Don't sing when you're whining: Robbie joins stars at odds over EMI's new regime

(Mark Davis/Getty Images)

Robbie Williams is threatening to lay down his microphone after complaining that he is being overworked by the new bosses who have taken over at his record label, EMI.

Relations between the musician and his label soured this week after Williams's manager, Tim Clark, accused Guy Hands, the new head at EMI, of acting like "a plantation owner". Williams, who secured a record-breaking £80m deal with EMI, is now threatening to withhold his next album and is hoping to lead other artists in a wider music industry strike.

But the former Take That singer can expect short shrift from the record company, which is keenly aware that he has produced just two albums in five years.

It is understood that Coldplay, one of EMI's few British chart-toppers in the US, may also be preparing to withdraw their labour. Their manager said the band were considering their options after the departure of EMI's UK head of music, Tony Wadsworth, last year, following the deal last year in which Mr Hands's private equity company, Terra Firma, bought out the company.

Radiohead and Sir Paul McCartney have already walked out of EMI, which has cut advance payments to stars and told artists to work harder promoting their music.

Next week, Williams and other potential rebels face a showdown with EMI when Mr Hands is expected to outline a new no-nonsense relationship with its established stars and their management. An EMI insider said there was to be a re-evaluation of the contribution made by the company's artists and that there would be a "refocusing on the quality" so that all the musicians received a fair service, not just the big names.

EMI staff, many of whom could lose their jobs in the shake-up, will be given details of the new business strategy when Mr Hands addresses a crunch meeting next week at the company headquarters in Kensington, west London.

Williams's team believes his new album, due for a September release, would be a major earner for EMI. Mr Clark, said: "The question is, 'Should Robbie deliver the new album he is due to release to EMI?' We have to say the answer is 'no'.

"We have no idea how EMI will market and promote the album. They do not have anyone in the digital sphere capable of doing the job required. All we know is they are going to decimate their staff." Mr Clark said he had already had a preliminary meeting with Mr Hands, whom he accused of stumbling into the record industry via a "vanity purchase".

An industry expert dismissed the comments as part of Williams' negotiating position. "The Robbie deal in 2002 was a mega-deal, but for EMI it could never have given them real value for money," he said.

"Shortly after the deal, he [Williams] fell out with his writing partner, Guy Chambers, and his last album was an unmitigated disaster. His management threatened to take Robbie out of EMI and the company thought it had no choice but to pay him. But it [the deal] caused a great deal of disquiet among the other big names in the industry.

"There should be more money for new acts and the development of other less marketing-driven projects – too much has gone into the Robbie pot." He said a major concern for the EMI leadership was the surplus fees spent on paying for the agents and management who have become part of the "bureaucracy" of the industry.

"EMI are really going back to basics so that the attention is directed towards the music and not the management. We have reached the point where the industry is like the Wild West so that everything is up for grabs."