Competition is increasing for music publishing catalogs and the income they generate from stores, radio and Web play, ads and movies. Last month KKR & Co., the private-equity firm run by Henry Kravis and George Roberts, bought a majority stake in Bertelsmann AGs music-rights unit.
Unlike recorded music, publishing is buffered from falling CD sales by its more diverse revenue sources. Owners can earn cash returns of 7 percent to 20 percent or more a year, depending on the songs and how theyre marketed, investors and dealmakers - - - - >

Sony, which makes Bravia flat-panel TVs and Cyber-shot digital cameras, also said Thursday it is closing three plants in Japan this year to help turn its business around. That brings the total number of factories it is closing globally to eight by the end of March 2010. It is also in the midst of cutting 16,000 workers from its payrolls.
Hit by dropping sales and the strong yen, Sony lost 165 billion yen in the January-March quarter, compared to a 29 billion yen profit for the same period the previous year.
Sony joins a string of other big Japanese corporate names, including - - - - >

The result was the third consecutive quarterly loss for the Sony Corp. and LM Ericsson AB joint venture, which reported a profit of euro133 million in the same period in 2008.
Sales in the January-March quarter tumbled by 36 percent to euro1.7 billion, from euro2.7 billion a year earlier.
Sony Ericsson attributed the sales drop to weaker demand for mobile phones, with distributors and retailers trimming inventories amid the economic slowdown.
The company shipped 14.5 million mobile devices in the quarter, down 35 percent from a year ago.
“In summary it has been a difficult quarter and we expect this to continue through 2009,” - - - - >