New boss apologises to EMI stars

In a desperate bid to pacify recording artists such as Kylie Minogue (pictured), Robbie Williams and Coldplay – and stop them following Radiohead out of the door -  the new man in charge of EMI, Guy Hands, has written to reassure them that they are "at the epicentre" of his plans to turn the struggling company around. He also apologised to them for the leaked quotes taken from a previous letter from his office which suggested that bands that did not work hard enough would be axed. The quotes, he said, were "highly selective" and should be ignored.

Guy Hands is the boss of Terra Firma, the private equity firm that has taken over EMI. His apology comes at a time when several managers of EMI label artists are expressing concerns about the impending outcome of Hands's strategic review. Terra Firma is seeking big cost savings and plans to look at which artists will offer the best return. Niceties like parties, candles, flowers and EMI's £5.6m Mayfair flat are already going in a bid to streamline the company.
 
Many artist managers question the ability of the corporate big hitter, whose previous investments have included pubs, landfill sites and service stations, to appreciate the rock'n'roll industry. "I don't think he really understands the artistic process," says Jazz Summers, manager of EMI band The Verve.

Radiohead - who have sold about 20m albums and singles in a decade-long career, making them one of the world's biggest bands - have revealed that they left EMI because of Hands. Guitarist Ed O'Brien told the Observer's Music Monthly magazine that EMI "is in a state of flux". As a result, Radiohead left the record label and released their seventh album, In Rainbows, through their own website this year. The record has been described as the band's most commercially appealing album since 1997's OK Computer.
 
"It was really sad to leave all the people [we'd worked with]," says O'Brien. "But he wouldn't give us what we wanted. He didn't know what to offer us. Terra Firma don't understand the music industry." ·