February 16, 2010

Psssst - wanna buy a major cultural icon?

Shows what bad management can do -- from Click Liverpool:
Troubled EMI put Abbey Road Studios up for sale.
Abbey Road, the most famous recording studios in the world were The Beatles recorded most of their music, has been put up for sale, by cash strapped EMI. The music company which is owned by buy out firm Terra Firma Capital Partners, has debts of two and a half billion pound.

It is not clear at present if EMI would be selling the Brand name as well, a media lawyer, said that the building is worth tens of millions but the brand is worth even more.

The Abbey Road studios were originally purchased in 1929 and are large enough for a full orchestra to record there, but in recent years to Abbey Road has lost out to cheaper recording facilities overseas and technical advances that allow artists to record using lap top computers.

Over the years many artists have recorded at Abbey Road including Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Cilla Black, Pink Floyd, who recorded “Dark Side of the Moon” there, Michael Jackson. Gerry and the Pacemakers recorded “You’ll never walk alone” and “Ferry cross the Mersey” at the studios and Oasis recorded their 1997 album “Be Here Now” there also.

Abbey Road was the title of the final Beatles album to be released and it features the iconic cover photograph, taken by Iain Macmillan, of the four Beatles walking across the zebra crossing outside the studios.

The photograph, which was taken during a 10-minute photo shot, has become one of the most copied album covers in history. There have been calls for the crossing to be moved as many fans have been involved in accidents as they step out on the crossing in an effort to re-create the famous cover.

Paul McCartney is holding a cigarette, which has now been removed from the American edition of the album. Abbey Road was the first Beatles album to achieve worldwide sales of 10 million and has recently been re-released, along with all the other Beatle albums, in digitally re-mastered form.

Abbey Road is the only Beatles album that does not feature the name of the album or the group’s name.

London Beatle Guide Richard Porter said “I hope that who ever buys the building keeps it as a studio” Beatle fans are calling on Sir Paul McCartney to buy Abbey Road.
Sad. It is almost a death knell when a business gets bought out by (generic name) Group or (generic name) Partners. These are "investors" who have no stake in the actual business and are just looking to strip all the available cash out of a resource before selling the salvage at a loss. There is still a lot of value in the studio -- vintage microphones and electronics plus having a venue that can record a large orchestra or group. I hope it finds a good owner and not another fscking "investment group" Posted by DaveH at February 16, 2010 1:30 PM | TrackBack
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