(BRUSSELS) - Independent music companies have launched a new legal appeal against an EU decision unconditionally to approve the merger that created the music giant Sony BMG, their representatives said on Monday.

The Impala producers association said in a statement that it had lodged the appeal on Friday at the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.

It claimed the European Commission, in giving the green light on October 3, had repeated "many of the errors" it made in approving the merger a first time in 2004, a decision which Impala successfully appealed against in 2006.

"A merger such as this with no remedies has repercussions for thousands of artists and small businesses across Europe," co-president Horst Weidenmueller said.

Impala said it would also urge the commission, the EU's top competition watchdog, to adopt new competition rules which would recognise cultural and economic diversity in the music sector.

Headquartered in New York City and owned 50/50 by Sony and Bertelsmann, Sony BMG counts stars ranging from ACDC to ZZ Top, as well as Bruce Springsteen, Oasis and Placido Domingo.

Impala's successful 2006 appeal was based on the grounds that consolidation in the music publishing industry had given the music majors a stranglehold on CD prices and artists' contractual terms.

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