EU to Approve Bertelsmann-Sony Music Merger

The European Commission is set to give its approval on Tuesday to the merger between the music businesses of Germany's Bertelsmann and Japan's Sony -- a deal that will create the world's largest music company. The Commission has been investigating the deal since February due to concerns that the resulting company, SonyBMG, would dominate the market. However, no major objections have come to light, and sources say the merger is also set to win approval from the US Federal Trade Commission. The parent companies argued that the partnership is necessary to fight the crisis in the music industry caused by pirate CDs and illegal music downloading. The merger is likely to bring job losses, with reports estimating that Sony and BMG plan to axe as many as 2,000 jobs once the deal is approved.