EMI says Q1 revenue falls, DRM-free sales encouraging

LONDON (Reuters) - British music group EMI, which has agreed to a 2.4 billion-pound ($4.9 billion) takeover by private equity firm Terra Firma, said on Monday its first-quarter revenue fell 5.1 percent at constant currencies.

EMI said the result was in line with its expectations and the fall in revenue was led by a 13.4 percent drop at its music business, which more than offset an 11.9 percent rise at its music publishing business.

The music business decline came amid tough market conditions at a time when EMI had a light release schedule during its restructuring, the company said.

EMI's digital revenue rose 13.2 percent with cost savings coming through on budget.

The company said it was seeing "encouraging" early revenue indications from its Digital Rights Management-free products on Apple's iTunes online music store. The service was launched by EMI in April and by iTunes in late May.

DRM was introduced to contain piracy by preventing users from making multiple copies and EMI was the first major music group to take the risk of making its music available without the anti-piracy measure in an attempt to boost its digital sales.

Terra Firma is buying EMI for 265 pence per share.

Shares in EMI were taken off several FTSE indexes on Monday ahead of the takeover being completed.

(Additional reporting by Mark Potter)