Capitol Buys Last Half of Priority

EMI Group’s Capitol Records paid $70 million on Friday to Priority Records founder Bryan Turner for the half of Priority Records it does not already own. Under the terms of the deal, Turner could receive an additional multimillion-dollar sum in five years if Priority continues to perform well, sources said. Two years ago, Capitol bought a 50% interest in Priority, which releases and distributes music by such rap stars as Master P and Ice Cube.

On Friday, EMI Group also announced the restructuring of its Capitol-EMI Properties, a free-standing catalog division opened two years ago. The catalog division will be folded into the British conglomerate’s EMD distribution arm, resulting in the loss of about 30 jobs, sources said.