It's been a day of push-me pull-me from SonyBMG today, with the company announcing UK expansion at the same time as EU monopolies invesigators are breathing down their neck.

SonyBMG have announced that it would be launching it's Epic label strand in the UK and Ireland, adding to their existing RCA and Columbia labels. Current UK imprints White Rabbit (who have artists like Lemarr, Mylo and Imogen Heap) and Red Ink (who count Sunshine Underground as one of theirs) will be brought in under the Epic banner. Former boss of White Rabbit boss, Nick Raphael is being put in charge of the venture.

But it's not all sweetness and light at SonyBMG. The continuing EU anti-trust investigation into the 2004 merger that created the company has come grinding to a halt - because the label isn't supplying the necessary data.

The commission has requested information from SonyBMG on the impact the merger had on the European music market. The commission has failed to say what it will do if SonyBMG don't come up with the information, but the already long, drawn-out process looks like it's about to become even longer if this turns into a stalemate.

Of course, the results of the commission's findings won't just affect SongBMG - the EMI/Warner merge that's bouncing back and forth at the moment could be tipped one way or the other depending on the results. This merge would hardly be in the best interests of SonyBMG, so I guess they are getting some unexpected benefits of having the anti-trust guys on their back.