Music, Money & Mayhem

The pressure is too much for EMI CEO Elio Sceti. He and his right hand man Ernesto are out, leaving the management in chaos. Another huge band has walked and the debt mountain is piling up. Guy Hands ends up in court for the battle of his life, and the writing is on the wall for this once great music company. Contains Strong Language Host: Chris Atkins Producer; Max Bower Assistant Producer: Moham...

Guy Hands hires a new CEO to run EMI. Elio Sceti, aka Mr Cillit Bang, and his right hand man Ernesto Schmitt, hatch new plans to milk the crown jewels, EMI’s vast back catalogue, and its biggest cash cow The Beatles. The pair’s brutally commercial tactics bring in some huge financial successes, but many of the EMI old guard revolt against their new corporate methods. There’s also...

In the aftermath of the Radiohead bombshell, Guy Hands inflicts radical changes at record label EMI. His new regime comes up with more wild ideas to “sweat the assets” including a musical toothbrush and a Rolling Stones talent show. His desperate gambit to make EMI triggers a rebellion from some angry pop stars and one very dirty protest, and he realises he’s bitten off more than...

One of EMI’s biggest band’s, Radiohead, are now out of contract. Record executive Tony Wadsworth is hoping to get them to re-sign with the label they have been with for years. But the band’s famously anti-capitalist ethos soon collides with hard-nosed financier Guy Hands.    Sparks fly in the boardroom and we hear the untold story of the battle between the achingly cool...

One of the richest men in Britain, Guy Hands, has ridden over the hill promising to save ailing music company EMI.    Guy has bet the farm on the takeover, in the middle of a global financial crisis, and is taking the biggest gamble of his life. As he takes the keys he is appalled by the corporate waste and extravagance and starts to swing the axe. This triggers an almighty clash between...

Record label EMI is riding high on decades of success from the Beatles and Pink Floyd, to Pet Shop Boys, Blur and Coldplay, the company can seemingly do no wrong.    The company grows fat on the bottomless profits, but the arrival of the internet brings a legion of online pirates who want to download everything for free. The EMI party is over, as huge artists start to jump ship. Just as...

EMI was once home to some of the biggest names in pop, the crown jewels of British music from the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Queen, to Coldplay, Kate Bush and Radiohead, and surfing the wave of Brit Pop in the 1990s. As a new millennium dawns, internet piracy and file sharing capsize the entire record industry. EMI is sold to a city Mogul named Guy Hands. Better known for turning around German motorw...