A source we talked to for an unrelated article told us an interesting story about a reorganization going on at Universal Music Group, which could point to at least one way in which major labels could cut costs to deal with declining revenue: combining regional licensing offices into global licensing offices.
Major labels have traditionally worked by dividing the world into different territories, so websites looking to offer major label content worldwide would have to secure permission from multiple contacts -- one for the US, one for the UK, another for Germany, and so on.
Apparently, Universal is in the process of combining these offices so that potential licensees can deal with a single point of contact to get permission for global online distribution. Not only could this cut costs, but, hopefully, the single point of contact would mean that more sites will be able to offer major label content on a global level.
