Talking of Guy Hands and EMI, following the recent spate of senior executive departures and the many cuts lower down the hierarchy, the major's top man has sent a memo to those remaining at the major seemingly in a bid to boost morale.
According to Billboard, who have seen the memo, Hands tells his employees that, thanks to the radical restructuring that has been going on, the major's recorded music division went back into profit during the first quarter this year, scoring a gross profit of £59.2 million compared to a £45.1 million loss in the same quarter the previous year. And that's without all the revenues generated from Coldplay's global chart topping album or the savings of many of the lower echelon job cuts, both of which have come in the last few weeks.
Hands says in the memo: "We now have in place a reshaped organisational structure, with clearer accountability for profit and loss. We have introduced and now mainly implemented the previously announced changes and improvements to the way we run our business, and are on target to achieve significant cost savings. And there has been a massive reduction in waste".
But, he added, there was still work to be done. He cautioned: "We have come a long way this year, but of course, there is still much to do. The problems facing the music industry cannot be solved in a few months". But this was a morale boosting memo, don't forget, so he concluded: "It is already clear to me that what is emerging at EMI is not only a far leaner organisation, but a more focused and effective one as well, and better aligned with the interests of our artists. An organisation that is becoming much better placed to serve artists and customers alike, and to give our talented people the opportunity and the tools to produce their best work".