Chappell Co

The New York-based entertainment company announced an agreement in principle to acquire Chappell & Co., one of the world's largest music publishers, from a group of private investors. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but sources have said that Warner Communications offered about $200 million. Warner said the deal is subject to regulatory approvals and the execution of a definitive agreement.

The New York-based entertainment company announced an agreement in principle to acquire Chappell & Co., one of the world's largest music publishers, from a group of private investors. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but sources have said that Warner Communications offered about $200 million. Warner said the deal is subject to regulatory approvals and the execution of a definitive agreement.

Warner Communications' bid to acquire Chappell & Co., one of the world's largest music publishers, was approved Tuesday by Warner directors, sources said. But Warner spokesman Geoffrey W. Holmes declined to comment, saying only that the New York-based entertainment company expects to make an announcement today. If completed, the deal would result in a merger of two of the three largest music publishing companies in the United States. (The third is SBK Entertainment World, formerly CBS Songs.

Warner Communications' bid to acquire Chappell & Co., one of the world's largest music publishers, was approved Tuesday by Warner directors, sources said. But Warner spokesman Geoffrey W. Holmes declined to comment, saying only that the New York-based entertainment company expects to make an announcement today. If completed, the deal would result in a merger of two of the three largest music publishing companies in the United States. (The third is SBK Entertainment World, formerly CBS Songs.

Warner Communications is on the verge of securing an agreement to buy Chappell & Co., one of the world's largest music publishers, industry sources said Monday. If completed, the deal would result in the consolidation of two of the nation's three largest music publishers. New York-based Warner is prepared to pay more than $200 million in preferred stock, or more than twice the sum paid just three years ago when an investor group acquired Chappell from Polygram, the sources said.

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In the entertainment industry, music publishing used to be considered the plain little sister of the more glamorous movie, TV, record and video businesses. Not anymore, however. Spurred on by increased record sales, higher song royalty rates and licensing fees, and an explosion of music-consuming cable and satellite TV programming overseas, music publishing has suddenly become one of the hottest commodities in show business. In fact, some think the song market is overheating.

In the entertainment industry, music publishing used to be considered the plain little sister of the more glamorous movie, TV, record and video businesses. Not anymore, however. Spurred on by increased record sales, higher song royalty rates and licensing fees, and an explosion of music-consuming cable and satellite TV programming overseas, music publishing has suddenly become one of the hottest commodities in show business. In fact, some think the song market is overheating.

Further consolidating the $1-billion-a-year music publishing industry, CBS Records has acquired Nashville-based Tree International Publishing, long considered the top country music publisher and the last locally owned publishing company in the country music capital.

The music industry saw its last major independent record label absorbed into a giant media company when MCA Inc. said Wednesday that it had agreed to buy Geffen Records for MCA stock valued at about $545 million. The acquisition of Geffen would continue the rapid consolidation of the multibillion-dollar music industry and follows MCA's purchase of GRP Records earlier this month for about $40 million in MCA common stock.

Warner Communications is on the verge of securing an agreement to buy Chappell & Co., one of the world's largest music publishers, industry sources said Monday. If completed, the deal would result in the consolidation of two of the nation's three largest music publishers. New York-based Warner is prepared to pay more than $200 million in preferred stock, or more than twice the sum paid just three years ago when an investor group acquired Chappell from Polygram, the sources said.

Steven J. Ross, the charismatic chairman and co-chief executive of Time Warner Inc., died Sunday in University Hospital near USC, where he had been undergoing treatment for cancer for two months. He was 65. Since November, 1991, Ross had been battling prostate cancer, first with chemotherapy and then with surgery last month at USC's Kenneth J. Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital. Close associates said they were heartened by his progress in recent weeks and expected him to travel to Scottsdale, Ariz.

Next time you hear someone use the expression "sold for a song," consider how much a good song is worth these days: "As Time Goes By," made famous in the 1943 film "Casablanca," will earn more than $100,000 in royalties this year for the estate of Herman Hupfeld, the man who wrote the song 54 years ago and died in 1951. And "Blowin' in the Wind" has earned an average of about $100,000 a year since Bob Dylan wrote it in 1962. "That's why people are ready to kill to get hold of song copyrights.