I read that Jazz Summers, manager of The Verve, was planned to meet Guy Hands, boss of EMI this afternoon. That would be one meeting I would like to be a fly on the wall. Looking forward to reading the press release for that meeting of minds. Someone should snap up the rights to the Terra Firma takeover of EMI. A book on 'How to alienate your clients in one easy step' could be the opener, as for some reason, Guy Hands seems to have forgotten that the artist is the client, not a spoilt child.

Maybe a client or two gets a little 'unconventional', but they are still clients.

And many have integrity and intense commitment to ethics. We know of artists who have turned down seven figure deals with brands because the holding company of the brand is involved in the arms business. Unconventional artists maybe, but many also set standards of ethics that inspire others. Maybe the Terra Firma play is to sit on the back catalogue business and stop worrying about new music, though this goes against the stated position that there will be a focus on A&R. Yet what artist is going to be enticed by a company that fails to engage with it's clients prior to making significant changes in both the company structure and company direction? What established artist will be keen for EMI to negotiate brand sponsorships or partnership when the boss has indicated that the artist needs to prove their commitment and worth? Surely the record label/representative/agency needs to prove their worth to the artist at a time when the artist and their manager have a lot more options in this field, including doing the brands deals themselves. Oh yes and what artist will be enticed by John Birt providing them with Blue Sky Thinking? I initially thought of a great comedy film coming out of this saga, though when one hears that so many people are to lose their jobs, the laughs disappear rapidly.