Blur are leading a revolt against the sell-off of Parlophone, in protest against being treated as "assets" in the forced sale, The Independent reports.
The Brit band have joined forces with their labelmates through the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), to lobby potential bidders for the company, calling on them to place the interests of artists first.
Dave Rowntree of the band said: "Artists are the only people currently being left out of the conversation, which is unfortunate. If the staff at the label are unhappy with the new arrangements they are free to leave, but the artists are not.
"The FAC was formed by musicians who were fed up with the industry taking decisions without considering the impact it would have on those who actually make the music," he said. "The FAC and the Music Managers Forum are looking to engage with Parlophone to see how we can help."
Jon Webster, chief executive of the Music Managers Forum said: "We are holding discussions with potential bidders. We want them to understand that the future of the record business is about genuine partnership with artists and that works best when their views are involved and they are not just traded as assets. But financiers often just say 'what are you talking about?'"
He added: "Artists have withheld releases to get better terms if they are powerful enough. They can sit down with the new owners and get a solution. It's the smaller acts that suffer most because they have no bargaining power."
Parlophone (part of the EMI group) is home to some of Britain’s top-selling musicians and is being sold as part of Universal Music’s £1.2bn takeover of EMI.
The great music sell-off includes artists earning "steady revenues" such as Pink Floyd, Cliff Richard, Tina Turner, Kate Bush, David Bowie, Duran Duran and Kraftwerk. Universal gets to keep The Beatles catalogue, which is excluded from the Parlophone sale, as well as Katy Perry, Robbie Williams and The Beach Boys.
Possible bidders for EMI's assets include Warner Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and BMG Rights Management.
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