A SHARP fall in physical music sales drove profits at the Irish arm of multinational record company EMI down by almost 50 per cent last year.
Pretax profits at EMI Records (Ireland) tumbled to €2 million in 2010 from €3.95 million a year earlier, newly-filed accounts show.
EMI Group, which is now owned by Citigroup’s private equity arm, has a roster of recording artists that includes Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue and Irish music ensemble Celtic Woman.
Physical music sales at the group’s Ballsbridge-based Irish subsidiary halved in 2010. Although this was partially offset by a 7 per cent uplift in digital sales, total turnover slumped by €6.7 million to just under €10 million in 2010.
A geographical breakdown of the company’s sales show the decline was far more severe in Ireland than in the UK, with Irish sales shrinking from €15 million to €8.5 million last year.
Despite the difficult environment, total accumulated profits grew to €14.48 million.
Staff costs fell from €1.75 million to €1.38 million, with an average of 14 people employed during the year.
In the accounts, the company directors said the main risk facing the business was the decline in music sales resulting from the recession, piracy and illegal downloading.
“Piracy – organised commercial physical piracy, the existence of illegal internet file sharing networks, and the ubiquity of technological devices which enable unauthorised consumer copying of music content – all represent risks,” the directors said.
EMI Records (Ireland) was one of five major record companies to take a failed High Court action last year aimed at compelling internet service provider UPC to take action to prevent illegal music downloading.
