GUY HANDS, the private equity owner of EMI, plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs at the ailing British music company, in a plan to rebuild the group that has sparked fury from some of its biggest acts.

Thousands of EMI workers were facing the prospect of redundancy tonight after the music giant’s private equity owners announced a “revolutionary” overhaul to the business.

Music label EMI signalled a further sharp decline in the popularity of the traditional CD today as it said revenues from the format had dropped by nearly a fifth.