Another week, another chess move in the saga of EMI’s demise, with Terra Firma boss Guy Hands putting down his fiddle for a moment to make a bold play with his company’s pawns.

In the latest development, he’s come up with a plan to mortgage out the music recordings of the company’s biggest earners such as the Beatles and Blondie for five years. Guy Hands reckons this will raise £400 million which will stave off lenders Citigroup from foreclosing on the company.

London’s The Times claims that the company has had talks with the other three remaining major music labels – Universal, Warners and Sony. It’s apparently one of several deals under consideration, but it’s one that will only make artists such as Pink Floyd and Robbie Williams even keener to take their music elsewhere when their contracts expire in the next few years.

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