经济学人60:出售音乐公司,塞壬之歌

 　　Selling music companies

　　出售音乐集团

　　Siren song

　　塞壬之歌

　　No one wants to pay for music. Yet investors² are splurging on music firms

　　人们不想为听歌付费，但投资者们仍在音乐公司上挥霍

　　May 12th 2011 | from the print edition

　　And you thought Cher was extravagant³

　　SAY what you like about the men who built business empires from the wreckage⁴ of Soviet⁵ communism. To money-losing Western outfits⁶, they are angels. Roman Abramovich turned Chelsea football club into a winner. Alexander Lebedev rescued the Evening Standard and Independent newspapers. And on May 6th Len Blavatnik, an oil magnate, agreed to pay $3.3 billion for Warner Music Group. The stunned⁷ reaction among music executives suggests that his is the greatest act of charity yet.

　　谈谈这些你所听说过的男人，来自苏维埃共和国存体却创造了商业帝国。对于西方亏损机构而言，他们就如同天使。罗曼阿布拉莫维奇将切尔西足球酒吧变成冠军；亚历山大列别杰夫将《伦敦晚报》和《独立日报》从运营困境中解救；以及5月6日石油大亨布拉瓦特尼克，投资华纳音乐集团33亿美元，这一惊人举动是只因几位音乐执行推举他为目前最富有的慈善家。

　　Warner Music was born in 2003, when Edgar Bronfman and a group of investors paid $2.6 billion for Time Warner’s music division. Mr Bronfman, heir to a whisky fortune, was known as an unlucky investor¹. New York magazine called him “possibly the stupidest person in the media business”. Not any more. He has managed to sell a company in a collapsing⁸ industry for substantially more than it cost (and there are rumours⁹ that another suitor will yet try to trump¹⁰ Mr Blavatnik’s offer). It is like making a killing¹² on a buggy-whip firm in the car-crazy 1920s.

　　华纳音乐诞生于2003年，由艾德加??布隆夫曼和一群投资家于投资了26亿美元而成立。布隆夫曼先生在收购了威士忌酒的产业后，被公认为不幸运的投资者。《纽约杂志》称他“可能是媒体商业中最愚蠢的人”。的确再也找不到更愚蠢的人了。他管理了售出一家在夕阳产业的公司，但事实上高超它应有的售价，（并且有谣言称另一家参与竞标的公司手中仍有布拉瓦特尼克先生的王牌）。这就如同在20世纪20年代扼杀一家过时的公司。

　　Since 2003 global CD sales have roughly halved¹³. Competition from pirates has crushed retailers¹⁴ and forced record labels to cut prices. Rising digital music sales, mostly through Apple’s iTunes store, have not nearly made up for these losses. And it is still unclear whether music-streaming outfits such as Spotify will reverse the decline or accelerate it by drawing honest people away from buying music.

　　自从2003年全球CD销量减半后，来自盗版的竞争已经影响到了零售业，并且强迫唱片公司降低价格。数字音乐销售的上涨，很大部分来自苹果的iTunes商店，但仍旧不能弥补这些损失。至今仍旧未知，像Spotify这样的在线音乐播放机构，营业额是否会继续减少？还是能通过那些会购买音乐的诚实人使营业额有所提升？

　　Under Mr Bronfman and his private-equity partners, Warner Music drastically pruned¹⁵ costs in the mid-2000s. Executives went from flying first class to business class, then to economy. For a while revenues held up, suggesting it was possible to run a successful music firm on the cheap. But since 2008 Warner’s recorded-music sales have dropped by 15%. Its “artist and repertoire” costs, which include scouting¹⁶ and signing artists, are also dropping. That is a worrying sign, akin¹¹ to a drug firm spending less on R&D.

　　在布隆夫曼和他私人股东伙伴的经营下，华纳音乐彻底裁剪成本到2000左右。从经济上，执行者从头等舱将为商务层。为了总收入支撑下去，这是运营一家音乐公司成功的可能性建议之一。但从2008年华纳录制音乐销售已经下跌了15%。它的“艺人和节目”成本，包括粉丝见面会和签约歌手的数量等，也同样在减少。这是一个令人担忧的信号，就如同药品公司在研发部门削减花费一样。

　　Investors argue that music publishing (that is, the trade in songs rather than recorded music) is still flush. This is true. Advertisers and TV broadcasters are hooked on music, and that brings money to record labels. But firms must cultivate songwriters for years. Warner’s publishing business is weak—its share of the market has slipped in the past two years to 13.9%, according to Music & Copyright, a trade publication. The accident-prone EMI has done better.

　　投资者们为维持音乐出版的营业收入而争论（是由于歌曲的经营比录制音乐要好）。广告和电视通告与音乐挂钩，这能为唱片公司带来收益。但是公司必须花几年时间培养歌曲创作者。华纳出版商业是弱势的——根据音乐版权这一传统出版商的数据，它只能在两年来下滑13.9%的市场上分一杯羹。极容易出状况的EMI而言已经做了更好。

　　The scuttlebutt now is that Warner will try to buy EMI from Citigroup, which seized it earlier this year from Terra Firma, another private-equity firm. That would make some sense. Warner is strong in America; EMI is strong in Europe. And rich technology firms want to emulate¹⁷ Apple by building businesses on music: Google launched a music-storage service on May 10th. The bigger the music firm, the more it can pick winners and steer¹⁸ the digital market. A merged¹⁹ EMI-Warner would be a serious rival to Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest music company.

　　现在的流言是华纳试图从这个早年在陆地上建立起的独立资本集团花旗手中买下EMI。这是合情合理的。华纳在美国很知名，EMI在欧洲很知名。还有富有的科技公司想模仿苹果在音乐上的商业模式，如谷歌在5月10日上线了它的音乐存储服务产品。音乐公司规模越大，它将更有机会挑选用户并把握数字市场方向。对于全球最大的音乐公司环球唱片而言，EMI和华纳的结合体将成为其强大的对手。

　　Overpaying for two music firms is thus not twice as crazy as overpaying for one. But Mr Blavatnik may not get the chance. A merger²⁰ between EMI and Warner Music has been stymied²¹ by regulators before, and Citigroup may not have the patience for endless wrangling²². Also, the brisk auction²³ for Warner Music suggests there will be no shortage of rich men willing to lose—sorry, risk—money on a record company.

　　给两家公司不止两倍的过高买价如同给其中一家过高报价一样疯狂。但是布拉瓦特尼克先生没有抓住这次机会。EMI和华纳的音乐巨头结合之前收到了监管机构的阻挠，并且花旗集团对没完没了的争执也失去了耐心。与此同时，对于华纳音乐轻松拍卖的建议对这些富有的人而言，只能很抱歉，因为投资录音公司是一件冒风险的事。

1 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 extravagant   

adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的

参考例句：

• They tried to please him with fulsome compliments and extravagant gifts.他们想用溢美之词和奢华的礼品来取悦他。
• He is extravagant in behaviour.他行为放肆。

4 wreckage   

n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏

参考例句：

• They hauled him clear of the wreckage.他们把他从形骸中拖出来。
• New states were born out of the wreckage of old colonial empires.新生国家从老殖民帝国的废墟中诞生。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 outfits   

n.全套装备( outfit的名词复数 )；一套服装；集体；组织v.装备，配置设备，供给服装( outfit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He jobbed out the contract to a number of small outfits. 他把承包工程分包给许多小单位。 来自辞典例句
• Some cyclists carry repair outfits because they may have a puncture. 有些骑自行车的人带修理工具，因为他们车胎可能小孔。 来自辞典例句

7 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

8 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

9 rumours   

n.传闻( rumour的名词复数 )；风闻；谣言；谣传

参考例句：

• The rumours were completely baseless. 那些谣传毫无根据。
• Rumours of job losses were later confirmed. 裁员的传言后来得到了证实。

10 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

11 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。

12 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

13 halved   

v.把…分成两半( halve的过去式和过去分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• The shares have halved in value . 股价已经跌了一半。
• Overall operating profits halved to $24 million. 总的营业利润减少了一半，降至2，400 万元。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

15 pruned   

v.修剪（树木等）( prune的过去式和过去分词 )；精简某事物，除去某事物多余的部分

参考例句：

• Next year's budget will have to be drastically pruned. 下一年度的预算将大幅度削减。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

17 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

18 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

19 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

20 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

21 stymied   

n.被侵袭的v.妨碍，阻挠( stymie的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Relief efforts have been stymied in recent weeks by armed gunmen. 最近几周的救援工作一直受到武装分子的阻挠。 来自辞典例句
• I was completely stymied by her refusal to help. 由于她拒不相助， 我完全陷入了困境。 来自互联网

22 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

23 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。