Heads will roll: Hands shakes up the music industry
Source:Editor's Blog
When private equity colossus Guy Hands paid £3.2 billion for EMI last summer, many music industry insiders raised their eyebrows at the prospect of such a ruthlessly pragmatic business titan having the temerity to think he could run something as nuanced as a record label. If only they’d known what was coming.
After appraising the operation, Hands announced that 2,000 jobs may need to go, along with a sizeable chunk of the senior management and artist roster. The reaction from the industry was one of horror, although those with any commercial nous reserved their shock for the appalling profligacy that Hands uncovered.
Tales of a £200,000 annual ‘fruits and flower’ fund for artists’ sex and drugs habits, a multi million pound property in Mayfair for senior executives and even a £20,000 tab for candles are the perfect riposte to those who complain that artistry will suffer at such brutal commercial hands (excuse the pun).
The very public whistle blowing may have provided just the shake up the industry needed; EMI and others have had their collective heads buried in the sand for far too long. Internet downloads and dwindling revenues have been hurting the music business for years, so it’s about time outmoded business models were addressed.
James Hurley
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