The internal memo acquired by Billboard would seem to indicate otherwise however, instead pointing to earnings in the first quarter of 2008 compared a loss of nearly $90 million in the same quarter of 2007. Revenue in the first quarter rose 61%, while the Coldplay album was released only a month ago, in the second quarter. Hands had gone on record pushing for a "reshaped organizational structure" looking for greater profits and less loss, and with the new memo he appears to have achieved the "accountability" for EMI that he sought when Terra Firma bought the music company last year. The report also comes in the wake of EMI losing a few seasoned hands at the end of June and hiring a new CEO for the music division, Elio Leoni-Sceti, known for his past in household marketing and products.
As Billboard notes, one good quarter does not mean EMI is in a land of success yet, and after trade group reports that EMI lost ground in sales during the first half of 2008. Above all, this memo seems more like a ploy designed to throw off rumors relating the company's financial future with Coldplay than speak to the problems still faced by the company. Unfortunately, EMI was not a smart buy for Hands and Terra Firma last year, but the new managing techniques and memos cannot hide that fact or the company's continued fall from grace.
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