Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 13, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 13, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe EU has approved Universal Music's acquisition of Downtown Music with conditions, including the divestment of a royalty platform. The deal is valued at $775 million.
By Foo Yun Chee and Gianluca Lo Nostro
BRUSSELS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Universal Music Group secured EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of Downtown Music on Friday after agreeing to sell the latter's royalty services platform to address competition concerns.
The $775 million deal, via Universal unit Virgin Music Group and announced in December 2024, triggered criticism and pushback from a wide swathe of independent labels, which were worried about the boost to Universal's market power and wanted the deal to be blocked.
The European Commission, which acts as the EU competition enforcer, said the divestment of Downtown's Curve Royalty Systems will prevent UMG from obtaining access to the commercially sensitive data of its rivals stored on Curve.
It pointed to the presence of rivals in the market including Sony Music Entertainment, Warner and independent artist and label service providers such as Believe, Distrokid, IDOL, Kontor or ONErpm.
The EU antitrust watchdog said the deal would not significantly increase UMG's power in licensing discussions with Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. Universal's roster of artists includes Taylor Swift, SZA, Billie Eilish and Drake.
"Today's decision reflects the Commission's dedication to promoting fair competition and supporting a thriving and diverse music landscape in Europe," Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said in a statement.
Reuters reported exclusively on the imminent EU approval last month.
Downtown and Virgin Music, the UMG unit that is taking it over, welcomed the Commission's decision.
"Bringing Downtown's exceptional team and capabilities to Virgin Music Group means greater flexibility and a sharper set of services for independent entrepreneurs, artists and labels," Nat Pastor & JT Myers, co-CEOs of Virgin Music Group, said in a statement.
(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro and Yun Chee Foo; Editing by Inti Landauro and Anil D'Silva)
An acquisition is a corporate action in which one company purchases most or all of another company's shares to gain control of that company.
Royalty accounting refers to the process of tracking and managing payments made to rights holders for the use of their intellectual property, such as music or patents.
The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, and upholding EU treaties.
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