EMI Chairman Confirms Cutbacks, Says Bands May Be Sponsored Like Football Teams

Today in London, music giant EMI made their much-anticipated State of the Union to address how the company, which was recently purchased by private equity firm Terra Firma, would respond to ailing record sales and profits. As was predicted, EMI Group chairman Guy Hands announced a worldwide staff reduction "between 1,500 and 2,000." The company's new focus: A&R. The rest of the label's Recorded Music division will be consolidated in an attempt to hone in on new income streams — increased focus on digital services and the implementation of corporate sponsorship arrangements, meaning that individual band sponsors may soon become a reality. Hands told the U.K.'s Financial Times, "Football teams have very distinct corporate sponsorship. Why shouldn't some of the leading bands have the same sort of relationships?"

Regarding the changes, Hands said, "We believe we have devised a new revolutionary structure for the group that will improve every area of the business. In short, it will make EMI's music more valuable for the company and its artists alike. 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." Meanwhile, artists like Coldplay, Robbie Williams and the Verve, who are all leery of EMI's recent moves (including their inability to re-sign Radiohead and Paul McCartney), have threatened to withhold their new albums until they're assured EMI is capable of properly marketing and distributing them.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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