Abbey Road Studios To Be Sold By Cash-strapped EMI

The Beatles disbanded long ago and Paul McCartney has had an incredible solo career so far with Ringo Starr attempting to follow close behind. However, the end of the Beatles era may truly be turning into a reality very soon. The famous recording studio on Abbey Road is up for sale because of EMI‘s severe financial problems.

Yes, we’re talking about the famous studio in London where the Beatles recorded their last album. Yes, we’re talking about the album that made that zebra striped crosswalk famous. Most importantly, when we’re talking about Abbey Road we’re almost always talking about the Beatles! However, EMI has gotten themselves into such a rut that they may be selling the pop culture landmark to a buyer who will turn it into an apartment complex. Excuse us, flats.

According to the Associated Press, EMI has been struggling since they had been bought by private equity firm, Terra Firma Capital Partners, for 2.4 billion pounds and have been doing far worse than any other major label. Internationally, EMI may be one of the biggest labels but since the label has been bought out, artists such as Radiohead and The Rolling Stones have also left. Terra Firma’s recent auditing reports have revealed that if they don’t have enough money to pay off their loans from Citigroup Inc., EMI will sold or broken up.

So exactly how much money does EMI need? Well, let’s just say that Abbey Road would have to sell an amount just shy of $165 million dollars for EMI to survive throughout the year. Since physical music sales have gone down and artists have become more in tune with home technology such as laptops, the label is eyeing Abbey Road Studios as their way out.

Recession is happening every where and in any possible way these days, but how can we even begin to fathom the fact that the studio may be knocked down just so someone else can build and sell luxury apartment complexes? Abbey Road Studios may have been popularized by The Beatles, but the legacy of the studio lived on as Pink Floyd‘s Dark Side of the Moon and Radiohead’s OK Computer were also recorded there. The soundtracks of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings were also conceived at Abbey Road.

Also, the predecessor of EMI was the one who bought the town house in a residential neighborhood in the first place and transformed it into one of the world’s most lavish studios. That’s a lot of hard work thrown away, if you ask us. Yes, there are differences between liabilities and assets, and emotions tend to be linked to the liabilities but…  if what we think is wrong, we don’t want to be right.

As of right now, EMI is clearly desperate to be right as they attempt to sell the studio and all its legacies to anyone who has the money. Too bad it sounds like EMI is barely alive, because this means the studio will most likely disappear forever. Are we really left with hoping it turns into a museum as a last resort? It does sound better than getting knocked down by a wrecking ball.

A buyer has not been found yet, but financial stability has always won the tug of war with heart strings when it comes to the business industry – no matter if it’s something as sentimental as legendary music.

What do you think of EMI selling Abbey Road Studios?