Vivendi's Universal media group was the largest music label in the world before they made this purchase. Nothin' a cool $2.1bn won't get ya these days, I guess.

"Vivendi's offer topped six others who were vying for the company, which owns the rights to chart-topping acts such as Justin Timberlake, Coldplay and Christina Aguilera. Warner Music Group and Viacom had also made bids for the publisher, according to news reports."