The Financial Times reported tonight that Sony BMG is set to win "unconditional backing" from the European Union for its merger three years ago.

"The ruling, which could come as early as this month, would end more than a year of legal uncertainty following a controversial court ruling that annulled the European Commission's original 2004 decision to clear the deal. ... That outcome – if confirmed – would be a blow to the independent record labels, whose legal challenge against the original 2004 merger clearance triggered last year's court reversal. It could boost hopes of another merger in the sector, between Warner Music and EMI Music."

To recap, indie trade group Impala launched a legal challenge to the merger, and the E.U. ended up taking another look at the matter after a court threw out the original merger. In December 2003, Impala called the merger "a bold move to make it even more easy to control the marketplace by reducing competition, consumer value and choice."

[music jobs] Director of Content at Dada Entertainment; New York, NY.