Ed O'Brien: We quit because Terra Firma wasn't solid ground

Ed O'Brien has revealed that Radiohead left EMI because they didn't much like the new owners:

"EMI is in a state of flux,. It's been taken over by somebody who's never owned a record company before, Guy Hands and Terra Firma, and they don't realise what they're dealing with.

"It was really sad to leave all the people. But he wouldn't give us what we wanted. He didn't know what to offer us. Terra Firma doesn't understand the music industry."

Which may well be true - but then, as Radiohead's In Rainbows experiment showed, nobody much understands the music industry any more. Indeed, one of the few good things you can say about Terra Firma is that, while they might not understand the music industry, they do at least understand that the music industry has changed beyond all recognition, and are the only one of the majors to not be trying to shore up the old regime for as long as possible.

It's just a pity Radiohead decided to quit before TF brought in John Birt to be in charge of artist relationships. I don't think it would have helped, but who wouldn't have wanted to be a fly on the wall at that meeting?