Microsoft SQL Server
Customer Solution Case Study
EMI Exploits “New World of Data” for Single
View of Music Across 25 Countries
Customer: EMI Music
Website: www.emimusic.com
Customer Size: 5,500
Country or Region: United Kingdom
Industry: Media and entertainment
Partner: Adatis
Customer Profile
EMI Music is a global record company
based in London. It manages and
supports numerous artists, including
Coldplay and Katy Perry.
Software and Services
 Microsoft Server Product Portfolio
− Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Fast
Track Data Warehouse
− Microsoft SQL Server 2012
Enterprise
− Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
 Technologies
− Excel Services in Microsoft
SharePoint Server
− Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Analysis
Services
− Microsoft SQL Server 2012
Integration Services
For more information about other
Microsoft customer successes, please visit:
www.microsoft.com/casestudies
“With Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Fast Track Data
Warehouse, our users can access the business data
they need using standard Microsoft desktop tools.”
David Boyle, Senior Vice President of Insight, EMI
Record company EMI Music wanted to integrate the large
amount of information it uses—including massive consumer
surveys, demographic, and partner data from companies such as
iTunes—to gain a single global view for its artists. By deploying
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Fast Track Data Warehouse
technology, EMI now has an accessible single source of country,
consumer, and partner insight data to support decision making
about the needs of consumers in 25 countries.
Business Needs
EMI Music is the world’s fourth-largest
record company in terms of market share.
It manages artists and distributes CDs,
digital music, ringtones, and merchandise.
The firm operates in 25 countries through
three regional divisions, including the
United Kingdom and Ireland.
The music company has a wealth of
complex information from both internal
and external sources, but, until recently,
decision makers were unable to exploit the
value of this “Big Data” store. David Boyle,
Senior Vice President of Insight, EMI, was
determined to launch a suite of projects to
derive value from the data and generate
insight in three key areas:
Country data. Prior to the deployment
of the country insight projects, EMI had
outdated and incorrect internal and
external demographic and geographic
data. This made it difficult to support
marketing business decisions—for
example, pitching and promoting artists
in new countries.
 Consumer data. EMI didn’t have an
effective method for processing the
massive amounts of survey data
collected by the business to better
understand consumer music tastes and
buying behaviour. It was difficult to
perform analysis across countries and
time zones.
 Partner data. EMI distributes its music
through around 200 external partner

organisations, including iTunes and
Spotify. But there wasn’t a method for
analysing or reporting on partner
activities other than those related to
financial transactions. The business
required deeper insight to help with a
range of strategic decisions and drive
extra revenue from existing and proposed
partners.
Boyle says: “The overall solution is split into
the three key insight areas, but the primary
objective was to unify all the information
into one consistent subject area. We wanted
it to be easily accessible to every EMI
decision maker in 25 countries.”
Solution
EMI deployed Microsoft SQL Server 2012
Fast Track Data Warehouse based on an HP
hardware platform. The solution presents
users with data, visualisations, and insights
through Microsoft SharePoint technology
and desktop business intelligence (BI) tools.
Microsoft Gold Partner for business
intelligence Adatis implemented the
solution using SQL Server 2012 Fast Track
Data Warehouse best practice
methodology.
EMI decided to process the data into
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 data
management software using SQL Server
Integration Services and SQL Server Analysis
Services cubes—both Multidimensional and
Tabular, the new model introduced in SQL
Server 2012.
Sacha Tomey, Owner and Director, Adatis,
says: “We first engaged with EMI in 2009
and started to put together the consumer
insight project. Initially, we used Microsoft
SQL Server 2008 running data in Excel
Services for analysis, but we wanted to take
advantage of new technology as an early
adopter. Since March 2012, we’ve had the
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Fast Track Data
Warehouse solution in place, which
provides self-service analysis for users.”
The data warehouse easily scales up to 80
terabytes, and offers EMI enterprise-class
BI capabilities. Tomey says: “The largest
amount of data is the partner insight area
with the digital music service Spotify.
Altogether we have 8 billion rows of data,
rising at the rate of 20 million rows a day.”
Tomey says: “Adatis was the ideal
Microsoft Partner because of its role as an
early adopter of SQL Server 2012
technology, domain knowledge, and
specialism in best practice BI
methodologies.”
Benefits
EMI is taking advantage of the “New World
of Data” for a single view of sales,
including albums, tracks, ringtones, and
merchandise. The deployment of a SQL
Server 2012 Fast Track Data Warehouse
solution has given EMI near real-time
insight into consumer behaviour. Data,
visualisations, and other information
formats are available to users to report on
sales. The warehouse can handle huge
quantities of data even with the partner
subject area increasing by 20 million rows
a day.

Firm gets global insight. With a global
solution using SQL Server 2012 Fast
Track Data Warehouse, EMI can get an
insight into how individual artists’
albums, tracks, ringtones, and
merchandise sell in different countries.
With innovative ways of analysing data,
the company can react quickly to
changing consumer behaviour.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS
SUMMARY.
Document published September 2012
EMI gains single source of
information. Boyle says: “EMI has
embraced a new way of working with a
single source of subject area
information. For example, it’s now easy
for people to use the consumer insight
to understand patterns in sales.”
 Data warehouse unifies disparate
information across the business. Data
is now much more consistent, with
disparate sources of information unified
and accessible to users. Boyle says: “In
the early days, we made great progress
with Excel Services. But to meet the
massive demands of the business, we
had to shift focus. With Microsoft SQL
Server 2012 Fast Track Data Warehouse,
our users can access the business data
they need using standard Microsoft
desktop tools.”
 Partner helps improve performance
and manageability. Microsoft Partner
Adatis has future-proofed the solution
and successfully handled integration
with existing data sources at EMI due to
its expertise in best practice BI
methodologies. Tomey says: “Adatis has
formed a real business partnership with
EMI. We are part of the team and will
continue working to extend the project
to other data sources, including
YouTube.”
 Company promotes global music
industry through innovation. Boyle
says: “By using innovative BI technology,
we’re hoping to promote and enhance
the whole global music industry by
leadership in sharing data and working
smarter to meet consumer demand.”
