Sony has won approval for its $2.2 billion takeover of EMI. A person with knowledge of the deal said the approval was an important step in Sony creating the largest catalog of songs in the world.

The approval is expected to be announced Thursday by the European Commission, which will include up to $35 million in concessions by Sony. The person speaking to The New York Times requested anonymity.

Sony will control 31 percent of the music-publishing market, dealing with copyrights of songwriting. EMI currently holds 3.1 million songs, which includes well-known classics such as "Over the Rainbow," originally by Harold Arlen. Artists past and present under the label include Judy Garland, The Beach Boys and Radiohead.

Sony's current music publishing enterprise, Sony/ATV, has around 750,000 songs, which include the publishing rights to The Beatles' catalog.

Last year, Universal had offered $1.9 billion for EMI's record labels, including The Beatles. The approval of Sony's takeover is important if Sony is to avoid a second, longer step that could last months. Universal, on the other hand, is under a second phase of scrutiny.

Last month Sony offered to sell some of its publishing assets, including the European rights to EMI's Virgin catalog along with the British side of Sony/ATV's Famous Music Collection.

Sony's takeover has drawn some criticism due to the size of the deal, though the company said the large nature of the deal would remove its control over the market. Due to a previous deal with the estate of Michael Jackson, EMI publishing must remain a separate company. Most of the business will be administered by Sony/ATV, The New York Times reported.

The New York Times also obtained a "confidential financial report prepared on Sony's behalf" earlier this year, which said Sony plans to remove more than 300 jobs at EMI publishing - approximately 60 percent of the workforce - which would save the company about $60 million a year.

When contacted by Bloomberg News, Antoine Colombani - a spokesman for the EU regulator - didn't comment on the case.

(reported by Jonathan Charles, edited by Surojit Chatterjee)