EMI’s takeover by private equity firm Terra Firma survived a scare today after reports said a rival buy-out group planned to gatecrash the deal.

British music giant EMI Group, home of The Rolling Stones and Coldplay, has been talking with online retailers about possibly selling its entire digital music catalogue in MP3 format without copy protection, it is reported today.

Music lovers face a wait for the right to buy Beatles hits on Apple’s iTunes online store, despite the iPod maker’s truce in its dispute with the Fab Four’s guardian, Apple Corps, over the use of the iconic apple logo and name.

Japanese electronics giant Toshiba said today it would sell its entire stake in Toshiba-EMI Ltd to its British partner in the music content business venture, EMI Group Plc, for around €140m.

Yoko Ono is suing music company EMI Group and a subsidiary for £5.6m (€4.46m), claiming she was cheated out of royalties due from the sale of music recordings by her late husband, former Beatle John Lennon.

London’s top shares raced to a two-month high today as one of the busiest days in the corporate diary drew plenty of buying interest.

A positive reaction to one of the biggest days in the corporate calendar ensured the London market rose to a new two-month high today.

US stocks closed modestly lower today as the latest batch of upbeat economic data made investors uneasy about more interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

EMI Group, the world's third biggest music company, has said that although a sharp decline in the Japanese market will dent its half-year results, a stronger second half should keep full-year numbers in line with its expectations.

British Airways will leave the FTSE 100 Index later this month after its demotion from the list of Britain’s top plcs was confirmed tonight.

ENERGY giants BP and Shell bolstered the London market yesterday after crude oil prices jumped to an 11-month high.

THE FTSE 100 Index closed at its highest level for more than a month yesterday after benefiting from a brighter showing on Wall Street.

Shares on the London market have slumped amid concerns about the global economy.

Napster, the former US music industry bad-boy, has struck a distribution deal with three major record labels that are launching a music subscription service this summer.