Universal Music reported to buy DreamWorks Records

us that the Wall Street Journal recently reported:

DreamWorks SKG is close to a deal to sell its music unit to Vivendi Universal SA's
Universal Music Group for about $100 million,
according to people familiar with the matter.


DreamWorks Records, part of the larger entertainment concern formed in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, has never risen above
boutique status despite a management team led by industry legend Mo Ostin and overseen by Mr. Geffen. People familiar with the matter say that DreamWorks has
been increasingly eager to exit the business, which is beset by a global piracy problem that has steeply reduced music sales during the past three years.

...While DreamWorks Records hasn't developed into a successful business, Vivendi thinks it can turn
it into a cash producer by stripping out its overhead... Universal plans to fold DreamWorks Records into its
Interscope Geffen A&M
Unit, which is overseen by Jimmy Iovine.

Where this leaves DreamWorks bands like
AFI, Saves The
Day, All-American Rejects, Jimmy Eat
World, Sparta or new signings Rise
Against, Rye Coalition and
Brand New is yet to be seen. DreamWorks
is currently closely tied with the UMG (hence the topic icon) but has so far been a separately
owned and managed operation.