It certainly isn’t news that EMI, one of the so-called “Big Four” major record labels (owned by private equity firm Terra Firma) is in dire need of cash, but are they really going to such lengths as to sell the most famous recording studio of all time? According to Financial Times, they are…
The Beatles recorded almost their entire oeuvre at the Westminster, London townhouse/music landmark, of course, and damn if that’s not worth a pretty penny: According to “[F]ive people familiar with the situation,” EMI have “been courting bidders for the property,” as the sale “could raise tens of millions of pounds.”
EMI, which is rumored to be in merger talks with Warner Music Group, is “worth more than the building,” said a media lawyer consulted by FT, “anybody who wants the studios will want the brand.”
A story like this could incite what we’ll call “easy outrage,” but if a price is being put on a priceless place like Abbey Road by its very owners since 1929, Godspeed, I say. Surely one of its past inhabitants (Paul McCartney?) has the dough to preserve it. Did we mention that Radiohead, Elliott Smith, and Pink Floyd also crafted masterpieces there?
“This belongs in a museum!” – Young Indiana Jones