Is EMI Going Out With a Bang?
Most rock stars crash and burn through copious amounts of sex, drugs and rock’n roll. They spend all their hard earned cash on wild parties, mansions and parts of a miniature version of the world – in Dubai. Their careers and more importantly their health dwindles until the priory can do no more for them – until, inevitably, they either die or fade away never to be heard of again. It seems poignant then that one of the companys that pay for and in nearly every way facilitate this crash may also be heading for a rock’n roll exit of it’s own.
With bands such as The Verve, Coldplay, and Radiohead queuing up for answers to EMI’s monetary issues it seems the writing is on the wall for the record label. Their solo artists, Robbie Williams and Sir Paul McCartney, are also up in arms. The artists are refusing to release their new albums until EMI responds on its financial health, with most angered that their advances have been reduced.
EMI are reported to be ready to cut up to 2,000 jobs in order to save the company £200 million per year, but then this is what to expect when a company is bought over by a private equity firm. Since buying EMI last year in a deal reportedly worth upwards of £2 billion, Terra Firma has been rigorously scrutinizing all aspects of the business in order to get it ready for a new onslaught towards regaining its market share.
With disgruntled artists, EMI should be careful that their high profile acts don’t walk out on them – just when they are needed the most. This is especially true now that Radiohead has proved just how easy and popular it is to release music online.
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