The European Commision has given their unconditional aproval to a merger between Sony and BMG. The commision said that they did not have suficient evidence to oppose the merger. They did, however, say that they will be keeping a close watch on deals like this in the future.

Sony BMG, as the new company will be called, will control about 46% of the music industry. However, Vivendi's Universal Music Group will still be the largest music company in Europe.

Sony's CEO, Andrew Lack, will be CEO of the new corporation, while BMG's CEO, Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, will serve as chairman. The merger will not affect either group's publishing arm or Sony's Japaneese music sales.

Some smaller music companies are threatening to sue if the deal goes through. They believe that this deal, which will put 80% of the music iindustry under the control of four companies, will make it harder for smaller labels to get exposure for their artists.

If the deal goes through, it will put the record labels Columbia, Arista, and RCA under one management. Both Sony and BMG have denied reports that this deal will lead to the companies dropping some srtists from their record labels.