EMI blames internet for 2,000 job losses

 

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Posted on 16 Jan 2008 at 08:44

EMI has blamed slumping CD sales and internet piracy for the loss of 2,000 jobs at the ailing record label.

The worldwide cuts will come at EMI's troubled recorded music division, which has some 4,500 staff of a group total of around 5,500. The shake-up, in which between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs will go, is designed to boost its roster of talent and increase internet sales, while reducing costs by £200 million a year.

In a bid to allow EMI's labels such as Capitol and Parlophone to focus on finding new artists and promoting digital music, the company plans to bring its marketing, sales and distribution under a single division over the next six months.

But the plans have angered top-selling artists such as Robbie Williams, who questioned whether EMI would be able to devote enough time and money to promote his work.

"We have spent a long time looking intensely at EMI and the problems faced by its recorded music division which, like the rest of the music industry, has been struggling to respond to the challenges posed by a digital environment," says Guy Hands, the private equity owner of EMI.

"The changes we are announcing today will ensure that this iconic company will be creating wonderful music in a way that is profitable and sustainable."

Stringent review

The announcement follows a three-month review by Terra Firma which bought EMI last year for £2.4 billion, or £3.2 billion including debt, after years of speculation about the group's future.

At the time of the purchase, Hands said EMI would look to increase its digital sales, keep the company intact and secure its more reliable music-publishing assets.

But that last proposal, which would have allowed it to borrow against revenue from the publishing division, has been put on hold due to the credit crunch. Terra Firm's management style has also drawn criticism from its artists and raised eyebrows within the industry.

Radiohead left last year, describing management as behaving like "confused bulls in a china shop", while Paul McCartney quit, saying the company was "really very boring".

Most industry insiders and observers accept EMI has struggled more than other majors and that a new approach is needed. It has continually struggled in the US, the world's largest music market, where it fell behind dominant Universal Music Group, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group in album market share.

"Everything in the music business right now is potentially risky," says Mark Sutherland, global editor of trade publication Billboard. "The industry is changing incredibly fast. Certainly this plan acknowledges those changes and attempts to address them. Whether that will be enough to turn around their performance remains to be seen."

Author: Reuters