EMI is facing the prospect of an artists' revolt, with managers of major acts Robbie Williams and Coldplay expressing concern at the current state of the company, especially in light of UK chief Tony Wadsworth's departure.

EMI is facing the prospect of an artists' revolt, with managers of major acts Robbie Williams and Coldplay expressing concern at the current state of the company, especially in light of UK chief Tony Wadsworth's departure.

Major acts such as Paul McCartney and Radiohead have alreday left the label, with Macca plumping for a deal with Starbucks and Radiohead self releasing In Rainbows to a massive wave of publicity over the 'pay what you like' pricing strategy.

The physical version of the album is with indie XL. Robbie Williams' co-manager, Tim Clark told the Times that, since Terra Firma's £3.2 billion ($6.3 billion) takeover of EMI in September, the new EMI Group chairman Guy Hands has behaved like a "plantation owner".  Clark says that he is concerned about whether EMI is capable of successfully releasing a Robbie Williams album and that he's unwilling to commit to a label that has yet to convince him of a clear strategy - although Clark accepts Williams is still under contract to EMI. Coldplay's management have also expressed their "confusion" over Wadsworth's departure.

The band had the biggest selling album in the world in 2005 with "X&Y" and is due to deliver its new record, "Prospekt," later this year. Asked about the band's future relationship with EMI, LA based manager Tony Holmes told Billboard, "I am not really sure what EMI is right now. I guess we shall see next week when Guy makes his announcement. Guy Hands is due to deliver his future strategy for the company in mid-January.