of assets necessary or desirable to obtain regulatory approval for such transaction. The amounts of such additional indebtedness, and the size of any such divestitures, could be material. Access may also from time to time purchase outstanding indebtedness that we issued prior to, or in connection with, the Merger. Any purchase of such indebtedness may affect the value of, trading price or liquidity of such indebtedness.

Finally, because we do not have any securities listed on a securities exchange following the consummation of the Merger and the related transactions, we are not subject to certain of the corporate governance requirements of any securities exchange, including any requirement to have any independent directors.

Our reliance on one company as the primary supplier for the manufacturing, packaging and physical distribution of our products in the U.S. and Canada and part of Europe could have an adverse impact on our ability to meet our manufacturing, packaging and physical distribution requirements.

We have recently renewed our agreements with Cinram. On November 16, 2010, we entered into a series of new agreements with Cinram and its affiliates including an agreement with Cinram Manufacturing LLC (formerly Cinram Manufacturing Inc.), Cinram Distribution LLC and Cinram International Inc. for the U.S. and Canada and an agreement with Cinram International Inc., Cinram GmbH and Cinram Operations UK Limited for certain territories within the European Union. We entered into certain amendments to the agreements in January 2011. Both new agreements, as amended, now expire on January 31, 2014. The terms of the new agreements, as amended, remain substantially the same as the terms of the original 2003 agreements, as amended, but now provide us with the option to use third-party vendors at any time to fulfill our requirements for up to a certain percentage of the volume provided to us during the 2010 calendar year by Cinram (and up to a higher percentage

 

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upon the occurrence of certain events). In addition, we have expanded termination rights. As Cinram continues to be our primary supplier of manufacturing and distribution services in the U.S., Canada and part of Europe, our continued ability to meet our manufacturing, packaging and physical distribution requirements in those territories depends largely on Cinram’s continued successful operation in accordance with the service level requirements mandated by us in our service agreements. If, for any reason, Cinram were to fail to meet contractually required service levels, or were unable to otherwise continue to provide services, we may have difficulty satisfying our commitments to our wholesale and retail customers in the short term until we more fully transitioned to an alternate provider, which could have an adverse impact on our revenues. In February 2011, Cinram announced the successful completion of a refinancing and recapitalization transaction. Any future inability of Cinram to continue to provide services due to financial distress, refinancing issues or otherwise could also require us to switch to substitute suppliers of these services for more services than currently planned. Even though our agreements with Cinram give us a right to terminate based upon failure to meet mandated service levels and now also permit us to use third-party vendors for a portion of our service requirements, and although there are several capable substitute suppliers, it might be costly for us to switch to substitute suppliers for any such services, particularly in the short term, and the delay and transition time associated with finding substitute suppliers could also have an adverse impact on our revenues.

Risks Related to our Leverage

Our substantial leverage on a consolidated basis could adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, limit our ability to react to changes in the economy or our industry and prevent us from meeting our obligations under our indebtedness.

We are highly leveraged. As of September 30, 2011, our total consolidated indebtedness was $2.217 billion. In addition, we would have been able to borrow up to $60 million under our Revolving Credit Facility.

Our high degree of leverage could have important consequences for our investors. For example, it may:

 

   

make it more difficult for us to make payments on our indebtedness;

 

   

increase our vulnerability to general economic and industry conditions, including recessions and periods of significant inflation and financial market volatility;

 

   

expose us to the risk of increased interest rates because any borrowings we make under the Revolving Credit Facility will bear interest at variable rates;

 

   

require us to use a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to service our indebtedness, thereby reducing our ability to fund working capital, capital expenditures and other expenses;

 

   

limit our ability to refinance existing indebtedness on favorable terms or at all or borrow additional funds in the future for, among other things, working capital, acquisitions or debt service requirements;

 

   

limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industries in which we operate;

 

   

place us at a competitive disadvantage compared to competitors that have less indebtedness; and

 

   

limit our ability to borrow additional funds that may be needed to operate and expand our business.

We and our subsidiaries may be able to incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future, subject to the restrictions contained in our indentures relating to our outstanding notes and the Revolving Credit Facility. If new indebtedness is added to our current debt levels, the related risks that we and our subsidiaries now face could intensify.

 

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We may not be able to generate sufficient cash to service all of our indebtedness, and may be forced to take other actions to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness, which may not be successful.

Our ability to make scheduled payments on or to refinance our debt obligations depends on our financial condition and operating performance, which is subject to prevailing economic and competitive conditions and to certain financial, business and other factors beyond our control. We may not maintain a level of cash flows from operating activities sufficient to permit us to pay the principal, premium, if any, and interest on our indebtedness.

Holdings, our immediate subsidiary, will rely on our indirect subsidiary Acquisition Corp. and its subsidiaries to make payments on its borrowings. If Acquisition Corp. does not dividend funds to Holdings in an amount sufficient to make such payments, if necessary in the future, Holdings may default under the indenture governing its borrowings, which would result in all such notes becoming due and payable. Because Acquisition Corp.’s debt agreements have covenants that limit its ability to make payments to Holdings, Holdings may not have access to funds in an amount sufficient to service its indebtedness.

Our debt agreements contain restrictions that limit our flexibility in operating our business.

The indentures governing our outstanding notes contain various covenants that limit our ability to engage in specified types of transactions. These covenants limit our ability, Holdings’ ability and the ability of our restricted subsidiaries to, among other things:

 

   

incur additional debt or issue certain preferred shares;

 

   

create liens on certain debt;

 

   

pay dividends on or make distributions in respect of our capital stock or make investments or other restricted payments;

 

   

sell certain assets;

 

   

create restrictions on the ability of our restricted subsidiaries to pay dividends to us or make certain other intercompany transfers;

 

   

enter into certain transactions with our affiliates; and

 

   

consolidate, merge, sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets.

In addition, the credit agreement governing the Revolving Credit Facility contains a number of covenants that limit our ability and the ability of our restricted subsidiaries to:

 

   

pay dividends on, and redeem and purchase, equity interests;

 

   

make other restricted payments;

 

   

make prepayments on, redeem or repurchase certain debt;

 

   

incur certain liens;

 

   

make certain loans and investments;

 

   

incur certain additional debt;

 

   

enter into guarantees and hedging arrangements;

 

   

enter into mergers, acquisitions and asset sales;

 

   

enter into transactions with affiliates;

 

   

change the business we and our subsidiaries conduct;

 

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restrict the ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or make distributions;

 

   

amend the terms of subordinated debt and unsecured bonds; and

 

   

make certain capital expenditures.

Our ability to borrow additional amounts under the Revolving Credit Facility will depend upon satisfaction of these covenants. Events beyond our control can affect our ability to meet these covenants.

Our failure to comply with obligations under the instruments governing their indebtedness may result in an event of default under such instruments. We cannot be certain that we will have funds available to remedy these defaults. A default, if not cured or waived, may permit acceleration of our indebtedness. If our indebtedness is accelerated, we cannot be certain that we will have sufficient funds available to pay the accelerated indebtedness or will have the ability to refinance the accelerated indebtedness on terms favorable to us or at all.

All of these restrictions could affect our ability to operate our business or may limit our ability to take advantage of potential business opportunities as they arise.

If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we may be forced to reduce or delay investments in recording artists and songwriters, capital expenditures or dividends, or to sell assets, seek additional capital or restructure or refinance our indebtedness. These alternative measures may not be successful and may not permit us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. In the absence of such operating results and resources, we could face substantial liquidity problems and might be required to dispose of material assets or operations to meet our debt service and other obligations. The indentures governing our outstanding notes restrict our ability to dispose of assets and use the proceeds from dispositions. We may not be able to consummate those dispositions or to obtain the proceeds which we could realize from them and these proceeds may not be adequate to meet any debt service obligations then due.

A reduction in our credit ratings could impact our cost of capital.

Although reductions in our debt ratings may not have an immediate impact on the cost of debt or our liquidity, they may impact the cost of debt and liquidity over the medium term and future access at a reasonable rate to the debt markets may be adversely impacted.

 

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

 

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

We own studio and office facilities and also lease certain facilities in the ordinary course of business. Our executive offices are located at 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10019. We have a ten-year lease ending on July 31, 2014 for our headquarters at 75 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York 10019. We also have a long-term lease ending on December 31, 2019, for office space in a building located at 3400 West Olive Avenue, Burbank, California 91505, used primarily by our Recorded Music business, and another lease ending on June 30, 2017 for office space at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10104, used primarily by our Recorded Music business. We also have a five-year lease ending on April 30, 2013 for office space at 10585 Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90025, used primarily by our Music Publishing business. We consider our properties adequate for our current needs.

 

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Litigation

Pricing of Digital Music Downloads

On December 20, 2005 and February 3, 2006, the Attorney General of the State of New York served us with requests for information in connection with an industry-wide investigation as to the pricing of digital music downloads. On February 28, 2006, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice served us with a Civil Investigative Demand, also seeking information relating to the pricing of digitally downloaded music. Both investigations were ultimately closed, but subsequent to the announcements of the investigations, more than thirty putative class action lawsuits were filed concerning the pricing of digital music downloads. The lawsuits were consolidated in the Southern District of New York. The consolidated amended complaint, filed on April 13, 2007, alleges conspiracy among record companies to delay the release of their content for digital distribution, inflate their pricing of CDs and fix prices for digital downloads. The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory, statutory and treble damages. On October 9, 2008, the District Court issued an order dismissing the case as to all defendants, including us. However, on January 12, 2010, the Second Circuit vacated the judgment of the District Court and remanded the case for further proceedings and on January 10, 2011, the Supreme Court denied the defendants’ petition for Certiorari.

Upon remand to the District Court, all defendants, including the Company, filed a renewed motion to dismiss challenging, among other things, plaintiffs’ state law claims and standing to bring certain claims. The renewed motion was based mainly on arguments made in defendants’ original motion to dismiss, but not addressed by the District Court. On July 18, 2011, the District Court granted defendants’ motion in part, and denied it in part. The case will proceed into discovery, based on a schedule to be determined by the District Court. The Company intends to defend against these lawsuits vigorously, but is unable to predict the outcome of these suits. Regardless of the merits of the claims, this and any related litigation could continue to be costly, and divert the time and resources of management.

Other Matters

In addition to the matter discussed above, we are involved in other litigation arising in the normal course of business. Management does not believe that any legal proceedings pending against us will have, individually, or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on its business. However, we cannot predict with certainty the outcome of any litigation or the potential for future litigation. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on our company, including our brand value, because of defense costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.

 

ITEM 4. (REMOVED AND RESERVED)

 

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PART II

 

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

There is no established public trading market for any class of our common equity. As of December 8, 2011, there were 1,000 shares of our common stock outstanding. AI Entertainment Holdings LLC, which is an affiliate of Access, currently owns 100% of our common stock.

Dividend Policy

We did not pay any cash dividends to our stockholders in fiscal years 2011 or 2010. Any future determination to pay dividends will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, cash requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors our Board of Directors may deem relevant.

Our ability to pay dividends is restricted by covenants in the indentures governing our notes and in the credit agreement for our Revolving Credit Facility. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Financial Condition and Liquidity—Liquidity.”

 

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

Our summary balance sheet data as of September 30, 2011 (Successor) and 2010 (Predecessor), and the statement of operations and other data for the period from October 1, 2010 to July 19, 2011 (Predecessor) and from July 20, 2011 to September 30, 2011 (Successor) and for each of fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009 (Predecessor) have been derived from our audited financial statements included in this annual report on Form 10-K. Our summary statement of operations and other data for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2008 and 2007 (Predecessor) have been derived from our audited financial statements that are not included in this annual report on Form 10-K. Our summary balance sheet data as of September 30, 2009, 2008 and 2007 (Predecessor) were derived from our audited financial statements that are not included in this annual report on Form 10-K.

The following table sets forth our selected historical financial and other data as of the dates and for the periods ended:

 

    Successor         Predecessor  
    From July 20, 2011
through September 30,
2011
         From October  1,
2010 through
July 19, 2011
    Year Ended
September 30,
2010
    Year Ended
September 30,
2009
    Year Ended
September 30,
2008
    Year Ended
September 30,
2007
 

Statement of Operations Data:

               

Revenues (1)

  $ 554          $ 2,315      $ 2,988      $ 3,205      $ 3,506      $ 3,383   

Net loss attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. (2)(3)(4)

    (31         (174     (143     (100     (56     (21

Diluted loss per common share (5):

          (1.15     (0.96     (0.67     (0.38     (0.14

Dividends per common share

          —          —          —          0.26        0.52   
 

Balance Sheet Data (at period end):

               

Cash and equivalents

  $ 154            $ 439      $ 384      $ 411      $ 333   

Total assets

    5,469              3,811        4,063        4,526        4,572   

Total debt (including current portion of long-term debt)

    2,217              1,945        1,939        2,259        2,273   

Warner Music Group Corp. equity (deficit)

    1,096              (265     (143     (86     (36
 

Cash Flow Data:

               

Cash flows (used in) provided by:

               

Operating activities

  $ (64       $ 12      $ 150      $ 237      $ 304      $ 302   

Investing activities

    (1,292         (155     (85     82        (167     (255

Financing activities

    1,199            5        (3     (346     (59     (94

Capital expenditures

    (11         (37     (51     (27     (32     (29

 

(1) Revenues for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009 include $5 million and $25 million, respectively, from an agreement reached by the U.S. recorded music and music publishing industries for payment of mechanical royalties which were accrued by U.S. record companies in prior years.
(2) Net loss attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. for the period from July 20, 2011 through September 30, 2011 and for the period from October 1, 2010 through July 19, 2011 include $10 million and $43 million of transaction costs, respectively, in connection with the Merger.
(3) Net loss attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. for the period from July 20, 2011 through September 30, 2011, for the period from October 1, 2010 through July 19, 2011 and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010, September 30, 2009, September 30, 2008 and September 30, 2007 include severance charges of $9 million, $29 million, $54 million, $23 million $0 million and $50 million, respectively, resulting from actions to align the Company’s cost structure with industry trends.
(4) Net loss attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2007 includes a $64 million benefit related to an agreement the Company entered into with Bertelsmann AG (“Bertelsmann”) related to a settlement of contingent claims held by the Company related to Bertelsmann’s relationship with Napster in 2000-2001. The settlement covers the resolution of the related legal claims against Bertelsmann by our Recorded Music and Music Publishing businesses.
(5) Net income (loss) per share for our Predecessor results were calculated by dividing net income (loss) attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. by the weighted average common shares outstanding.

 

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion of our results of operations and financial condition with the audited financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 (the “Annual Report”).

“SAFE HARBOR” STATEMENT UNDER PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This Annual Report includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this Annual Report, including, without limitation, statements regarding our future financial position, business strategy, budgets, projected costs, cost savings, industry trends and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe” or “continue” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Such statements include, among others, statements regarding our ability to develop talent and attract future talent, our ability to reduce future capital expenditures, our ability to monetize our music content, including through new distribution channels and formats to capitalize on the growth areas of the music industry, our ability to effectively deploy our capital, the development of digital music and the effect of digital distribution channels on our business, including whether we will be able to achieve higher margins from digital sales, the success of strategic actions we are taking to accelerate our transformation as we redefine our role in the music industry, the effectiveness of our ongoing efforts to reduce overhead expenditures and manage our variable and fixed cost structure and our ability to generate expected cost savings from such efforts, our success in limiting piracy, our ability to compete in the highly competitive markets in which we operate, the growth of the music industry and the effect of our and the music industry’s efforts to combat piracy on the industry, our intention to pay dividends or repurchase our outstanding notes in open market purchases, privately or otherwise, the impact on us of potential strategic transactions, our ability to fund our future capital needs and the effect of litigation on us. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct.

There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report. Additionally, important factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make in this Annual Report. As stated elsewhere in this Annual Report, such risks, uncertainties and other important factors include, among others:

 

   

litigation in respect of the Merger;

 

   

disruption from the Merger and the transactions related to the Merger making it more difficult to maintain certain strategic relationships;

 

   

risks relating to recent or future ratings agency actions or downgrades as a result of the Merger and the transactions related to the Merger or for any other reason;

 

   

reduced access to capital markets as the result of the delisting of the our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange following consummation of the Merger;

 

   

the impact of our substantial leverage, including the increase associated with additional indebtedness incurred in connection with the Merger and the transactions related to the Merger, on our ability to raise additional capital to fund our operations, on our ability to react to changes in the economy or our industry and on our ability to meet our obligations under our indebtedness;

 

   

our ability to achieve expected or targeted cost savings following consummation of the Merger;

 

   

the continued decline in the global recorded music industry and the rate of overall decline in the music industry;

 

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our ability to continue to identify, sign and retain desirable talent at manageable costs;

 

   

the threat posed to our business by piracy of music by means of home CD-R activity, Internet peer-to-peer filesharing and sideloading of unauthorized content;

 

   

the significant threat posed to our business and the music industry by organized industrial piracy;

 

   

the popular demand for particular recording artists and/or songwriters and albums and the timely completion of albums by major recording artists and/or songwriters;

 

   

the diversity and quality of our portfolio of songwriters;

 

   

the diversity and quality of our album releases;

 

   

significant fluctuations in our results of operations and cash flows due to the nature of our business;

 

   

our involvement in intellectual property litigation;

 

   

the possible downward pressure on our pricing and profit margins;

 

   

our ability to continue to enforce our intellectual property rights in digital environments;

 

   

the ability to develop a successful business model applicable to a digital environment and to enter into expanded-rights deals with recording artists in order to broaden our revenue streams in growing segments of the music business;

 

   

the impact of heightened and intensive competition in the recorded music and music publishing businesses and our inability to execute our business strategy;

 

   

risks associated with our non-U.S. operations, including limited legal protections of our intellectual property rights and restrictions on the repatriation of capital;

 

   

the impact of legitimate music distribution on the Internet or the introduction of other new music distribution formats;

 

   

the reliance on a limited number of online music stores and their ability to significantly influence the pricing structure for online music stores;

 

   

the impact of rate regulations on our Recorded Music and Music Publishing businesses;

 

   

the impact of rates on other income streams that may be set by arbitration proceedings on our business;

 

   

the impact an impairment in the carrying value of goodwill or other intangible and long-lived assets could have on our operating results and shareholders’ deficit;

 

   

risks associated with the fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates;

 

   

our ability and the ability of our joint venture partners to operate our existing joint ventures satisfactorily;

 

   

the enactment of legislation limiting the terms by which an individual can be bound under a “personal services” contract;

 

   

potential loss of catalog if it is determined that recording artists have a right to recapture recordings under the U.S. Copyright Act;

 

   

changes in law and government regulations;

 

   

trends that affect the end uses of our musical compositions (which include uses in broadcast radio and television, film and advertising businesses);

 

   

the growth of other products that compete for the disposable income of consumers;

 

   

the impact on the competitive landscape of the music industry from the announced sale of EMI’s recorded music and music publishing businesses.

 

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risks inherent in relying on one supplier for manufacturing, packaging and distribution services in North America and Europe;

 

   

risks inherent in our acquiring or investing in other businesses including our ability to successfully manage new businesses that we may acquire as we diversify revenue streams within the music industry;

 

   

the fact that we have engaged in substantial restructuring activities in the past, and may need to implement further restructurings in the future and our restructuring efforts may not be successful or generate expected cost savings;

 

   

the fact that we are outsourcing certain back-office functions, such as IT infrastructure and development and certain finance and accounting functions, which will make us more dependent upon third parties;

 

   

the possibility that our owners’ interests will conflict with ours or yours; and

 

   

failure to attract and retain key personnel.

There may be other factors not presently known to us or which we currently consider to be immaterial that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements.

All forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf apply only as of the date of this Annual Report and are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements included in this Annual Report. We disclaim any duty to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

INTRODUCTION

Warner Music Group Corp. was formed on November 21, 2003. The Company is the direct parent of WMG Holdings Corp. (“Holdings”), which is the direct parent of WMG Acquisition Corp. (“Acquisition Corp.”). Acquisition Corp is one of the world’s major music-based content companies.

Pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of May 6, 2011 (the “Merger Agreement”), by and among the Company, AI Entertainment Holdings LLC (formerly Airplanes Music LLC), a Delaware limited liability company (“Parent”) and an affiliate of Access Industries, Inc. (“Access”) and Airplanes Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (“Merger Sub”), on July 20, 2011 (the “Closing Date”), Merger Sub merged with and into the Company with the Company surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent (the “Merger”).

On July 20, 2011, in connection with the Merger, each outstanding share of common stock of the Company (other than any shares owned by the Company or its wholly owned subsidiaries, or by Parent and its affiliates, or by any stockholders who were entitled to and who properly exercised appraisal rights under Delaware law, and shares of unvested restricted stock granted under the Company’s equity plan) was cancelled and converted automatically into the right to receive $8.25 in cash, without interest and less applicable withholding taxes (collectively, the “Merger Consideration”).

On July 20, 2011, the Company notified the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (the “NYSE”) of its intent to remove the Company’s common stock from listing on the NYSE and requested that the NYSE file with the SEC an application on Form 25 to report the delisting of the Company’s common stock from the NYSE. On July 21, 2011, in accordance with the Company’s request, the NYSE filed the Form 25 with the SEC in order to provide notification of such delisting and to effect the deregistration of the Company’s common stock under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). On August 2, 2011, the Company filed a Form 15 with the SEC in order to provide notification of a suspension of its duty to file reports under Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. We continue to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the Exchange Act in accordance with certain covenants contained in the instruments governing our outstanding indebtedness.

 

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Parent Funded the Merger Consideration through cash on hand at the Company at closing, equity financing obtained from Parent and debt financing obtained from third party leaders.

The Company and Holdings are holding companies that conduct substantially all of their business operations through their subsidiaries. The terms “we,” “us,” “our,” “ours,” and the “Company” refer collectively to Warner Music Group Corp. and its consolidated subsidiaries, except where otherwise indicated.

Management’s discussion and analysis of results of operations and financial condition (“MD&A”) is provided as a supplement to the audited financial statements and footnotes included elsewhere herein to help provide an understanding of our financial condition, changes in financial condition and results of our operations. MD&A is organized as follows:

 

   

Overview. This section provides a general description of our business, as well as recent developments that we believe are important in understanding our results of operations and financial condition and in anticipating future trends.

 

   

Results of operations. This section provides an analysis of our results of operations for the successor period from July 20, 2011 to September 30, 2011, and the predecessor period from October 1, 2010 to July 19, 2011 and for the predecessor fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009. This analysis is presented on both a consolidated and segment basis.

 

   

Financial condition and liquidity. This section provides an analysis of our cash flows for the successor period from July 20, 2011 to September 30, 2011, and the predecessor period from October 1, 2010 to July 19, 2011 and for the predecessor fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, as well as a discussion of our financial condition and liquidity as of September 30, 2011 (Successor). The discussion of our financial condition and liquidity includes (i) a summary of our debt agreements and (ii) a summary of the key debt compliance measures under our debt agreements.

Overall Operating Results

In accordance with United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), we have separated our historical financial results for the period from July 20, 2011 to September 30, 2011 (“Successor”) and from October 1, 2010 to July 19, 2011 (“Predecessor”). Successor period and the Predecessor periods are presented on different bases and are, therefore, not comparable. However, we have also combined results for the Successor and Predecessor periods for 2011 in the presentations below because, although such presentation is not in accordance with GAAP, we believe that it enables a meaningful presentation and comparison of results. The combined operating results have not been prepared on a pro-forma basis under applicable regulations and may not reflect the actual results we would have achieved absent the Merger and may not be predictive of future results of operations.

Use of OIBDA

We evaluate our operating performance based on several factors, including our primary financial measure of operating income (loss) before non-cash depreciation of tangible assets, non-cash amortization of intangible assets and non-cash impairment charges to reduce the carrying value of goodwill and intangible assets (which we refer to as “OIBDA”). We consider OIBDA to be an important indicator of the operational strengths and performance of our businesses, including the ability to provide cash flows to service debt. However, a limitation of the use of OIBDA as a performance measure is that it does not reflect the periodic costs of certain capitalized tangible and intangible assets used in generating revenues in our businesses. Accordingly, OIBDA should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, operating income, net income (loss) attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. and other measures of financial performance reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, our definition of OIBDA may differ from similarly titled measures used by other companies. A reconciliation of consolidated historical OIBDA to operating income and net income (loss) attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. is provided in our “Results of Operations.”

 

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Our results of operations for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, and OIBDA as presented herein, reflect the impact of (i) $53 million of transaction costs incurred in connection with the consummation of the Merger, (ii) $38 million of severance-related expenses and (iii) $24 million of share-based compensation expense (including $14 million incurred in connection with the consummation of the Merger). Our results of operation for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, and OIBDA as presented herein, reflect the impact of (i) $54 million of severance-related expenses and (ii) $10 million of share-based compensation expense.

See “- Factors Affecting Results of Operations and Financial Condition” and “- Results of Operations” below for further discussion of these items.

Use of Constant Currency

As exchange rates are an important factor in understanding period to period comparisons, we believe the presentation of results on a constant-currency basis in addition to reported results helps improve the ability to understand our operating results and evaluate our performance in comparison to prior periods. Constant-currency information compares results between periods as if exchange rates had remained constant period over period. We use results on a constant-currency basis as one measure to evaluate our performance. We calculate constant currency by calculating prior-year results using current-year foreign currency exchange rates. We generally refer to such amounts calculated on a constant-currency basis as “excluding the impact of foreign currency exchange rates.” These results should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, results reported in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Results on a constant-currency basis, as we present them, may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies and are not a measure of performance presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

Use of Adjusted Operating Income, Adjusted OIBDA and Adjusted Net Income Attributable to Warner Music Group Corp.

Adjusted operating income, adjusted OIBDA and adjusted net income attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. exclude the impact of certain items relating to the Merger that affect period to period comparability of the unadjusted measures. As such, management uses these measures to evaluate our operating performance and believes that the adjusted results provide relevant and useful information for investors because they clarify our actual operating performance, make it easier to compare our results with those of other companies and allow investors to review performance in the same way as our management. Since these are not measures of performance calculated in accordance with GAAP, they should not be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for operating income and net income attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. as indicators of operating performance and they may not be comparable to similarly titled measures employed by other companies. For a reconciliation of our adjusted measures and discussion of the items affecting comparability refer to the section entitled “Adjusted Results.”

OVERVIEW

We are one of the world’s major music-based content companies. We classify our business interests into two fundamental operations: Recorded Music and Music Publishing. A brief description of each of those operations is presented below.

Recorded Music Operations

Our Recorded Music business primarily consists of the discovery and development of artists and the related marketing, distribution and licensing of recorded music produced by such artists.

We are also diversifying our revenues beyond our traditional businesses by entering into expanded-rights deals with recording artists in order to partner with artists in other areas of their careers. Under these agreements, we provide services to and participate in artists’ activities outside the traditional recorded music business. We

 

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have built artist services capabilities and platforms for exploiting this broader set of music-related rights and participating more broadly in the monetization of the artist brands we help create. In developing our artist services business, we have both built and expanded in-house capabilities and expertise and have acquired a number of existing artist services companies involved in artist management, merchandising, strategic marketing and brand management, ticketing, concert promotion, fan club, original programming and video entertainment.

We believe that entering into expanded-rights deals and enhancing our artist services capabilities will permit us to diversify revenue streams to better capitalize on the growth areas of the music industry and permit us to build stronger long-term relationships with artists and more effectively connect artists and fans.

In the U.S., our Recorded Music operations are conducted principally through our major record labels—Warner Bros. Records and The Atlantic Records Group. Our Recorded Music operations also include Rhino, a division that specializes in marketing our music catalog through compilations and re-issuances of previously released music and video titles, as well as in the licensing of recordings to and from third parties for various uses, including film and television soundtracks. Rhino has also become our primary licensing division focused on acquiring broader licensing rights from certain catalog recording artists. For example, we have an exclusive license with The Grateful Dead to manage the band’s intellectual property and in November 2007 we acquired a 50% interest in Frank Sinatra Enterprises, an entity that administers licenses for use of Frank Sinatra’s name and likeness and manages all aspects of his music, film and stage content. We also conduct our Recorded Music operations through a collection of additional record labels, including, among others, Asylum, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Nonesuch, Reprise, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire and Word.

Outside the U.S., our Recorded Music activities are conducted in more than 50 countries primarily through WMI and its various subsidiaries, affiliates and non-affiliated licensees. WMI engages in the same activities as our U.S. labels: discovering and signing artists and distributing, marketing and selling their recorded music. In most cases, WMI also markets and distributes the records of those artists for whom our domestic record labels have international rights. In certain smaller markets, WMI licenses to unaffiliated third-party record labels the right to distribute its records. Our international artist services operations also include a network of concert promoters through which WMI provides resources to coordinate tours.

Our Recorded Music distribution operations include WEA Corp., which markets and sells music and DVD products to retailers and wholesale distributors in the U.S.; ADA, which distributes the products of independent labels to retail and wholesale distributors in the U.S.; various distribution centers and ventures operated internationally; an 80% interest in Word Entertainment, which specializes in the distribution of music products in the Christian retail marketplace; and ADA Global, which provides distribution services outside of the U.S. through a network of affiliated and non-affiliated distributors.

We play an integral role in virtually all aspects of the music value chain from discovering and developing talent to producing albums and promoting artists and their products. After an artist has entered into a contract with one of our record labels, a master recording of the artist’s music is created. The recording is then replicated for sale to consumers primarily in the CD and digital formats. In the U.S., WEA Corp., ADA and Word market, sell and deliver product, either directly or through sub-distributors and wholesalers, to record stores, mass merchants and other retailers. Our recorded music products are also sold in physical form to online physical retailers such as Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and bestbuy.com and in digital form to online digital retailers like Apple’s iTunes and mobile full-track download stores such as those operated by Verizon or Sprint. In the case of expanded-rights deals where we acquire broader rights in a recording artist’s career, we may provide more comprehensive career support and actively develop new opportunities for an artist through touring, fan clubs, merchandising and sponsorships, among other areas. We believe expanded-rights deals create a better partnership with our artists, which allows us to work together more closely with them to create and sustain artistic and commercial success.

We have integrated the sale of digital content into all aspects of our Recorded Music and Music Publishing businesses including A&R, marketing, promotion and distribution. Our new media executives work closely with

 

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A&R departments to make sure that while a record is being made, digital assets are also created with all of our distribution channels in mind, including subscription services, social networking sites, online portals and music-centered destinations. We also work side by side with our mobile and online partners to test new concepts. We believe existing and new digital businesses will be a significant source of growth for the next several years and will provide new opportunities to monetize our assets and create new revenue streams. As a music-based content company, we have assets that go beyond our recorded music and music publishing catalogs, such as our music video library, which we have begun to monetize through digital channels. The proportion of digital revenues attributed to each distribution channel varies by region and since digital music is still in the relatively early stages of growth, proportions may change as the roll out of new technologies continues. As an owner of musical content, we believe we are well positioned to take advantage of growth in digital distribution and emerging technologies to maximize the value of our assets.

Recorded Music revenues are derived from three main sources:

 

   

Physical and other: the rightsholder receives revenues with respect to sales of physical products such as CDs and DVDs. We are also diversifying our revenues beyond sales of physical products and receive other revenues from our artist services business and our participation in expanded rights associated with our artists and other artists, including sponsorship, fan club, artist websites, merchandising, touring, ticketing and artist and brand management;

 

   

Digital: the rightsholder receives revenues with respect to online and mobile downloads, mobile ringtones or ringback tones and online and mobile streaming; and

 

   

Licensing: the rightsholder receives royalties or fees for the right to use the sound recording in combination with visual images such as in films or television programs, television commercials and videogames.

The principal costs associated with our Recorded Music operations are as follows:

 

   

Royalty costs and artist and repertoire costs—the costs associated with (i) paying royalties to artists, producers, songwriters, other copyright holders and trade unions, (ii) signing and developing artists, (iii) creating master recordings in the studio and (iv) creating artwork for album covers and liner notes;

 

   

Product costs—the costs to manufacture, package and distribute product to wholesale and retail distribution outlets as well as those principal costs related to expanded rights;

 

   

Selling and marketing costs—the costs associated with the promotion and marketing of artists and recorded music products, including costs to produce music videos for promotional purposes and artist tour support; and

 

   

General and administrative costs—the costs associated with general overhead and other administrative costs.

Music Publishing Operations

Where recorded music is focused on exploiting a particular recording of a song, music publishing is an intellectual property business focused on the exploitation of the song itself. In return for promoting, placing, marketing and administering the creative output of a songwriter, or engaging in those activities for other rightsholders, our music publishing business garners a share of the revenues generated from use of the song.

Our music publishing operations include Warner/Chappell, our global music publishing company headquartered in New York with operations in over 50 countries through various subsidiaries, affiliates and non-affiliated licensees. We own or control rights to more than one million musical compositions, including numerous pop hits, American standards, folk songs and motion picture and theatrical compositions. Assembled over decades, our award-winning catalog includes over 65,000 songwriters and composers and a diverse range of genres including pop, rock, jazz, country, R&B, hip-hop, rap, reggae, Latin, folk, blues, symphonic, soul,

 

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Broadway, techno, alternative, gospel and other Christian music. Warner/Chappell also administers the music and soundtracks of several third-party television and film producers and studios, including Lucasfilm, Ltd., Hallmark Entertainment, Disney Music Publishing and Turner Music Publishing. In 2007, we entered the production music library business with the acquisition of Non-Stop Music. We have subsequently continued to expand our production music operations with the acquisitions of Groove Addicts Production Music Library and Carlin Recorded Music Library in 2010 and 615 Music in 2011.

Publishing revenues are derived from five main sources:

 

   

Mechanical: the licensor receives royalties with respect to compositions embodied in recordings sold in any physical format or configuration (e.g., CDs and DVDs);

 

   

Performance: the licensor receives royalties if the composition is performed publicly through broadcast of music on television, radio, cable and satellite, live performance at a concert or other venue (e.g., arena concerts, nightclubs), online and mobile streaming and performance of music in staged theatrical productions;

 

   

Synchronization: the licensor receives royalties or fees for the right to use the composition in combination with visual images such as in films or television programs, television commercials and videogames as well as from other uses such as in toys or novelty items and merchandise;

 

   

Digital: the licensor receives royalties or fees with respect to online and mobile downloads, mobile ringtones and online and mobile streaming; and

 

   

Other: the licensor receives royalties for use in sheet music.

The principal costs associated with our Music Publishing operations are as follows:

 

   

Artist and repertoire costs—the costs associated with (i) signing and developing songwriters and (ii) paying royalties to songwriters, co-publishers and other copyright holders in connection with income generated from the exploitation of their copyrighted works; and

 

   

General and administration costs—the costs associated with general overhead and other administrative costs.

Factors Affecting Results of Operations and Financial Condition

Market Factors

Since 1999, the recorded music industry has been unstable and the worldwide market has contracted considerably, which has adversely affected our operating results. The industry-wide decline can be attributed primarily to digital piracy. Other drivers of this decline are the bankruptcies of record retailers and wholesalers, growing competition for consumer discretionary spending and retail shelf space, and the maturation of the CD format, which has slowed the historical growth pattern of recorded music sales. While CD sales still generate most of the recorded music revenues, CD sales continue to decline industry-wide and we expect that trend to continue. While new formats for selling recorded music product have been created, including the legal downloading of digital music using the Internet and the distribution of music on mobile devices, revenue streams from these new formats have not yet reached a level where they fully offset the declines in CD sales. The recorded music industry performance may continue to negatively impact our operating results. In addition, a declining recorded music industry could continue to have an adverse impact on portions of the music publishing business. This is because the music publishing business generates a significant portion of its revenues from mechanical royalties from the sale of music in CD and other physical recorded music formats.

 

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Transaction Costs

In connection with the Merger, we incurred approximately $10 million and $43 million of transaction costs, primarily representing professional fees, during the period from July 20, 2011 to September 30, 2011 (Successor) and October 1, 2010 to July 19, 2011 (Predecessor), respectively. These amounts were recorded in the consolidated statements of operation.

Share-Based Compensation

In connection with the Merger, the vesting of all outstanding unvested Predecessor options and certain restricted stock awards was accelerated immediately prior to closing. To the extent that such stock options had an exercise price less than $8.25 per share, the holders of such stock options were paid an amount in cash equal to $8.25 less the exercise price of the stock option and any applicable withholding. In addition, all outstanding restricted stock awards either became fully vested or were forfeited immediately prior to the closing; the awards that became fully vested were treated as a share of our common stock for all purposes under the Merger. As a result of the acceleration, Predecessor recorded an additional $14 million in share-based compensation expense for the period from October 1, 2010 to July 19, 2011 (Predecessor) within general and administrative expense.

Prior to the Merger, Predecessor modified certain restricted stock award agreements which resulted in incremental share-based compensation expense of $3 million recorded within general and administrative expense for the period from October 1, 2010 to July 19, 2011 (Predecessor).

Severance Charges

During the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, we took additional actions to further align our cost structure with industry trends. This resulted in severance charges of $9 million and $29 million during the period from July 20, 2011 to September 30, 2011 (Successor) and October 1, 2010 to July 19, 2011 (Predecessor), respectively, compared to $54 million during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 (Predecessor).

Additional Targeted Savings

As of the completion of our Merger on July 20, 2011, we have targeted cost-savings over the next nine fiscal quarters of $50 million to $65 million based on identified cost-saving initiatives and opportunities, including targeted savings expected to be realized as a result of shifting from a public to a private company, reduced expenses related to finance, legal and information technology and reduced expenses related to certain planned corporate restructuring initiatives. There can be no assurances that these cost-savings will be achieved in full or at all.

Limewire Settlement

In May 2011, the major record companies reached a global out-of-court settlement of copyright litigation against Limewire. Under the terms of the settlement, the Limewire defendants agreed to pay compensation to the record companies that brought the action, including us. In connection with this settlement, we recorded a $12 million benefit to general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operation for the period ended July 19, 2011 (Predecessor). These amounts were recorded net of the estimated amounts payable to our artists in respect of royalties.

Mechanical Royalties Payment

In fiscal year 2009 (Predecessor), the U.S. recorded music and music publishing industries reached an agreement for payment of mechanical royalties which were accrued by U.S. record companies in prior years. In connection with this agreement, our music publishing business recognized a benefit of $5 million in revenue and $2 million in OIBDA in fiscal year 2010 (Predecessor) and a benefit of $25 million in revenue and $7 million in OIBDA in fiscal year 2009 (Predecessor).

 

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Expanding Business Models to Offset Declines in Physical Sales

Digital Sales

A key part of our strategy to offset declines in physical sales is to expand digital sales. New digital models have enabled us to find additional ways to generate revenues from our music content. In the early stages of the transition from physical to digital sales, overall sales have decreased as the increases in digital sales have not yet met or exceeded the decrease in physical sales. Part of the reason for this gap is the shift in consumer purchasing patterns made possible from new digital models. In the digital space, consumers are now presented with the opportunity to not only purchase entire albums, but to “unbundle” albums and purchase only favorite tracks as single-track downloads. While to date, sales of online and mobile downloads have constituted the majority of our digital Recorded Music and Music Publishing revenue, that may change over time as new digital models, such as access models (models that typically bundle the purchase of a mobile device with access to music) and streaming subscription services, continue to develop. In the aggregate, we believe that growth in revenue from new digital models has the potential to offset physical declines and drive overall future revenue growth. In the digital space, certain costs associated with physical products, such as manufacturing, distribution, inventory and return costs, do not apply. Partially eroding that benefit are increases in mechanical copyright royalties payable to music publishers which apply in the digital space. While there are some digital-specific variable costs and infrastructure investments necessary to produce, market and sell music in digital formats, we believe it is reasonable to expect that digital margins will generally be higher than physical margins as a result of the elimination of certain costs associated with physical products. As consumer purchasing patterns change over time and new digital models are launched, we may see fluctuations in contribution margin depending on the overall sales mix.

Expanded-Rights Deals

We have also been seeking to expand our relationships with recording artists as another means to offset declines in physical revenues in Recorded Music. For example, we have been signing recording artists to expanded-rights deals for the last several years. Under these expanded-rights deals, we participate in the recording artist’s revenue streams, other than from recorded music sales, such as live performances, merchandising and sponsorships. We believe that additional revenue from these revenue streams will help to offset declines in physical revenue over time. As we have generally signed newer artists to these deals, increased non-traditional revenue from these deals is expected to come several years after these deals have been signed as the artists become more successful and are able to generate revenue other than from recorded music sales. While non-traditional Recorded Music revenue, which includes revenue from expanded-rights deals as well as revenue from our artist services business, represented approximately 13% of our total revenue during the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, we believe this revenue should continue to grow and represent a larger proportion of our revenue over time. We also believe that the strategy of entering into expanded-rights deals and continuing to develop our artist services business will contribute to Recorded Music growth over time. Margins for the various non-traditional Recorded Music revenue streams can vary significantly. The overall impact on margins will, therefore, depend on the composition of the various revenue streams in any particular period. For instance, revenue from touring under our expanded-rights deals typically flows straight through to net income with little cost. Revenue from our management business and revenue from sponsorship and touring under expanded-rights deals are all high margin, while merchandise revenue under expanded-rights deals and concert promotion revenue from our concert promotion businesses tend to be lower margin than our traditional revenue streams from recorded music and music publishing.

The Merger

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, on the Closing Date, Merger Sub merged with and into the Company with the Company surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent.

On the Closing Date, in connection with the Merger, each outstanding share of common stock of the Company (other than any shares owned by the Company or its wholly owned subsidiaries, or by Parent and its

 

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affiliates, or by any stockholders who were entitled to and who properly exercised appraisal rights under Delaware law, and shares of unvested restricted stock granted under the Company’s equity plan) was cancelled and converted automatically into the right to receive the Merger Consideration.

Equity contributions totaling $1.1 billion from Parent, together with (i) the proceeds from the sale of (a) $150 million aggregate principal amount of 9.50% Senior Secured Notes due 2016 (the “Secured WMG Notes”) initially issued by WM Finance Corp., (the “Initial OpCo Issuer”), (b) $765 million aggregate principal amount of 11.50% Senior Notes due 2018 initially issued by the Initial OpCo Issuer, (the “Unsecured WMG Notes”) and (c) $150 million aggregate principal amount of 13.75% Senior Notes due 2019 (the “Holdings Notes” and together with the Secured WMG Notes and the Unsecured WMG Notes, the “Notes”) initially issued by WM Holdings Finance Corp., (the “Initial Holdings Issuer”) and (ii) cash on hand at the Company, were used, among other things, to finance the aggregate Merger Consideration, to make payments in satisfaction of other equity-based interests in the Company under the Merger Agreement, to repay certain of the Company’s existing indebtedness and to pay related transaction fees and expenses. On the Closing Date (i) Acquisition Corp. became the obligor under the Secured WMG Notes and the Unsecured WMG Notes as a result of the merger of Initial OpCo Issuer with and into Acquisition Corp. (the “OpCo Merger”) and (ii) Holdings became the obligor under the Holdings Notes as a result of the merger of Initial Holdings Issuer with and into Holdings (the “Holdings Merger”). On the Closing Date, the Company also entered into, but did not draw under, a new $60 million revolving credit facility.

In connection with the Merger, the Company also refinanced certain of its existing consolidated indebtedness, including (i) the repurchase and redemption by Holdings of its approximately $258 million in fully accreted principal amount outstanding 9.5% Senior Discount Notes due 2014 (the “Existing Holdings Notes”), and the satisfaction and discharge of the related indenture and (ii) the repurchase and redemption by Acquisition Corp. of its $465 million in aggregate principal amount outstanding 7 3/8% Dollar-denominated Senior Subordinated Notes due 2014 and £100 million in aggregate principal amount of its outstanding 8 1/8% Sterling-denominated Senior Subordinated Notes due 2014 (the “Existing Acquisition Corp. Notes” and together with the Existing Holdings Notes, the “Existing Notes”), and the satisfaction and discharge of the related indenture, and payment of related tender offer or call premiums and accrued interest on the Existing Notes.

Management Agreement

Upon completion of the Merger, the Company and Holdings entered into a management agreement with Access, dated as of the Closing Date (the “Management Agreement”), pursuant to which Access will provide the Company and its subsidiaries, with financial, investment banking, management, advisory and other services. Pursuant to the Management Agreement, the Company, or one or more of its subsidiaries, will pay Access a specified annual fee, plus expenses, and a specified transaction fee for certain types of transactions completed by Holdings or one or more of its subsidiaries, plus expenses.

 

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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Twelve Months Ended September 30, 2011 Compared with Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2010 and Fiscal Year Ended September 30, 2009

The following table sets forth our results of operations as reported in our condensed consolidated financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). GAAP requires that we separately present our results Predecessor and Successor periods. Management believes reviewing our operating results for the year ended September 30, 2011 by combining the results of the Predecessor and Successor periods is more useful in identifying any trends in, or reaching conclusions regarding, our overall operating performance, and performs reviews at that level. Accordingly, the table below presents the non-GAAP combined results for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, which is also the period we compare when computing percentage change from prior year, as we believe this presentation provides the most meaningful basis for comparison of our results. The combined operating results may not reflect the actual results we would have achieved had the Merger closed prior to July 20, 2011 and may not be predictive of future results of operations.

Consolidated Historical Results

Revenues

Our revenues were composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

    Successor         Predecessor     For the
Combined
Twelve
Months ended

September 30,
2011
    Predecessor     2011 vs. 2010     2010 vs. 2009  
    From July 20,
2011 through

September 30,
2011
         From
October 1,
2010 through

July 19, 2011
     

For the Fiscal

Years Ended

September 30,

     
          2010     2009     $ Change     % Change     $ Change     % Change  

Revenue by Type

                     

Physical and other

  $ 268          $ 1,074      $ 1,342      $ 1,528      $ 1,770      $ (186     -12   $ (242     -14

Digital

    147            621        768        713        656        55        8     57        9

Licensing

    39            195        234        218        223        16        7     (5     -2
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total Recorded Music

    454            1,890        2,344        2,459        2,649        (115     -5     (190     -7

Mechanical

    24            118        142        177        192        (35     -20     (15     -8

Performance

    41            173        214        207        226        7        3     (19     -8

Synchronization

    21            92        113        102        97        11        11     5        5

Digital

    15            45        60        59        54        1        2     5        9

Other

    3            12        15        11        13        4        36     (2     -15
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total Music Publishing

    104            440        544        556        582        (12     -2     (26     -4

Intersegment elimination

    (4         (15     (19     (27     (26     8        -30     (1     4
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total Revenue

  $ 554          $ 2,315      $ 2,869      $ 2,988      $ 3,205      $ (119     -4   $ (217     -7
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Revenue by Geographical Location

                     

U.S. Recorded Music

    173            785      $ 958      $ 1,043      $ 1,174      $ (85     -8   $ (131     -11

U.S. Publishing

    40            155        195        214        242        (19     -9     (28     -12
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total U.S.

    213            940        1,153        1,257        1,416        (104     -8     (159     -11

International Recorded Music

    281            1,105        1,386        1,416        1,475        (30     -2     (59     -4

International Publishing

    64            285        349        342        340        7        2     2        1
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total International

    345            1,390        1,735        1,758        1,815        (23     -1     (57     -3

Intersegment eliminations

    (4         (15     (19     (27     (26     8        -30     (1     4
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total Revenue

  $ 554          $ 2,315      $ 2,869      $ 2,988      $ 3,205      $ (119     -4   $ (217     -7
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

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Total Revenue

2011 vs. 2010

Total revenues decreased by $119 million, or 4%, to $2.869 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $2.988 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Prior to intersegment eliminations, Recorded Music and Music Publishing revenues comprised 81% and 19% of total revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, respectively, and 82% and 18% of total revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2010, respectively. U.S. and international revenues comprised 40% and 60% of total revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, respectively, compared to 42% and 58% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total revenues decreased $194 million, or 6%.

Total digital revenues, after intersegment eliminations, increased by $61 million, or 8%, to $820 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $759 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Total digital revenue represented 29% and 25% of consolidated revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. Prior to intersegment eliminations, total digital revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 were comprised of U.S. revenues of $470 million, or 57% of total digital revenues, and international revenues of $358 million, or 43% of total digital revenues. Prior to intersegment eliminations, total digital revenues for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 were comprised of U.S. revenues of $462 million, or 60% of total digital revenues, and international revenues of $310 million, or 40% of total digital revenues. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total digital revenues increased by $44 million, or 6%.

Recorded Music revenues decreased $115 million, or 5% to $2.344 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, from $2.459 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Prior to intersegment eliminations, Recorded Music revenues represented 81% and 82% of consolidated revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. U.S. Recorded Music revenues were $958 million and $1.043 billion, or 41% and 42% of Recorded Music revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. International Recorded Music revenues were $1.386 billion and $1.416 billion, or 59% and 58% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively.

This performance reflected the continued decline in physical sales in the recorded music industry and a more robust release schedule in the prior fiscal year, partially offset by increases in digital revenue, licensing revenue and revenue from our European concert promotion businesses. The increases in digital revenue have not yet fully offset the decline in physical revenue. Digital revenues increased by $55 million, or 8%, for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, driven by the growth in digital downloads in the U.S. and International and emerging new digital revenue streams such as Spotify and YouTube, partially offset by the continued decline in global mobile revenue primarily related to lower ringtone demand. Licensing revenues increased $16 million, or 7%, to $234 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, driven primarily by increases in the licensing of recorded music assets in film and television as well as compilations. The increases in our European concert promotion business reflected a stronger touring schedule in the current fiscal year. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total Recorded Music revenues decreased by $173 million, or 7%, for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011.

Music Publishing revenues decreased by $12 million, or 2%, to $544 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $556 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Prior to intersegment eliminations, Music Publishing revenues represented 19% and 18% of consolidated revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. U.S. Music Publishing revenues were $195 million and $214 million, or 36% and 38% of Music Publishing revenues for the

 

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twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. International Music Publishing revenues were $349 million and $342 million, or 64% and 62% of Music Publishing revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total Music Publishing revenues decreased by $28 million, or 5%, for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011.

The decrease in Music Publishing revenues was driven primarily by an expected decrease in mechanical revenue, partially offset by an increase in synchronization revenue, performance revenue, digital revenue and other revenue. Expected decreases in mechanical revenue reflected the ongoing impact of the transition from physical to digital sales in the recorded music industry, the timing of cash collections, an interim reduction in royalty rates related to radio performances in the U.S. and the prior-year benefit of $5 million stemming from an agreement reached by the U.S. recorded music and music publishing industries, which resulted in the payment of mechanical royalties accrued in prior years by record companies. Synchronization revenue results reflected the improvement of the U.S. advertising market and renewals on certain licensing deals. Performance revenue improved as a result of recent acquisitions and collections from international societies, partially offset by our decision not to renew a low margin administration deal in the prior year. The increase in digital revenue reflected growth in global digital downloads and certain streaming services. Other music publishing revenue increased primarily as a result of higher print revenue in the U.S.

2010 vs. 2009

Total revenues decreased by $217 million, or 7%, to $2.988 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $3.205 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Prior to intersegment eliminations, Recorded Music and Music Publishing revenues comprised 82% and 18% of total revenues for the fiscal years September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009. U.S. and international revenues comprised 42% and 58% of total revenues for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively, compared to 44% and 56% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009, respectively. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total revenues decreased $280 million, or 9%.

Total digital revenues, after intersegment eliminations, increased by $56 million, or 8%, to $759 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $703 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Total digital revenue represented 25% and 22% of consolidated revenues for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively. Prior to intersegment eliminations, total digital revenues for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 were comprised of U.S. revenues of $462 million, or 60% of total digital revenues, and international revenues of $310 million, or 40% of total digital revenues. Prior to intersegment eliminations, total digital revenues for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 were comprised of U.S. revenues of $457 million, or 64% of total digital revenues, and international revenues of $253 million, or 36% of total digital revenues. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total digital revenues increased by $44 million, or 6%.

Recorded Music revenues decreased $190 million, or 7% to $2.459 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, from $2.649 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Prior to intersegment eliminations, Recorded Music revenues represented 82% of consolidated revenues for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and 2009. U.S. Recorded Music revenues were $1.043 billion and $1.174 billion, or 42% and 44% of Recorded Music revenues for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively. International Recorded Music revenues were $1.416 billion and $1.475 billion, or 58% and 56% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively.

This performance reflected the ongoing impact of the transition from physical to digital sales and decreased licensing revenues partially offset by stronger international concert promotion revenue in the current fiscal year, most notably in Italy. Reduced consumer demand for physical products has resulted in a reduction in the amount

 

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of floor and shelf space dedicated to music by retailers. Retailers still account for the majority of sales of our physical product; however, as the number of physical music retailers has declined significantly, there is increased competition for available display space. This has led to a decrease in the amount and variety of physical product on display. In addition, increases in digital revenue have not yet fully offset the decline in physical revenue. We believe this is attributable to the ability of consumers in the digital space to purchase individual tracks from an album rather than purchase the entire album and the ongoing issue of piracy. Digital revenue increased $57 million, or 9%, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, largely due to strong international download growth and moderate domestic download growth, offset by declines in mobile revenues primarily related to lower ringtone demand in the U.S. Digital revenue in the U.S. is increasingly correlated to our overall release schedule and the timing and success of new products and service introductions. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total Recorded Music revenues decreased $248 million, or 9%, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

Music Publishing revenues decreased by $26 million, or 4%, to $556 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $582 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in Music Publishing revenue was due primarily to declines in performance revenues and mechanical revenues, which more than offset the increases in synchronization and digital revenue. Performance revenue decreases were due primarily to the timing of cash collections and our decision not to renew certain low margin administrative deals. The decrease in mechanical revenues was due primarily to a $25 million benefit recorded in the 2009 fiscal year, as compared with a $5 million benefit recorded in the 2010 fiscal year, stemming from an agreement reached by the U.S. recorded music and music publishing industries, which resulted in the payment of mechanical royalties accrued in prior years by U.S. record companies. The decrease in mechanical revenues was partially offset by higher physical recorded music royalties earned primarily related to Michael Jackson, Susan Boyle and Michael Bublé. Synchronization revenue increases reflected an improvement in the advertising industry. Digital revenue increased $5 million due to the continued transition from physical to digital sales and the timing of collections. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total Music Publishing revenues decreased $31 million, or 5%, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

Revenue by Geographical Location

2011 vs. 2010

U.S. revenues decreased by $104 million, or 8%, to $1.153 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $1.257 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in revenue for our U.S. Recorded Music business primarily reflected the on-going transition from physical sales to new forms of digital sales in the recorded music industry, a more robust release schedule in the prior fiscal year and declines in mobile revenues primarily related to lower ringtone demand, partially offset by increases in digital revenue, licensing revenue and revenue from expanded-right deals with certain domestic artists. Expected decreases in mechanical revenue reflected the ongoing impact of the transition from physical to digital sales in the recorded music industry, the timing of cash collections, an interim reduction in royalty rates related to radio performances in the U.S. and the prior-year benefit of $5 million stemming from an agreement reached by the U.S. recorded music and music publishing industries, which resulted in the payment of mechanical royalties accrued in prior years by record companies . The increase in digital revenue reflected growth in global digital downloads and certain streaming services. Other music publishing revenue increased primarily as a result of higher print revenue.

International revenues decreased by $23 million, or 1%, to $1.735 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $1.758 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange, international revenues decreased $97 million, or 5%. Revenue growth in France was more than offset by weakness in the rest of the world, mostly in U.K., Europe and Japan. An increase in digital revenue, primarily as a result of continued growth in global downloads and emerging digital streaming services and revenue from our European concert promotion businesses was more than offset by contracting demand for physical product, which reflected the on-going transition from physical sales to new forms of digital sales in the recorded music industry and a more robust release schedule in the prior fiscal year.

 

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2010 vs. 2009

U.S. revenues decreased by $159 million, or 11%, to $1.257 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $1.416 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The overall decline in the U.S. Recorded Music business primarily reflected the on-going transition from physical sales to new forms of digital sales in the recorded music industry. The decline in the U.S. Publishing business was primarily due to declines in performance revenues and mechanical revenues. Performance revenue decreases were due primarily to the timing of cash collections and our decision not to renew certain low margin administrative deals. The decrease in mechanical revenues was due primarily to a $25 million benefit recorded in the 2009 fiscal year, as compared with a $5 million benefit recorded in the 2010 fiscal year, stemming from an agreement reached by the U.S. recorded music and music publishing industries, which resulted in the payment of mechanical royalties accrued in prior years by U.S. record companies. The decrease in mechanical revenues was partially offset by higher physical recorded music royalties earned primarily related to Michael Jackson, Susan Boyle and Michael Bublé.

International revenues decreased by $57 million, or 3%, to $1.758 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $1.815 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. An increase in digital revenue, primarily as a result of growth in digital downloads, was more than offset by the contracting demand for physical product and licensing revenues. The contracting demand for physical product reflected the ongoing impact from transitioning to digital from physical sales in the recorded music industry. Revenue growth in the U.K. and Italy was more than offset by weakness in Japan as well as other parts of Europe. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange, international revenues decreased $123 million, or 7%.

See “Business Segment Results” presented hereinafter for a discussion of revenue by type for each business segment.

Cost of revenues

Our cost of revenues was composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

    Successor    

 

  Predecessor     For the
Combined
Twelve
Months

ended
September 30,
2011
    Predecessor     2011 vs. 2010     2010 vs. 2009  
  From July  20,
2011 through
September 30,
2011
         From
October 1,
2010
through
July 19,
2011
      For the  Fiscal
Years Ended
September 30,
     
          2010     2009     $ Change     % Change     $ Change     % Change  

Artist and repertoire costs

  $ 151          $ 775      $ 926      $ 948      $ 1,065      $ (22     -2   $ (117     -11

Product costs

    120            427        547        566        589        (19     -3     (23     -4

Licensing costs

    15            63        78        70        78        8        11     (8     -10
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total cost of revenues

  $ 286          $ 1,265      $ 1,551      $ 1,584      $ 1,732      $ (33     -2   $ (148     -9
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

2011 vs. 2010

Cost of revenues decreased by $33 million, or 2%, to $1.551 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $1.584 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Expressed as a percent of revenues, cost of revenues were 54% and 53% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended 2010, respectively.

Artist and repertoire costs decreased $22 million, or 2%, to $926 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $948 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in artist and

 

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repertoire costs was driven by decreased revenues for the current twelve months ended, partially offset by the prior year impacts of a cost-recovery benefit related to the early termination of certain artist contracts and a benefit from increased recoupment on artists whose advances were previously written off.

Artist and repertoire costs as a percentage of revenues remained flat at 32% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

Product costs decreased $19 million, or 3%, to $547 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $566 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in product costs was driven by effective supply chain management and the continuing change in mix from physical to digital sales, partially offset by higher non-traditional recorded music business costs related to the increase in revenue from our European concert promotion businesses. Costs associated with our non-traditional recorded music businesses are primarily recorded as a component of product costs. Product costs as a percentage of revenues were 19% of revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively.

Licensing costs increased $8 million, or 11%, to $78 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $70 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, primarily as a result of the increase in licensing revenues. Licensing costs as a percentage of licensing revenues increased from 32% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 to 33% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, primarily as a result of changes in revenue mix.

2010 vs. 2009

Cost of revenues decreased by $148 million, or 9%, to $1.584 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $1.732 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Expressed as a percent of revenues, cost of revenues was 53% and 54% for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively.

Artist and repertoire costs decreased $117 million, or 11%, to $948 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $1.065 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in artist and repertoire costs was driven by decreased revenues for the current twelve months ended period, a cost-recovery benefit related to the early termination of certain artist contracts and a benefit from increased recoupment on artists whose advances were previously written off, partially offset by severance charges taken in the current twelve months ended period primarily related to our Recorded Music operations. Artist and repertoire costs as a percentage of revenues decreased from 33% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 to 32% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 primarily as a result of the timing of artist and repertoire spending and revenue mix.

Product costs decreased $23 million, or 4%, to $566 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $589 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in product costs was primarily a result of the change in mix from the sale of physical products to new forms of digital music partially offset by increased production costs associated with our European concert promotion business. Product costs as a percentage of revenues were 19% and 18% of revenues in the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively. The increase as a percentage of revenues was driven primarily by production costs associated with our European concert promotion business, which is typically lower in margin than our traditional recorded music business.

Licensing costs decreased $8 million, or 10%, to $70 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $78 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009, primarily as a result of the decrease in licensing revenues. Licensing costs as a percentage of licensing revenues decreased from 35% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 to 32% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, primarily as a result of changes in revenue mix.

 

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Selling, general and administrative expenses

Our selling, general and administrative expenses are composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

    Successor          Predecessor     For the
Combined

Twelve
Months

ended
September 30,
2011
    Predecessor        
  From July 20,
2011 through
September 30,
2011
         From
October 1, 2010
through July 19,
2011
      For the Fiscal
Years  Ended
September 30,
    2011 vs. 2010     2010 vs. 2009  
             2010     2009     $ Change     % Change     $ Change     % Change  

General and administrative expense (1)

  $ 96          $ 450      $ 546      $ 583      $ 564      $ (37     -6   $ 19        3

Selling and marketing expense

    78            335        413        444        483        (31     -7     (39     -8

Distribution expense

    12            46        58        68        66        (10     -15     2        3
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total selling, general and administrative expense

  $ 186          $ 831      $ 1,017      $ 1,095      $ 1,113      $ (78     -7   $ (18     -2
 

 

 

       

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

(1) Includes depreciation expense of $42 million, $39 million and $37 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively.

2011 vs. 2010

Selling, general and administrative expense decreased by $78 million, or 7%, to $1.017 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $1.095 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Expressed as a percent of revenues, selling, general and administrative expense decreased to 35% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 as compared with 37% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

General and administrative expense decreased by $37 million, to $546 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $583 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in general and administrative expense was driven by lower compensation expense, the benefit from the Limewire settlement, the realization of cost savings from management initiatives taken in prior periods, lower bad debt expense in the current period and lower severance charges in the current period, partially offset by an increase in share-based compensation expense of $14 million related to the payout for unvested Predecessor options and restricted stock awards as well as the modifications of existing restricted stock award agreements and an increase in merger and acquisition related professional fees. General and administrative expense as a percentage of revenues decreased to 19% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 as compared with 20% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

Selling and marketing expense decreased by $31 million, or 7%, to $413 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $444 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in selling and marketing expense was primarily as a result of our effort to better align selling and marketing expenses with revenues Selling and marketing expense as a percentage of revenues decreased from 15% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 to 14% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011.

Distribution expense decreased by $10 million, or 15%, to $58 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $68 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in distribution

 

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expense was driven by the ongoing transition from physical to digital sales. Distribution expense as a percentage of revenues remained flat as a percentage of revenues at 2% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended and September 30, 2010.

2010 vs. 2009

Selling, general and administrative expense decreased by $18 million, or 2%, to $1.095 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $1.113 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Expressed as a percent of revenues, selling, general and administrative expense increased to 37% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from 35% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009.

General and administrative expense increased by $19 million, or 3%, to $583 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $564 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Expressed as a percentage of revenues, general and administrative expenses increased from 18% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 to 20% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, driven by severance charges of $47 million recorded during the current year primarily related to our Recorded Music operations as compared with $23 million taken during the prior fiscal year, partially offset by realization of cost savings from initiatives taken by management in prior periods.

Selling and marketing expense decreased by $39 million, or 8%, to $444 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $483 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in selling and marketing expense was primarily as a result of our effort to better align selling and marketing expenses with revenues earned partially offset by severance charges of $4 million taken during the current twelve months ended primarily related to our Recorded Music operations. Selling and marketing expense as a percentage of revenues remained flat at 15% for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009.

Distribution expense increased by $2 million, or 3%, to $68 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $66 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in distribution expense was driven by the ongoing transition from physical to digital sales. Distribution expense remained flat as a percentage of revenues at 2% for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009.

Transaction costs

2011 vs 2010

Transaction costs of $53 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 were incurred in connection with the consummation of the Merger. These costs primarily included advisory, accounting, legal and other professional fees.

 

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Reconciliation of Consolidated Historical OIBDA to Operating Income and Net Loss Attributable to Warner Music Group Corp.

As previously described, we use OIBDA as our primary measure of financial performance. The following table reconciles OIBDA to operating income, and further provides the components from operating income to net loss attributable to Warner Music Group Corp. for purposes of the discussion that follows (in millions):

 

    Successor     Predecessor     For the
twelve
months

ended
September 30,
2011
                               
    From
July
20, 2011
through
September 30,
2011
    From
October 1,
2010
through
July 19,
2011
      Predecessor                          
        For the Years
Ended
     September 30,    
    2011 vs. 2010     2010 vs. 2009  
          2010     2009     $ Change     % Change     $ Change     % Change  

OIBDA

  $ 81      $ 209      $ 290      $ 348      $ 397      $ (58     -17   $ (49     -12

Depreciation expense

    (9     (33     (42     (39     (37     (3     8     (2     5

Amortization expense

    (38     (178     (216     (219     (225     3        -1     6        -3
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Operating income (loss)

    34        (2     32        90        135        (58     -64     (45     -33

Interest expense, net

    (62     (151     (213     (190     (195     (23     -12     5        -3

Gain on sale of equity-method investment

    —          —          —          —          36        —          —          (36     -100

Gain on foreign exchange transaction

    —          —          —          —          9        —          —          (9     -100

Impairment of cost-method investments

    —          —          —          (1     (29     1       100 %     28        97

Impairment of equity-method investments

    —          —          —          —          (11     —          —          11        100

Other income (expense), net

    —          5        5        (3     1        8        —          (4     —     
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

(Loss) income before income taxes

    (28     (148     (176     (104     (54     (72     69     (50     93

Income tax expense

    (3     (27     (30     (41     (50     11        -27     9        -18
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Net loss

    (31     (175     (206     (145     (104     (61     42     (41     39

Less: loss attributable to noncontrolling interest

    —          1        1        2        4        (1     -50     (2     -50
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Net loss attributable to Warner Music Group Corp.

  $ (31   $ (174   $ (205   $ (143   $ (100   $ (62     43   $ (43     43
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

OIBDA

2011 vs. 2010

Our OIBDA decreased by $58 million, or 17%, to $290 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 as compared to $348 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Expressed as a percentage of revenues, total OIBDA margin decreased from 12% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 to 10% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011. Our OIBDA decrease was primarily driven by the decrease in revenue, transaction costs incurred in connection with the consummation of the Merger, an increase in share-based compensation expense related to the payout for unvested Predecessor options and restricted stock awards as well as from the modification of certain restricted stock award agreements, an increase in merger and acquisition related professional fees, an increase in licensing costs as well as the prior-year impacts of a cost-recovery benefit related to the termination of certain artist recording contracts and an adjustment in Music Publishing royalty reserves. The decrease was partially offset by reductions in artist and repertoire costs, product costs, distribution costs, selling and marketing expense, lower compensation expense, the benefit from the

 

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Limewire settlement, the realization of cost savings from management initiatives taken in prior periods, lower bad debt expense in the current period and $16 million of lower severance charges in the current period as compared with the prior-year period.

2010 vs. 2009

Our OIBDA decreased by $49 million to $348, or 12%, million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 as compared to $397 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Expressed as a percentage of revenues, total OIBDA margin remained flat at 12% for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009. Our OIBDA decrease was primarily driven by decreased revenues and increased severance charges of $31 million primarily related to our Recorded Music operations, partially offset by the realization of cost savings from management initiatives taken in prior periods and the decreases in artist and repertoire and selling and marketing expense noted above.

See “Business Segment Results” presented hereinafter for a discussion of OIBDA by business segment.

Depreciation expense

2011 vs. 2010

Depreciation expense increased by $3 million, or 8%, from $39 million for fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 to $42 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, primarily due to recently completed capital projects and purchase price accounting recorded in connection with the Merger.

2010 vs. 2009

Depreciation expense increased by $2 million, or 5%, from $37 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 to $39 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The increase was primarily related to additional depreciation expense from recently acquired companies.

Amortization expense

2011 vs. 2010

Amortization expense decreased by $3 million, or 1%, from $219 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 to $216 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011. The decrease was primarily related to purchase price accounting recorded in connection with the Merger due to longer useful lives, partially offset by additional amortization associated with recent intangible asset acquisitions.

2010 vs. 2009

Amortization expense decreased by $6 million, or 3%, from $225 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 to $219 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease was due primarily to certain intangible assets being fully amortized during the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

Operating income

2011 vs. 2010

Our operating income decreased $58 million, or 64%, to $32 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 as compared to $90 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Operating income margin decreased to 1% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, from 3% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in operating income was primarily due to the decline in OIBDA, the increase in depreciation expense, partially offset by the decrease in amortization expense noted above.

 

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2010 vs. 2009

Our operating income decreased $45 million, or 33%, to $90 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 as compared to $135 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Operating income margin decreased to 3% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, from 4% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in operating income was primarily due to the decline in OIBDA and the increase in depreciation expense partially offset by the decrease in amortization expense noted above.

Interest expense, net

2011 vs. 2010

Interest expense, net, increased $23 million, or 12%, to $213 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 as compared to $190 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The increase in interest expense was primarily driven by the refinancing of certain of our existing indebtedness in connection with the Merger. The refinancing resulted in $19 million in tender/call premiums incurred in connection with the debt obligations that were repaid in full. In addition, the new debt obligations were issued with higher interest rates.

2010 vs. 2009

Interest expense, net, decreased $5 million, or 3%, to $190 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 as compared to $195 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The decrease was primarily driven by deferred financing fees of $18 million, written off during the 2009 fiscal year in connection with the repayment of our senior secured credit facility. The decrease was partially offset by the change in interest terms related to our refinancing in May 2009.

See “—Financial Condition and Liquidity” for more information.

Gain on sale of equity-method investment

During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009, we sold our remaining equity stake in Front Line Management to Ticketmaster for $123 million in cash. As a result of the transaction, we recorded a gain on sale of equity-method investment of $36 million.

Gain on foreign exchange transaction

During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009, we recorded a $9 million non-cash gain on a foreign exchange transaction as a result of a settlement of a short-term foreign denominated loan related to the Front Line Management sale.

Impairment of cost-method investments

2010 vs. 2009

During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, we recorded a $1 million charge to write off certain cost-method investments based on their current fair value. During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009, we determined that our cost-method investments in digital venture capital companies, including imeem and lala, were impaired largely due to the current economic environment and changing business conditions from the time of the initial investment. As a result, we recorded one-time charges of $29 million, including $16 million to write off our investment in imeem and $11 million to write down our investment in lala.

 

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Impairment of equity-method investments

During the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009, we chose not to continue our participation in Equatrax, L.P. (formerly known as Royalty Services, L.P.) and Equatrax, LLC (formerly known as Royalty Services, LLC), which were formed in 2004 to develop an outsourced royalty platform. As a result, we wrote off the remaining $10 million related to our investment in the joint venture and another $1 million related to another smaller investment.

Other income (expense), net

2011 vs. 2010

Other income (expense), net for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 included net hedging gains on foreign exchange contracts, which represent currency exchange movements associated with intercompany receivables and payables that are short term in nature, offset by equity in earnings on our share of net income on investments recorded in accordance with the equity method of accounting for an unconsolidated investee. In addition, other income increased as a result of the settlement of an income tax audit in Germany reimbursable to us by Time Warner under the terms of the 2004 Acquisition.

2010 vs. 2009

Other income (expense), net for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009 included net hedging gains on foreign exchange contracts, which represent currency exchange movements associated with intercompany receivables and payables that are short term in nature, offset by equity in earnings on our share of net income on investments recorded in accordance with the equity method of accounting for an unconsolidated investee.

Income tax expense

2011 vs. 2010

Income tax expense decreased to $30 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $41 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in income tax expense primarily relates to a decrease in pretax earnings in certain foreign jurisdictions, and a valuation allowance reversal related to acquisitions during the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, offset by additional tax reserves.

2010 vs. 2009

We provided income tax expense of $41 million and $50 million for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively. The decrease in income tax expense primarily relates to a decrease in pretax earnings in certain foreign jurisdictions.

Net loss

2011 vs. 2010

Our net loss increased by $61 million to $206 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, as compared to $145 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The increase was a result of the decrease in our OIBDA and increases in depreciation expense and interest expense, partially offset by the decrease in income tax and amortization expense and the change in other income (expense) noted above.

2010 vs. 2009

Our net loss increased by $41 million to $145 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, as compared to $104 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The increase in net loss was primarily the result of the factors noted above with respect to our loss.

 

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Noncontrolling interest

2011 vs. 2010

Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended 2010 were $1 million and $2 million, respectively.

2010 vs. 2009

Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009 were $2 million and $4 million, respectively.

Business Segment Results

Revenue, OIBDA and operating income (loss) by business segment are as follows (in millions):

 

    Successor     Predecessor     For the
Combined
Twelve
Months ended
September 30,

2011
    Predecessor              
    From July 20,
2011 through
September 30,

2011
    From October  1,
2010
through July 19,
2011
      For the Fiscal
Years  Ended
September 30,
    2011 vs. 2010     2010 vs. 2009  
          2010     2009     $ Change     % Change     $ Change     % Change  

Recorded Music

                 

Revenue

  $ 454      $ 1,890      $ 2,344      $ 2,459      $ 2,649      $ (115     -5   $ (190     -7

OIBDA

    48        234        282        279        332        3        1     (53     -16

Operating income

  $ 17      $ 93      $ 110      $ 102      $ 149      $ 8        8   $ (47     -32
 

Music Publishing

                 

Revenue

  $ 104      $ 440      $ 544      $ 556      $ 582      $ (12     -2   $ (26     -4

OIBDA

    51        96        147        157        165        (10     -6     (8     -5

Operating income

  $ 39      $ 34      $ 73      $ 86      $ 97      $ (13     -15   $ (11     -11
 

Corporate Expenses and Eliminations

                 

Revenue

  $ (4   $ (15   $ (19   $ (27   $ (26   $ 8        -30   $ (1     -4

OIBDA

    (18     (121     (139     (88     (100     (51     58     12        12

Operating loss

  $ (22   $ (129   $ (151   $ (98   $ (111   $ (53     54   $ 13        -12
 

Total

                 

Revenue

  $ 554      $ 2,315      $ 2,869      $ 2,988      $ 3,205      $ (119     -4   $ (217     -7

OIBDA

    81        209        290        348        397        (58     -17     (49     -12

Operating income

  $ 34      $ (2   $ 32      $ 90      $ 135      $ (58     -64   $ (45     -33

Recorded Music

Revenues

2011 vs. 2010

Recorded Music revenues decreased $115 million, or 5% to $2.344 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, from $2.459 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Prior to intersegment eliminations, Recorded Music revenues represented 81% and 82% of consolidated revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. U.S. Recorded Music revenues were $958 million and $1.043 billion, or 41% and 42% of Recorded Music revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. International Recorded Music revenues were $1.386 billion and $1.416 billion, or 59% and 58% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively.

 

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This performance reflected the continued decline in physical sales in the recorded music industry and a more robust release schedule in the prior fiscal year, partially offset by increases in digital revenue, licensing revenue and revenue from our European concert promotion businesses. The increases in digital revenue have not yet fully offset the decline in physical revenue. Digital revenues increased by $55 million, or 8%, for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, driven by the growth in digital downloads in the U.S. and International and emerging new digital revenue streams such as Spotify and YouTube, partially offset by the continued decline in global mobile revenue primarily related to lower ringtone demand. Licensing revenues increased $16 million, or 7%, to $234 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, driven primarily by increases in the licensing of recorded music assets in film and television as well as compilations. The increases in our European concert promotion business reflected a stronger touring schedule in the current fiscal year. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total Recorded Music revenues decreased by $173 million, or 7%, for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011.

2010 vs. 2009

Recorded Music revenues decreased $190 million, or 7% to $2.459 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, from $2.649 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Prior to intersegment eliminations, Recorded Music revenues represented 82% of consolidated revenues for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009. U.S. Recorded Music revenues were $1.043 billion and $1.174 billion, or 42% and 44% of Recorded Music revenues for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively. International Recorded Music revenues were $1.416 billion and $1.475 billion, or 58% and 56% of consolidated Recorded Music revenues for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively.

This performance reflected the ongoing impact of the transition from physical to digital sales and decreased licensing revenues partially offset by stronger international concert promotion revenue in the current fiscal year, most notably in Italy. Reduced consumer demand for physical products has resulted in a reduction in the amount of floor and shelf space dedicated to music by retailers. Retailers still account for the majority of sales of our physical product; however, as the number of physical music retailers has declined significantly, there is increased competition for available display space. This has led to a decrease in the amount and variety of physical product on display. In addition, increases in digital revenue have not yet fully offset the decline in physical revenue. We believe this is attributable to the ability of consumers in the digital space to purchase individual tracks from an album rather than purchase the entire album and the ongoing issue of piracy. Digital revenue increased $57 million, or 9%, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, largely due to strong international download growth and moderate domestic download growth, offset by declines in mobile revenues primarily related to lower ringtone demand in the U.S. Digital revenue in the U.S. is increasingly correlated to our overall release schedule and the timing and success of new products and service introductions. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total Recorded Music revenues decreased $251 million, or 9%, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

Recorded Music cost of revenues was composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

    Successor     Predecessor     For  the
Combined
Twelve
Months ended
September 30,
2011
    Predecessor                          
    From July 20,
2011 through
September 30,
2011
    From
October 1, 2010
through July 19,
2011
      For the  Years
Ended
September 30,
    2011 vs. 2010     2010 vs. 2009  
          2010     2009     $ Change     % Change     $ Change     % Change  

Artist and repertoire costs

  $ 114      $ 501      $ 615      $ 642      $ 732      $ (27     -4   $ (90     -12

Product costs

    119        428        547        566        589        (19     -3     (23     -4

Licensing costs

    15        63        78        70        78        8        11     (8     -10
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total cost of revenues

  $ 248      $ 992      $ 1,240      $ 1,278      $ 1,399      $ (38     -3   $ (121     -9
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

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Cost of revenues

2011 vs. 2010

Recorded Music cost of revenues decreased by $38 million, or 3%, for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011. Cost of revenues represented 53% and 52% of Recorded Music revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in cost of revenues was driven primarily by decreases in artist and repertoire costs and product costs, partially offset by an increase in licensing costs. The decrease in artist and repertoire costs was driven by decreased revenues for the current twelve months ended period, a cost-recovery benefit recognized in the prior year related to the early termination of certain artist contracts and a benefit from increased recoupment on artists whose advances were previously written off. The decrease in product costs was driven by effective supply chain management and the continuing change in mix from physical to digital sales, partially offset by higher non-traditional recorded music business costs related to the increase in revenue from our European concert promotion businesses. The increase in licensing costs was driven by the increase in licensing revenue.

2010 vs. 2009

Recorded Music cost of revenues decreased by $121 million, or 9%, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Cost of revenues represented 52% and 53% of Recorded Music revenues for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009. The decrease in cost of revenues was driven primarily by the decrease in artist and repertoire costs, product costs and licensing costs. The decrease in artist and repertoire costs was driven by the decrease in revenue, a cost-recovery benefit related to the early termination of certain artist contracts and a benefit from increased recoupment on artists whose advances were previously written off. The decrease in product costs was driven by the decline of physical product revenue as a result of the change in revenue mix from the sale of physical products to new forms of digital music partially offset by production costs associated with our European concert promotion business. The decrease in licensing costs was driven by the decrease in licensing revenue.

Recorded Music selling, general and administrative expenses were composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

    Successor     Predecessor     For the
Combined
Twelve
Months ended
September 30,
2011
    Predecessor     2011 vs. 2010     2010 vs. 2009  
    From July 20,
2011 through
September 30,
2011
    From October 1,
2010 through
July 19, 2011
      For the
Years Ended
   September 30,  
     
        2010     2009     $ Change     % Change     $ Change     % Change  

General and administrative expense (1)

  $ 74      $ 309      $ 383      $ 423      $ 398      $ (40     -9   $ 25        6

Selling and marketing expense

    77        330        407        436        476        (29     -7     (40     -8

Distribution expense

    12        46        58        68        66        (10     -15     2        3
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total selling, general and administrative expense

  $ 163      $ 685      $ 848      $ 927      $ 940      $ (79     -9   $ (13     -1
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

 

(1) Includes depreciation expense of $26 million, $25 million and $22 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively.

 

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Selling, general and administrative expense

2011 vs. 2010

Selling, general and administrative costs decreased by $79 million, or 9% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011. The decrease in selling, general and administrative expense was driven primarily by decreases in selling and marketing expense, general and administrative expense and distribution expense. The decrease in selling and marketing expense was primarily as a result of our effort to better align selling and marketing expenses with revenues earned as well as lower severance charges in the current period. The decrease in general and administrative expense was driven by the benefit from the LimeWire settlement, lower bad debt expense, lower compensation expense, lower severance charges and the realization of cost savings from management initiatives taken in prior periods, partially offset by an increase in stock compensation expense related to the modifications of existing restricted stock award agreements. The decrease in distribution expense was driven by the ongoing transition from physical to digital sales. Expressed as a percentage of Recorded Music revenues, selling, general and administrative expenses decreased to 36% for twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from 38% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

2010 vs. 2009

Selling, general and administrative costs decreased by $13 million, or 1%, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in selling, general and administrative expense was driven primarily by the decrease in selling and marketing expense partially offset by the increase in general and administrative expense. The decrease in selling and marketing expense was driven by our continued efforts to better align spending on selling and marketing expense with revenues earned. The increase in general and administrative expense was driven by severance charges $46 million taken during the 2010 fiscal year as compared with $18 million in the 2009 fiscal year, partially offset by the realization of cost savings from management initiatives taken in prior periods. Expressed as a percentage of Recorded Music revenues, selling, general and administrative expenses increased to 38% for fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from 35% for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2009.

OIBDA and Operating income

Recorded Music operating income included the following amounts (in millions):

 

    Successor     Predecessor     For the
Combined
Twelve
Months ended
September 30,
2011
    Predecessor              
  From July 20,
2011 through
September 30,
2011
    From
October 1, 2010
through July 19,
2011
      For the Years
Ended
September 30,
    2011 vs. 2010     2010 vs. 2009  
        2010     2009     $ Change     % Change     $ Change     % Change  

OIBDA

  $ 48      $ 234      $ 282        $279      $ 332      $ 3        1   $ (53     -16

Depreciation and amortization expense

    (31     (141     (172     (177     (183     5        -3     6        -3
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Operating income

  $ 17      $ 93      $ 110     

 

$102

  

  $ 149      $ 8        8   $ (47     -32
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

2011 vs. 2010

Recorded Music OIBDA increased by $3 million, or 1%, to $282 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 compared to $279 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Expressed as a percentage of Recorded Music revenues, Recorded Music OIBDA margin was 12% and 11% for the twelve

 

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months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. Our increased OIBDA margin was primarily the result of the realization of cost savings from management initiatives taken in prior periods, the benefit from the LimeWire settlement, lower bad debt expense, lower compensation expense, lower severance charges, lower products costs and lower selling and marketing and distribution expense, partially offset by an increase in stock compensation expense related to the modifications of existing restricted stock award agreements.

Recorded Music operating income increased by $8 million, or 8% due to the increase in OIBDA noted above, the decrease in amortization expense, partially offset by the increase in depreciation expense. Recorded Music operating income margin increased to 5% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from 4% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

2010 vs. 2009

Recorded Music OIBDA decreased by $53 million, or 16%, to $279 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 compared to $332 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Expressed as a percentage of Recorded Music revenues, Recorded Music OIBDA margin was 11% and 13% for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively. Our decreased OIBDA margin was primarily the result of increased severance charges and decreased revenues, partially offset by the realization of cost savings from management initiatives taken in prior periods and the decrease in artist and repertoire costs and product costs noted above.

Recorded Music operating income decreased by $47 million, or 32%, due to the decrease in OIBDA and the increase in depreciation expense, partially offset by the decrease in depreciation and amortization expense noted above. Recorded Music operating income margin decreased to 4% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from 6% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009.

Music Publishing

Revenues

2011 vs. 2010

Music Publishing revenues decreased by $12 million, or 2%, to $544 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $556 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Prior to intersegment eliminations, Music Publishing revenues represented 19% and 18% of consolidated revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. U.S. Music Publishing revenues were $195 million and $214 million, or 36% and 38% of Music Publishing revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. International Music Publishing revenues were $349 million and $342 million, or 64% and 62% of Music Publishing revenues for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, respectively. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total Music Publishing revenues decreased by $28 million, or 5%, for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011.

The decrease in Music Publishing revenues was driven primarily by an expected decrease in mechanical revenue, partially offset by an increase in synchronization revenue, performance revenue, digital revenue and other revenue. Expected decreases in mechanical revenue reflected the ongoing impact of the transition from physical to digital sales in the recorded music industry, the timing of cash collections, an interim reduction in royalty rates related to radio performances in the U.S. and the prior-year benefit of $5 million stemming from an agreement reached by the U.S. recorded music and music publishing industries, which resulted in the payment of mechanical royalties accrued in prior years by U.S. record companies. Synchronization revenue results reflected the improvement of the U.S. advertising market and renewals on certain licensing deals. Performance revenue improved as a result of recent acquisitions and collections from international societies, partially offset by our

 

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decision not to renew a low margin administration deal in the prior year. The increase in digital revenue reflected growth in global digital downloads and certain streaming services. Other music publishing revenue increased primarily as a result of higher print revenue in the U.S.

2010 vs. 2009

Music Publishing revenues decreased by $26 million, or 4%, to $556 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $582 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Prior to intersegment eliminations, Music Publishing revenues represented 18% of consolidated revenues, for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009. U.S. Music Publishing revenues were $214 million and $242 million, or 38% and 42% of Music Publishing revenues for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively. International Music Publishing revenues were $342 million and $340 million, or 62% and 58% of Music Publishing revenues for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively.

The decrease in Music Publishing revenue was due primarily to declines in performance revenues and mechanical revenues, which more than offset the increases in synchronization and digital revenue. Performance revenue decreases were due primarily to the timing of cash collections and our decision not to renew certain low margin administrative deals. The decrease in mechanical revenues was due primarily to a $25 million benefit recorded in the 2009 fiscal year, as compared with a $5 million benefit recorded in the 2010 fiscal year, stemming from an agreement reached by the U.S. recorded music and music publishing industries, which resulted in the payment of mechanical royalties accrued in prior years by record companies. The decrease in mechanical revenues was partially offset by higher physical recorded music royalties earned primarily related to Michael Jackson, Susan Boyle and Michael Bublé.

Synchronization revenue increases reflected an improvement in the advertising industry. Digital revenue increased $5 million due to the continued transition from physical to digital sales and the timing of collections. Excluding the favorable impact of foreign currency exchange rates, total Music Publishing revenues decreased $31 million, or 5%, for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

Music Publishing cost of revenues was composed of the following amounts (in millions):

 

    Successor     Predecessor     For the
Combined
Twelve
Months

ended
September 30,
2011
    Predecessor        
    From July 20,
2011 through
September 30,
2011
    From October 1,
2010
through July 19,

2011
      For the Years Ended
September 30,
    2011 vs. 2010     2010 vs. 2009  
          2010     2009     $ Change     % Change     $ Change     % Change  

Artist and repertoire costs

  $ 42      $ 288      $ 330      $ 334      $ 359      $ (4     -1   $ (25     -7
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total cost of revenues

  $ 42      $ 288      $ 330      $ 334      $ 359      $ (4     -1   $ (25     -7
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Cost of revenues

2010 vs. 2011

Music Publishing cost of revenues decreased $4 million, or 1%, to $330 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, from $334 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in cost of revenues was driven primarily by a combination of lower revenues in the current-year and lower costs associated with a low-margin administration deal which we decided not to renew, partially offset by the timing of artist and repertoire spend as well as an adjustment to royalty reserves in the prior-year period. Music Publishing

 

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cost of revenues as a percentage of Music Publishing revenues increased to 61% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from 60% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, primarily as a result of a change in control fee paid in connection with the Merger as well as a prior-year period adjustment to royalty reserves.

2010 vs. 2009

Music Publishing cost of revenues decreased by $25 million, or 7%, to $334 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, from $359 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. Expressed as a percentage of Music Publishing revenues, Music Publishing cost of revenues decreased from 62% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 to 60% for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease was driven primarily by revenue mix, an adjustment in royalty reserves and our continued focus to direct current and future spending on publishing deals that maximize profitability.

Music Publishing selling, general and administrative expenses were comprised of the following amounts (in millions):

 

    Successor     Predecessor     For the
Combined
Twelve
Months
ended
September 30,

2011
             
  From
July 20,
2011
through
September 30,
2011
    From
October 1,
2010
through
July 19,
2011
      Predecessor        
        For the Years
Ended
September 30,
    2011 vs. 2010     2010 vs. 2009  
        2010     2009     $ Change     % Change     $ Change     % Change  

General and administrative expense (1)

  $ 9      $ 58      $ 67      $ 67      $ 60      $ —          —        $ 7        12

Selling and marketing expense

    1        1        2        2        2        —          —          —          —     
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Total selling, general and administrative expense

  $ 10      $ 59      $ 69      $ 69      $ 62      $ —          —        $ 7        11
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

(1) Includes depreciation expense of $4 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, September 30, 2010 and September 30, and 2009.

Selling, general and administrative expense

2011 vs. 2010

Music Publishing selling, general and administrative expense remained flat at $69 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Expressed as a percentage of Music Publishing revenues, Music Publishing selling, general and administrative expense remained flat at 13% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010.

2010 vs. 2009

Music Publishing selling, general and administrative expense increased $7 million to $69 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $62 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 primarily as a result of increased professional fees and compensation expense. Expressed as a percentage of Music Publishing revenues, Music Publishing selling, general and administrative expense was 12% and 11% for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009, respectively.

 

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Transaction costs

2011 vs. 2010

Transaction costs of $2 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 were incurred in connection with the consummation of the Merger and relate primarily to a change in control fee.

OIBDA and Operating income

Music Publishing operating income includes the following amounts (in millions):

 

    Successor     Predecessor     For the
Combined
Twelve
Months ended
September 30,
2011
    Predecessor        
  From July 20,
2011 through
September 30,
2011
    From
October 1,
2010
through
July 19,
2011
      For the
Years Ended
September 30,
    2011 vs. 2010     2010 vs. 2009  
        2010     2009     $ Change     % Change     $ Change     % Change  

OIBDA

  $ 51      $ 96      $ 147      $ 157      $ 165      $ (10     -6   $ (8     -5

Depreciation and amortization expense

    (12     (62     (74     (71     (68     (3     4     (3     4
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

Operating income

  $ 39      $ 34      $ 73      $ 86      $ 97      $ (13     -15   $ (11     -11
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

     

 

 

   

2011 vs. 2010

Music Publishing OIBDA decreased $10 million to $147 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from $157 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. Expressed as a percentage of Music Publishing revenues, Music Publishing OIBDA decreased to 27% for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 from 28% and for the fiscal year ended and September 30, 2010, respectively. The decrease in OIBDA was due primarily to lower revenues partially offset by lower artist and repertoire costs related to a low-margin administration deal which we decided not to renew.

Music Publishing operating income decreased by $13 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 due to the decrease in OIBDA noted above and an increase in amortization expense related to additional amortization associated with recent intangible asset acquisitions.

2010 vs. 2009

Music Publishing OIBDA decreased $8 million to $157 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 from $165 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in Music Publishing OIBDA was due primarily to a $2 million benefit recorded in the 2010 fiscal year, as compared with a $7 million benefit recorded in the 2009 fiscal year, stemming from an agreement reached by the U.S. recorded music and music publishing industries, which resulted in the payment of mechanical royalties accrued in prior years by U.S. record companies. Expressed as a percentage of Music Publishing revenues, Music Publishing OIBDA was flat at 28% for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009.

Music Publishing operating income decreased by $11 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 due to the increase in depreciation and amortization expense and the decrease in OIBDA as noted above.

 

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Corporate Expenses and Eliminations

2011 vs. 2010

Our OIBDA loss from corporate expenses and eliminations increased $51 million to $139 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, from $88 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The increase in OIBDA loss from corporate expenses and eliminations was primarily driven by expenses incurred in connection with the consummation of the Merger, an increase in share-based compensation expense related to the payout of unvested Predecessor options and restricted stock awards as well as from the modification of certain restricted stock award agreements and an increase in merger and acquisition related professional fees, partially offset by lower compensation expense, the realization of cost savings from management initiatives taken in prior periods, lower bad debt expense in the current period and lower severance charges in the current period.

Our operating loss from corporate expenses and eliminations increased to $151 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011, from $98 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010. The decrease in operating loss was primarily driven by the increase in corporate expenses noted above.

2010 vs. 2009

Our OIBDA loss from corporate expenses and eliminations decreased $12 million to $88 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, from $100 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in OIBDA loss from corporate expenses and eliminations was primarily driven by our company-wide cost management efforts and lower professional fees.

Our operating loss from corporate expenses and eliminations decreased to $98 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010, from $111 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009. The decrease in operating loss was primarily driven by the decrease in corporate expenses noted above and amortization expense.

ADJUSTED RESULTS

As discussed above under “—Results of Operations”, GAAP requires that we separately present our results for fiscal 2011 between Predecessor and Successor periods and, for the periods presented below, we have done so elsewhere in this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”. Our combined results presented below and elsewhere in this discussion are not reported in accordance with GAAP but our management believes reviewing our operating results for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 by combining the results of the Predecessor and Successor periods is more useful in identifying any trends in, or reaching conclusions regarding, our overall operating performance, and management performs reviews at that level. As discussed in the section entitled “—Factors Affecting Results of Operations and Financial Condition” above, our combined results for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 have been affected by certain items identified as being in connection with the Merger. Factors affecting period-to-period comparability of the unadjusted combined results for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 included transaction costs and share-based compensation expense related to the Merger.

 

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The following tables reconcile our reported results to our adjusted results for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011. The items identified as being in connection with the Merger did not affect results in other periods.

Reconciliation of Reported Results to Adjusted Results, Twelve Months Ended September 30, 2011 (in millions):

 

    For the Combined Twelve Months ended September 30, 2011  
    Total Warner
Music Group
Corp.
Operating
Income
    Recorded
Music
Operating
Income
    Music
Publishing
Operating
Income
    Total Warner
Music Group
Corp.
OIBDA
    Recorded
Music
OIBDA
    Music
Publishing
OIBDA
    Net loss
attributable to
Warner Music
Group Corp.
 

Reported Results

  $ 32      $ 110      $ 73      $ 290      $ 282      $ 147      $ (205

Factors Affecting Comparability:

             

Acquisition Expenses (1)

    53        —          2        53        —          2        53   

Share-Based Compensation Expense (2)

    14        8        1        14        8        1        14   
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Adjusted Results

  $ 99      $ 118      $ 76      $ 357      $ 290      $ 150      $ (138
 

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

(1) Adjusted Results for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 exclude $53 million in fees incurred in connection with the acquisition of the Company by Access. These costs primarily included advisory, accounting, legal and other professional fees.
(2) Adjusted Results for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 exclude $14 million ($8 million Recorded Music, $1 million Music Publishing and $5 million corporate) in share-based compensation expense incurred in connection with the acquisition of the Company by Access.

FINANCIAL CONDITION AND LIQUIDITY

Financial Condition at September 30, 2011

At September 30, 2011, we had $2.217 billion of debt, $154 million of cash and equivalents (net debt of $2.063 billion, defined as total debt less cash and equivalents and short-term investments) and a $1.096 billion Warner Music Group Corp. equity. This compares to $1.945 billion of debt, $439 million of cash and equivalents (net debt of $1.506 billion, defined as total debt less cash and equivalents and short-term investments) and a $265 million deficit at September 30, 2010. Net debt increased by $557 million as a result of (i) a $285 million decrease in cash and equivalents (ii) the issuance of $765 million of Unsecured WMG Notes with an original issue discount of $17 million (for net proceeds of $748 million), (iii) the issuance of $150 million of Secured WMG Notes with an original issue premium of $7 million (for net proceeds of $157 million), (iv) the issuance of $150 million of Holdings Notes, (v) the $62 million premium (Successor) and the elimination of the $35 million discount (Predecessor) related to the $1.1 billion Existing Secured Notes offset by (vi) the full repayment of our Existing Acquisition Corp. Notes and Existing Holdings Notes as part of the refinancing described below for a total of $880 million.

The $1.361 billion increase in Warner Music Group Corp.’s equity during the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 (Successor) included the elimination of $1.5 billion of Predecessor equity and the initial investment by Parent as a result of the Merger, $24 million of stock-based compensation, $6 million of exercised Predecessor stock options, foreign currency exchange movements of $5 million, $3 million related to deferred gains on derivative financial instruments, $1 million related to the minimum pension liability offset by $174 million and $31 million of Predecessor and Successor net loss.

Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, on the Closing Date, Merger Sub merged with and into the Company with the Company surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of Parent. Parent funded the Merger Consideration through cash on hand at the Company at closing, equity financing obtained from Parent and debt financing obtained by third party lenders. In connection with the Merger, the Company also refinanced certain of its existing consolidated indebtedness. See “Overview—The Merger.”

 

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Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our historical cash flows. The financial data for the periods from July 20, 2011 through September 30, 2011 (Successor) and from October 1, 2010 to July 19, 2011 (Predecessor) and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2010 and September 30, 2009 (Predecessor) have been derived from our audited financial statements included elsewhere herein.

 

     Successor     Predecessor           Predecessor  

Cash Provided By (Used In):

   From July 20, 2011
through

September 30, 2011
    From
October  1,
2010

through
July 19, 2011
    For the
Combined
Twelve
Months ended
September 30,
2011
    For the Fiscal
Year Ended
September 30,
2010
    For the Fiscal
Year Ended
September 30,
2009
 
           (in millions)              

Operating activities

   $ (64   $ 12      $ (52   $ 150      $ 237   

Investing activities

     (1,292     (155     (1,447     (85     82   

Financing activities

     1,199        5        1,204        (3     (346

Operating Activities

Cash used in operations was $52 million for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 compared to cash provided by operations of $150 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 (Predecessor) and $237 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 (Predecessor). The decrease in results from operating activities reflected the decrease in our OIBDA driven primarily by transaction costs incurred in connection with the Merger, the increase in cash paid for severance, the expected increase in cash paid for interest of $41 million and the timing of our working capital requirements.

Investing Activities

Cash used in investing activities was $1.447 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 compared to $85 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 (Predecessor) and cash provided by investing activities of $82 million of the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 (Predecessor). Cash used in investing activities of $1.447 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 consisted of $48 million of capital expenditures primarily related to software infrastructure improvements, cash used of $62 million to acquire music publishing rights, $59 million to acquire businesses, net of cash acquired and $1.278 billion related to the purchase of Predecessor. Cash used in investing activities of $85 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 (Predecessor) consisted primarily $51 million of capital expenditures primarily related to software infrastructure improvements, cash used of $36 million to acquire music publishing rights, cash used for acquisitions totaling $7 million, net of cash acquired, offset by $9 million of cash proceeds received in the connection with the sale of our equity investment in lala media, inc. Cash provided by investing activities of $82 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 (Predecessor) consisted primarily of proceeds received from the sale of our remaining stake in Front Line Management to Ticketmaster for $123 million and proceeds from the sale of a building of $8 million offset by $27 million in capital expenditures, cash used for acquisitions totaling $16 million and $11 million of cash used to acquire music publishing rights.

Financing Activities

Cash provided by financing activities was $1.204 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 compared to cash used in financing activities of $3 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 (Predecessor) and $346 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 (Predecessor). Cash provided by financing activities was $1.204 billion for the twelve months ended September 30, 2011 and consisted primarily of a capital contribution received from Parent of $1.099 billion, net proceeds from the issuance of the Unsecured WMG Notes of $747 million, net proceeds from the issuance of the Secured WMG Notes of $157 million, proceeds from the issuance of the Holdings Senior Notes of $150 million and proceeds from the exercise of stock

 

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options of $6 million, partially offset by full repayment of the Existing Acquisition Corp. Notes of $626 million, the full repayment of the Existing Holdings Notes of $258 million, deferred financing fees related to new debt obligations of $70 million and distributions to our noncontrolling interest holders of $1 million. Cash used in financing activities of $3 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2010 (Predecessor) consisted of distributions to our noncontrolling interest holders. Cash used in financing activities of $346 million for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2009 (Predecessor) consisted of the full repayment of the senior credit facility of $1.371 billion, quarterly repayments of debt of $8 million, $23 million of financing fees related to the Existing Secured Notes and distributions to our noncontrolling interest holders of $3 million, offset by $1.059 billion of net proceeds from the issuance of the Existing Secured Notes.

Liquidity

Our primary sources of liquidity are the cash flows generated from our subsidiaries’ operations, available cash and equivalents and short-term investments and funds available for drawing under our Revolving Credit Facility. These sources of liquidity are needed to fund our debt service requirements, working capital requirements, capital expenditure requirements, strategic acquisitions and investments, and any dividends or repurchases of our outstanding notes in open market purchases, privately negotiated purchases or otherwise, we may elect to pay or make in the future. We believe that our existing sources of cash will be sufficient to support our existing operations over the next fiscal year.

As of September 30, 2011 (Successor), our long-term debt was as follows:

 

Revolving Credit Facility (a)

   $ —     

9.5% Existing Secured Notes due 2016—Acquisition Corp. (b)

     1,162   

9.5% Secured WMG Notes due 2016—Acquisition Corp. (c)

     157   

11.5% Unsecured WMG Notes due 2018—Acquisition Corp. (d)

     748   

13.75% Holdings Notes due 2019—Holdings (e)

     150   
  

 

 

 

Total long term debt

   $ 2,217   
  

 

 

 

 

(a) Reflects $60 million of commitments under the Revolving Credit Facility which was undrawn at September 30, 2011.
(b) 9.5% Existing Secured Notes due 2016; face amount of $1.1 billion plus unamortized premium of $62 million.
(c) 9.5% Secured WMG Notes due 2016; face amount of $150 million plus unamortized premium of $7 million.
(d) 11.5% Unsecured WMG Notes due 2018; face amount of $765 million less unamortized discount of $17 million.
(e) 13.75% Holdings Notes due 2019; face amount of $150 million

Revolving Credit Facility

In connection with the Merger, Acquisition Corp. entered into a credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) for a senior secured revolving credit facility with Credit Suisse AG, as administrative agent, and the other financial institutions and lenders from time to time party thereto (the “Revolving Credit Facility”).

General

Acquisition Corp. is the borrower (the “Borrower”) under the Credit Agreement which provides for a revolving credit facility in the amount of up to $60 million (the “Commitments”) and includes a letter of credit sub-facility. The Credit Agreement permits loans for general corporate purposes and may also be utilized to issue letters of credit. The Credit Agreement matures five years from the Closing Date.

 

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Interest Rates and Fees

Borrowings under the Credit Agreement bear interest at Borrower’s election at a rate equal to (i) the rate for deposits in U.S. dollars in the London interbank market (adjusted for maximum reserves) for the applicable interest period (“LIBOR rate”), plus 4% per annum, or (ii) the base rate, which is the highest of (x) the corporate base rate established by the administrative agent from time to time, (y) the overnight federal funds rate plus 0.5% and (z) the one-month LIBOR rate plus 1.0% per annum, plus, in each case, 3% per annum. The LIBOR rate shall be deemed to be not less than 1.5%.

If there is a payment default at any time, then the interest rate applicable to overdue principal will be the rate otherwise applicable to such loan plus 2.00% per annum. Default interest will also be payable on other overdue amounts at a rate of 2.00% per annum above the amount that would apply to an alternative base rate loan.

The Credit Agreement bears a commitment fee on the unutilized portion equal to 0.50%, payable quarterly in arrears. Acquisition Corp. is required to pay certain upfront fees to lenders and agency fees to the agent under the Credit Agreement, in the amounts and at the times agreed between the relevant parties.

Prepayments

If, at any time, the aggregate amount of outstanding borrowings (including letters of credit outstanding thereunder) exceeds the Commitments, prepayments of the loans (and after giving effect to such prepayment the cash collateralization of letters of credit) will be required in an amount equal to such excess. The application of proceeds from mandatory prepayments shall not reduce the aggregate amount of then effective commitments under the Credit Agreement and amounts prepaid may be reborrowed, subject to then effective commitments under the Credit Agreement.

Voluntary reductions of the unutilized portion of the Commitments and prepayments of borrowings under the Credit Agreement are permitted at any time, in minimum principal amounts set forth in the Credit Agreement, without premium or penalty, subject to reimbursement of the Lenders’ redeployment costs actually incurred in the case of a prepayment of LIBOR-based borrowings other than on the last day of the relevant interest period.

Guarantee; Security

Acquisition Corp. and certain of its domestic subsidiaries entered into a Subsidiary Guaranty, dated as of the Closing Date (the “Subsidiary Guaranty”) pursuant to which all obligations under the Credit Agreement are guaranteed by Acquisition Corp.’s existing subsidiaries that guarantee the Existing Secured Notes and each other direct and indirect wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, other than certain excluded subsidiaries.

All obligations of the Borrower and each guarantor are secured by substantially all assets of the Borrower, Holdings and each subsidiary guarantor to the extent required under the security agreement securing the Existing Secured Notes and the Secured WMG Notes, including a perfected pledge of all the equity interests of the Borrower and of any subsidiary guarantor, mortgages on certain real property and certain intellectual property.

Covenants, Representations and Warranties

The Credit Agreement contains customary representations and warranties and customary affirmative and negative covenants. The negative covenants are limited to the following: limitations on dividends on, and redemptions and purchases of, equity interests and other restricted payments, limitations on prepayments, redemptions and repurchases of certain debt, limitations on liens, limitations on loans and investments, limitations on debt, guarantees and hedging arrangements, limitations on mergers, acquisitions and asset sales, limitations on transactions with affiliates, limitations on changes in business conducted by the Borrower and its subsidiaries, limitations on restrictions on ability of subsidiaries to pay dividends or make distributions, limitations on amendments of subordinated debt and unsecured bonds and limitations on capital expenditures. The negative covenants are subject to customary and other specified exceptions.

 

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There are no financial covenants included in the Credit Agreement, other than a springing leverage ratio, which will be tested only when there are loans outstanding under the Credit Agreement in excess of $5 million (excluding letters of credit).

Events of Default

Events of default under the Credit Agreement are limited to nonpayment of principal, interest or other amounts, violation of covenants, incorrectness of representations and warranties in any material respect, cross default and cross acceleration of certain material debt, bankruptcy, material judgments, ERISA events, actual or asserted invalidities of the Credit Agreement, guarantees or security documents and a change of control, subject to customary notice and grace period provisions.

Existing Secured Notes

As of September 30, 2011, Acquisition Corp. had $1.162 billion of debt represented by its 9.5% Senior Secured Notes due 2016 (the “Existing Secured Notes”). Acquisition Corp. issued $1.1 billion aggregate principal amount of Existing Secured Notes in 2009 pursuant to the Indenture, dated as of May 28, 2009 (as amended and supplemented, the “Existing Secured Notes Indenture”), among the Acquisition Corp., the guarantors party thereto, and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association as trustee.

The Existing Secured Notes were issued at 96.289% of their face value for total net proceeds of $1.059 billion, with an effective interest rate of 10.25%. The original issue discount (OID) was $41 million. The OID was equal to the difference between the stated principal amount and the issue price. Following the Merger, in accordance with the guidance under ASC 805, these notes were recorded at fair value in conjunction with acquisition-method accounting. This resulted in the elimination of the predecessor discount and the establishment of a $65 million successor premium based on market data as of the closing date. This premium will be amortized using the effective interest rate method and reported as an offset to non-cash interest expense. The Existing Secured Notes mature on June 15, 2016 and bear interest payable semi-annually on June 15 and December 15 of each year at a fixed rate of 9.50% per annum.

Acquisition Corp. used the net proceeds from the Existing Secured Notes offering, plus approximately $335 million in existing cash, to repay in full all amounts due under its previous senior secured credit facility and pay related fees and expenses. In connection with the repayment, Acquisition Corp. terminated its previous revolving credit facility.

The Existing Secured Notes remain outstanding following the Merger. Acquisition Corp. entered into a supplemental indenture, dated as of the Closing Date (the “Existing Secured Notes Supplemental Indenture”) that supplements the Existing Secured Notes Indenture. Pursuant to the Existing Secured Notes Supplemental Indenture, certain subsidiaries of Acquisition Corp. that had not previously been parties to the Existing Secured Notes Indenture, agreed to become parties thereto and to unconditionally guarantee, on a senior secured basis, payment of the Existing Secured Notes.

Ranking and Security

The Existing Secured Notes are Acquisition Corp.’s senior secured obligations and are secured on an equal and ratable basis with the Secured WMG Notes and the Revolving Credit Facility and all future indebtedness secured under the same security arrangements as such indebtedness. The Existing Secured Notes rank senior in right of payment to Acquisition Corp.’s existing and future subordinated indebtedness; rank equally in right of payment with all of Acquisition Corp.’s existing and future senior indebtedness, including the Secured WMG Notes, indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Facility and the Unsecured WMG Notes; are effectively senior to all of Acquisition Corp.’s existing and future unsecured indebtedness, to the extent of the assets securing the Existing Secured Notes and are structurally subordinated to all existing and future indebtedness and other

 

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liabilities of any of Acquisition Corp.’s non-guarantor subsidiaries (other than indebtedness and liabilities owed to Acquisition Corp. or one of its subsidiary guarantors (as such term is defined below), to the extent of the assets of those subsidiaries. All obligations under the Existing Secured Notes and the guarantees of those obligations are secured by first-priority liens, subject to permitted liens, in the assets of Holdings (which consists of the shares of Acquisition Corp.), Acquisition Corp., and the subsidiary guarantors, except for certain excluded assets.

Guarantees

The Existing Secured Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior secured basis by each of Acquisition Corp.’s existing direct or indirect wholly owned domestic subsidiaries, except for certain excluded subsidiaries, and by any such subsidiaries that guarantee other indebtedness of Acquisition Corp. in the future. Such subsidiary guarantors are collectively referred to herein as the “subsidiary guarantors,” and such subsidiary guarantees are collectively referred to herein as the “subsidiary guarantees.” Each subsidiary guarantee is a senior secured obligation of such subsidiary guarantor and is secured on an equal and ratable basis with such subsidiary guarantor’s guarantees of the Secured WMG Notes and the Revolving Credit Facility and all future indebtedness of such subsidiary guarantor secured under the same security arrangements as such indebtedness. Each subsidiary guarantee ranks senior in right of payment to all existing and future subordinated obligations of such subsidiary guarantor; ranks equally in right of payment with all of such subsidiary guarantor’s existing and future senior indebtedness, including such subsidiary guarantor’s guarantee of the Secured WMG Notes, indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Facility and the Unsecured WMG Notes; is effectively senior to all of such subsidiary guarantor’s existing and future unsecured indebtedness, to the extent of the assets securing such subsidiary guarantor’s guarantee of the Existing Secured Notes and is structurally subordinated to all existing and future indebtedness and other liabilities of any non-guarantor subsidiary of such subsidiary guarantor (other than indebtedness and liabilities owed to Acquisition Corp. or one of its subsidiary guarantors), to the extent of the assets of such subsidiary. Any subsidiary guarantee of the Existing Secured Notes may be released in certain circumstances. The Existing Secured Notes are not guaranteed by Holdings.

Optional Redemption

Acquisition Corp. may redeem the Existing Secured Notes, in whole or in part, at any time prior to June 15, 2013, at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount thereof, plus the applicable make-whole premium and accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, on the Existing Secured Notes to be redeemed to the applicable redemption date.

The Existing Secured Notes may also be redeemed, in whole or in part, at any time prior to June 15, 2013, upon the consummation and closing of a Major Music/Media Transaction (as defined in the Existing Secured Notes Indenture), at a redemption price equal to 104.750% of the principal amount of the Existing Secured Notes redeemed plus accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, on the Existing Secured Notes to be redeemed to the applicable redemption date, subject to the right of holders of the Existing Secured Notes on the relevant record date to receive interest due on the relevant interest payment date.

On or after June 15, 2013, Acquisition Corp. may redeem all or a part of the Existing Secured Notes, at its option, at the redemption prices (expressed as percentages of principal amount) set forth below plus accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, on the Existing Secured Notes to be redeemed to the applicable redemption date, if redeemed during the twelve-month period beginning on June 15 of the years indicated below:

 

Year

   Percentage  

2013

     104.750

2014

     102.375

2015 and thereafter

     100.000

In addition, at any time prior to June 15, 2012, Acquisition Corp. may on any one or more occasions redeem up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of Existing Secured Notes at a redemption price equal to 109.50% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, to the date of

 

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redemption, with the net cash proceeds of certain equity offerings; provided that: (1) at least 50% of the aggregate principal amount of Existing Secured Notes originally issued under the Existing Secured Notes Indenture (excluding Existing Secured Notes held by Acquisition Corp. and its subsidiaries) remains outstanding immediately after the occurrence of such redemption; and (2) the redemption occurs within 90 days of the date of, and may be conditioned upon, the closing of such equity offering.

Change of Control

Upon the occurrence of a change of control, which is defined in the Existing Secured Notes Indenture, each holder of the Existing Secured Notes has the right to require Acquisition Corp. to repurchase some or all of such holder’s Existing Secured Notes at a purchase price in cash equal to 101% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the repurchase date. A change of control includes, among other events, either a sale of Acquisition Corp.’s Recorded Music business or a sale of its Music Publishing business. A sale of the Acquisition Corp.’s Recorded Music Business will not constitute a change of control where Acquisition Corp. has made an offer to redeem all the Existing Secured Notes in connection with such sale.

The Existing Secured Notes remain outstanding following the Merger. In connection with the Merger, in May 2011, the Company received the requisite consents from holders of the Existing Secured Notes to amend the indenture governing the notes such that the Merger would not constitute a “Change of Control” as defined therein.

Covenants

The Existing Secured Notes Indenture contains covenants limiting, among other things, Acquisition Corp.’s ability and the ability of most of its subsidiaries to: incur additional debt or issue certain preferred shares; pay dividends on or make distributions in respect of its capital stock or make investments or other restricted payments; create restrictions on the ability of its restricted subsidiaries to pay dividends to it or make certain other intercompany transfers; sell certain assets; create liens securing certain debt; consolidate, merge, sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets; sell or otherwise dispose of its Music Publishing business; and enter into certain transactions with its affiliates.

Events of Default

Events of default under the Existing Secured Notes Indenture are limited to the nonpayment of principal or interest when due, violation of covenants and other agreements contained in the Existing Secured Notes Indenture, cross payment default after final maturity and cross acceleration of certain material debt, certain bankruptcy and insolvency events, material judgment defaults, actual or asserted invalidity of a guarantee of a significant subsidiary and actual or asserted invalidity of material security interests, subject to customary notice and grace period provisions. The occurrence of an event of default would permit or require the principal of and accrued interest on the Existing Secured Notes to become or to be declared due and payable.

Secured WMG Notes

On the Closing Date, the Initial OpCo Issuer issued $150 million aggregate principal amount of the Secured WMG Notes pursuant to the Indenture, dated as of the Closing Date (as amended and supplemented, the “Secured WMG Notes Indenture”), between the Initial OpCo Issuer and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association as trustee (the “Trustee”). Following the completion of the OpCo Merger on the Closing Date, Acquisition Corp. and certain of its domestic subsidiaries (the “Guarantors”) entered into a Supplemental Indenture, dated as of the Closing Date (the “Secured WMG Notes First Supplemental Indenture”), with the Trustee, pursuant to which (i) Acquisition Corp. became a party to the Indenture and assumed the obligations of the Initial OpCo Issuer under the Secured WMG Notes and (ii) each Guarantor became a party to the Secured WMG Notes Indenture and provided an unconditional guarantee on a senior secured basis of the obligations of Acquisition Corp. under the Secured WMG Notes.

 

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The Secured WMG Notes were issued at 104.75% of their face value for total net proceeds of $157 million, with an effective interest rate of 8.32%. The original issue premium (OIP) was $7 million. The OIP is the difference between the stated principal amount and the issue price. The OIP will be amortized over the term of the Secured WMG Notes using the effective interest rate method and reported as an offset to non-cash interest expense. The Secured WMG Notes mature on June 15, 2016 and bear interest payable semi-annually on June 15 and December 15 of each year at fixed rate of 9.50% per annum.

Ranking and Security

The Secured WMG Notes are Acquisition Corp.’s senior secured obligations and are secured on an equal and ratable basis with the Existing Secured Notes and the Revolving Credit Facility and all future indebtedness secured under the same security arrangements as such indebtedness. The Secured WMG Notes rank senior in right of payment to Acquisition Corp.’s existing and future subordinated indebtedness; rank equally in right of payment with all of Acquisition Corp.’s existing and future senior indebtedness, including the Existing Secured Notes, indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Facility and the Unsecured WMG Notes; are effectively senior to all of Acquisition Corp.’s existing and future unsecured indebtedness, to the extent of the assets securing the Secured WMG Notes; and are structurally subordinated to all existing and future indebtedness and other liabilities of any of Acquisition Corp.’s non-guarantor subsidiaries (other than indebtedness and liabilities owed to Acquisition Corp. or one of its subsidiary guarantors (as such term is defined below)) to the extent of the assets of such subsidiaries. All obligations under the Secured WMG Notes and the guarantees of those obligations are secured by first-priority liens, subject to permitted liens, on the assets of Holdings (which consists of the shares of Acquisition Corp.), Acquisition Corp., and the subsidiary guarantors, except for certain excluded assets.

Guarantees

The Secured WMG Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior secured basis by each of Acquisition Corp.’s existing direct or indirect wholly owned domestic subsidiaries, except for certain excluded subsidiaries, and by any such subsidiaries that guarantee other indebtedness of Acquisition Corp. in the future. Such subsidiary guarantors are collectively referred to herein as the “subsidiary guarantors,” and such subsidiary guarantees are collectively referred to herein as the “subsidiary guarantees.” Each subsidiary guarantee is a senior secured obligation of such subsidiary guarantor and is secured on an equal and ratable basis with such subsidiary guarantor’s guarantees of the Existing Secured Notes and the Revolving Credit Facility and all future indebtedness of such subsidiary guarantor secured under the same security arrangements as such indebtedness. Each subsidiary guarantee ranks senior in right of payment to all existing and future subordinated obligations of the applicable subsidiary guarantor; ranks equally in right of payment with all of such subsidiary guarantor’s existing and future senior indebtedness, including such subsidiary guarantor’s guarantee of the Existing Secured Notes, indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Facility and the Unsecured WMG Notes; is effectively senior to all of such subsidiary guarantor’s existing and future unsecured indebtedness, to the extent of the assets securing such subsidiary guarantor’s guarantee of the Secured WMG Notes; and is structurally subordinated to all existing and future indebtedness and other liabilities of any non-guarantor subsidiary of such subsidiary guarantor (other than indebtedness and liabilities owed to Acquisition Corp. or one of its subsidiary guarantors), to the extent of the assets of such subsidiary. Any subsidiary guarantee of the Secured WMG Notes may be released in certain circumstances. The Secured WMG Notes are not guaranteed by Holdings.

Optional Redemption

Acquisition Corp. may redeem the Secured WMG Notes, in whole or in part, at any time prior to June 15, 2013, at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount thereof, plus the applicable make-whole premium and accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, on the Secured WMG Notes to be redeemed to the applicable redemption date.

 

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The Secured WMG Notes may also be redeemed, in whole or in part, at any time prior to June 15, 2013, upon the consummation and closing of a Major Music/Media Transaction (as defined in the Secured WMG Notes Indenture), at a redemption price equal to 104.750% of the principal amount of the Secured WMG Notes redeemed plus accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, on the Secured WMG Notes to be redeemed to the applicable redemption date, subject to the right of holders of the Secured WMG Notes on the relevant record date to receive interest due on the relevant interest payment date.

On or after June 15, 2013, Acquisition Corp. may redeem all or a part of the Secured WMG Notes, at its option, at the redemption prices (expressed as percentages of principal amount) set forth below plus accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, on the Secured WMG Notes to be redeemed to the applicable redemption date, if redeemed during the twelve-month period beginning on June 15 of the years indicated below:

 

Year

   Percentage  

2013

     104.750

2014

     102.375

2015 and thereafter

     100.000

In addition, at any time prior to June 15, 2012, Acquisition Corp. may on any one or more occasions redeem up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of Secured WMG Notes at a redemption price equal to 109.50% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, to the date of redemption, with the net cash proceeds of certain equity offerings; provided that: (1) at least 50% of the aggregate principal amount of Secured WMG Notes originally issued under the Secured WMG Notes Indenture (excluding Secured WMG Notes held by Acquisition Corp. and its subsidiaries) remains outstanding immediately after the occurrence of such redemption; and (2) the redemption occurs within 90 days of the date of, and may be conditioned upon, the closing of such equity offering.

Change of Control

Upon the occurrence of a change of control, which is defined in the Secured WMG Notes Indenture, each holder of the Secured WMG Notes has the right to require Acquisition Corp. to repurchase some or all of such holder’s Secured WMG Notes at a purchase price in cash equal to 101% of the principal amount thereof, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any, to the repurchase date. A change of control includes, among other events, either a sale of Acquisition Corp.’s Recorded Music business or a sale of its Music Publishing business. A sale of the Acquisition Corp.’s Recorded Music Business will not constitute a change of control where Acquisition Corp. has made an offer to redeem all the Secured WMG Notes in connection with such sale.

Covenants

The Secured WMG Notes Indenture contains covenants limiting, among other things, Acquisition Corp.’s ability and the ability of most of its subsidiaries to: incur additional debt or issue certain preferred shares; pay dividends on or make distributions in respect of its capital stock or make investments or other restricted payments; create restrictions on the ability of its restricted subsidiaries to pay dividends to it or make certain other intercompany transfers; sell certain assets; create liens securing certain debt; consolidate, merge, sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets; sell or otherwise dispose of its Music Publishing business; and enter into certain transactions with its affiliates.

Events of Default

Events of default under the Secured WMG Notes Indenture, are limited to the nonpayment of principal or interest when due, violation of covenants and other agreements contained in the Secured WMG Notes Indenture, cross payment default after final maturity and cross acceleration of certain material debt, certain bankruptcy and

 

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insolvency events, material judgment defaults, actual or asserted invalidity of a guarantee of a significant subsidiary and actual or asserted invalidity of material security interests, subject to customary notice and grace period provisions. The occurrence of an event of default would permit or require the principal of and accrued interest on the Secured WMG Notes to become or to be declared due and payable.

Senior Unsecured WMG Notes

On the Closing Date, the Initial OpCo Issuer issued $765 million aggregate principal amount of the Unsecured WMG Notes pursuant to the Indenture, dated as of the Closing Date (as amended and supplemented, the “Unsecured WMG Notes Indenture”), between the Initial OpCo Issuer and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association as trustee (the “Trustee”). Following the completion of the OpCo Merger on the Closing Date, Acquisition Corp. and certain of its domestic subsidiaries (the “Guarantors”) entered into a Supplemental Indenture, dated as of the Closing Date (the “Unsecured WMG Notes First Supplemental Indenture”), with the Trustee, pursuant to which (i) Acquisition Corp. became a party to the Indenture and assumed the obligations of the Initial OpCo Issuer under the Unsecured WMG Notes and (ii) each Guarantor became a party to the Unsecured WMG Notes Indenture and provided an unconditional guarantee of the obligations of Acquisition Corp. under the Unsecured WMG Notes.

The Unsecured WMG Notes were issued at 97.673% of their face value for total net proceeds of $747 million, with an effective interest rate of 12%. The original issue discount (OID) was $17 million. The OID is the difference between the stated principal amount and the issue price. The OID will be amortized over the term of the Unsecured WMG Notes using the effective interest rate method and reported as non-cash interest expense. The Unsecured WMG Notes mature on October 1, 2018 and bear interest payable semi-annually on April 1 and October 1 of each year at fixed rate of 11.50% per annum.

Ranking

The Unsecured WMG Notes are Acquisition Corp.’s general unsecured senior obligations. The Unsecured WMG Notes rank senior in right of payment to Acquisition Corp.’s existing and future subordinated indebtedness; rank equally in right of payment with all of Acquisition Corp.’s existing and future senior indebtedness, including the Existing Secured Notes, indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Facility and the Secured WMG Notes; are effectively subordinated to all of Acquisition Corp.’s existing and future secured indebtedness, including the Existing Secured Notes, indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Facility and the Secured WMG Notes, to the extent of the assets securing such indebtedness; and are structurally subordinated to all existing and future indebtedness and other liabilities of any of Acquisition Corp.’s non-guarantor subsidiaries (other than indebtedness and liabilities owed to Acquisition Corp. or one of its subsidiary guarantors (as such term is defined below)), to the extent of the assets of such subsidiaries.

Guarantees

The Unsecured WMG Notes are fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by each of Acquisition Corp.’s existing direct or indirect wholly owned domestic subsidiaries, except for certain excluded subsidiaries, and by any such subsidiaries that guarantee other indebtedness of Acquisition Corp. in the future. Such subsidiary guarantors are collectively referred to herein as the “subsidiary guarantors,” and such subsidiary guarantees are collectively referred to herein as the “subsidiary guarantees.” Each subsidiary guarantee ranks senior in right of payment to all existing and future subordinated obligations of such subsidiary guarantor; ranks equally in right of payment with all of such subsidiary guarantor’s existing and future senior indebtedness, including such subsidiary guarantor’s guarantee of the Existing Secured Notes, indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Facility and the Secured WMG Notes; is effectively subordinated to all of such subsidiary guarantor’s existing and future secured indebtedness, including such subsidiary guarantor’s guarantee of the Existing Secured Notes, indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Facility and the Secured WMG Notes, to the extent of the assets securing such indebtedness; and is structurally subordinated to all existing and future indebtedness and other

 

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liabilities of any non-guarantor subsidiary of such subsidiary guarantor (other than indebtedness and liabilities owed to Acquisition Corp. or one of its subsidiary guarantors), to the extent of the assets of such subsidiary. Any subsidiary guarantee of the Unsecured WMG Notes may be released in certain circumstances. The Unsecured WMG Notes are not guaranteed by Holdings.

Optional Redemption

Acquisition Corp. may redeem the Unsecured WMG Notes, in whole or in part, at any time prior to October 1, 2014, at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount thereof, plus the applicable make-whole premium and accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, on the Secured WMG Notes to be redeemed to the applicable redemption date. On or after October 1, 2014, Acquisition Corp. may redeem all or a part of the Unsecured WMG Notes, at its option, at the redemption prices (expressed as percentages of principal amount) set forth below plus accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, on the Unsecured WMG Notes to be redeemed to the applicable redemption date, if redeemed during the twelve-month period beginning on October 1 of the years indicated below:

 

Year

   Percentage  

2014

     108.625

2015

     105.750

2016

     102.875

2017 and thereafter

     100.000

In addition, at any time (which may be more than once) before October 1, 2014, Acquisition Corp. may redeem up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of the Unsecured WMG Notes with the net cash proceeds of certain equity offerings at a redemption price of 111.50%, plus accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, to the applicable redemption date; provided that: (1) at least 50% of the aggregate principal amount of Unsecured WMG Notes originally issued under the Unsecured WMG Notes Indenture remains outstanding immediately after the occurrence of such redemption; and (2) the redemption occurs within 90 days of the date of, and may be conditioned upon, the closing of such equity offering.

Change of Control

Upon the occurrence of certain events constituting a change of control, Acquisition Corp. is required to make an offer to repurchase all of Unsecured WMG Notes (unless otherwise redeemed) at a purchase price equal to 101% of their principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any to the repurchase date.

Covenants

The Unsecured WMG Notes Indenture contains covenants that, among other things, limit Acquisition Corp.’s ability and the ability of most of its subsidiaries to: incur additional debt or issue certain preferred shares; pay dividends on or make distributions in respect of its capital stock or make investments or other restricted payments; create restrictions on the ability of its restricted subsidiaries to pay dividends to Acquisition Corp. or make certain other intercompany transfers; sell certain assets; create liens securing certain debt; consolidate, merge, sell or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of its assets.

Events of Default

Events of default under the Unsecured WMG Notes Indenture are limited to: the nonpayment of principal or interest when due, violation of covenants and other agreements contained in the Unsecured WMG Notes Indenture, cross payment default after final maturity and cross acceleration of certain material debt, certain bankruptcy and insolvency events, material judgment defaults, and actual or asserted invalidity of a guarantee of

 

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a significant subsidiary subject to customary notice and grace period provisions. The occurrence of an event of default would permit or require the principal of and accrued interest on the Unsecured WMG Notes to become or to be declared due and payable.

Senior Holdings Notes

On the Closing Date, the Initial Holdings Issuer issued $150 million aggregate principal amount of the Holdings Notes pursuant to the Indenture, dated as of the Closing Date (as amended and supplemented, the “Holdings Notes Indenture”), between the Initial Holdings Issuer and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association as Trustee (the “Trustee”). Following the completion of the Holdings Merger on the Closing Date, Holdings entered into a Supplemental Indenture, dated as of the Closing Date (the “Holdings Notes First Supplemental Indenture”), with the Trustee, pursuant to which Holdings became a party to the Indenture and assumed the obligations of the Initial Holdings Issuer under the Holdings Notes.

The Holdings Notes were issued at 100% of their face value. The Holdings Notes mature on October 1, 2019 and bear interest payable semi-annually on April 1 and October 1 of each year at fixed rate of 13.75% per annum.

Ranking

The Holdings Notes are Holdings’ general unsecured senior obligations. The Holdings Notes rank senior in right of payment to Holdings’ existing and future subordinated indebtedness; rank equally in right of payment with all of Holdings’ existing and future senior indebtedness; are effectively subordinated to the Existing Secured Notes, the indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Facility, and the Secured WMG Notes, to the extent of assets of Holdings securing such indebtedness; are effectively subordinated to all of Holdings’ existing and future secured indebtedness, to the extent of the assets securing such indebtedness; and are structurally subordinated to all existing and future indebtedness and other liabilities of any of Holdings’ non-guarantor subsidiaries (other than indebtedness and liabilities owed to Acquisition Corp. or one of its subsidiary guarantors (as such term is defined below)), Existing Secured Notes, the indebtedness under the Revolving Credit Facility, the Secured WMG Notes, and the Unsecured WMG Notes, to the extent of the assets of such subsidiaries.

Guarantee

The Holdings Notes are not guaranteed by any of its subsidiaries.

Optional Redemption

Holdings may redeem the Holdings Notes, in whole or in part, at any time prior to October 1, 2015, at a price equal to 100% of the principal amount thereof, plus the applicable make-whole premium and accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, on the Secured WMG Notes to be redeemed to the applicable redemption date.

On or after October 1, 2015, Holdings may redeem all or a part of the Holdings Notes, at its option, at the redemption prices (expressed as percentages of principal amount) set forth below plus accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, on the Holdings Notes to be redeemed to the applicable redemption date, if redeemed during the twelve-month period beginning on October 1 of the years indicated below:

 

Year

   Percentage  

2015

     106.875

2016

     103.438

2017 and thereafter

     100.000

 

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In addition, at any time (which may be more than once) before October 1, 2015, Holdings may redeem up to 35% of the aggregate principal amount of the Holdings Notes with the net cash proceeds of certain equity offerings at a redemption price of 113.75%, plus accrued and unpaid interest and special interest, if any, to the applicable redemption date; provided that: (1) at least 50% of the aggregate principal amount of Holdings Notes originally issued under the Holdings Notes Indenture remains outstanding immediately after the occurrence of such redemption; and (2) the redemption occurs within 90 days of the date of, and may be conditioned upon, the closing of such equity offering.

Change of Control

Upon the occurrence of certain events constituting a change of control, Holdings is required to make an offer to repurchase all of the Holdings Notes (unless otherwise redeemed) at a purchase price equal to 101% of their principal amount, plus accrued and unpaid interest, if any to the repurchase date.

Covenants

The Holdings Notes Indenture contains covenants that, among oth