If it's broken, you'd better fix it - EMI Monday, January 14, 2008

Today's FT carried an interview with Guy Hands of Terra Firma on the subject of EMI.

Amongst several stats trotted out, one section stood out for me:

Mr Hands also hinted at a clear-out of EMI Music’s roster of 14,000 artists, saying just 200 of them made most of its revenues.

About 85 per cent of artists lose money for their labels, he said, and EMI spends £70m a year subsidising the 15 per cent who never produce an album. The group has exceeded marketing budgets by about £60m a year, he added, and wastes £25m a year scrapping unsold CDs.

Leaving aside artist productivity and profitability, most businesses try to convert their "waste" into some scrap value, be it returned newsprint or whatever. That they have to destroy CDs is bizarre - why not get someone to come and take them away for instance.

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posted by John Wilson @ 4:04 PM Permanent Link newsvine reddit



1 Comments:

At 10:46 AM, Blogger Hawkeye said...

While you were away the Times published an article suggesting that Mr Hands would be cracking down on the timesheet reporting from various artists on their roster. the one that amused me the most was the rejection of Charlie Watts' timesheet saying: 5 years drumming in the Rolling Stones, 40 years hanging about. The rest of the memos are well worth reading: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article3122771.ece

 

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