Guy Hands began his expected shake-up at EMI yesterday when the music group announced the departure of Tony Wadsworth, the chairman and chief executive of EMI Music UK & Ireland.

Mr Wadsworth’s fate was sealed after a disastrous performance for EMI’s domestic roster last year. The company’s share of the albums market slumped from 16 per cent to 9 per cent. Universal Music, its rival, secured almost 50 per cent of sales through artists including Mika and Amy Winehouse.

Further announcements from EMI on the restructuring are expected within weeks. Significant job cuts are expected to be high on the agenda.

Roger Ames, EMI’s North America boss, is set to take over A&R, which involves finding, signing and promoting music acts, while Mike Clasper, appointed by Mr Hands’s Terra Firma private equity firm, which took over EMI in a £2.1billion deal last year, will handle operations.

Sources close to Terra Firma said that Mr Ames’s “deep international outlook” made him a clear candidate for the role. EMI has struggled to make a number of its British acts, including Robbie Williams, a success in the lucrative American market.

Mr Wadsworth’s departure could have wide repercussions. He has been a key link between artists and the company’s corporate structure, nurturing long-term relationships with stars such as Williams, Damon Albarn and Coldplay. Tim Clark, Williams’s co-manager, has said that the star, who has sold 55 million records, may leave the label when his present contract ends.

Mr Ames began his career at EMI in 1975, before running the PolyGram and Warner labels. He was appointed head of EMI Music North America in April 2007.

In a declining market, no new album by an EMI artist released in 2007 made the top 50 sellers of the year, an unacceptable performance for the new regime at the music group, already concerned at the expenditure lavished on artists.

EMI’s hopes for this year rest on new albums by the Verve, Corinne Bailey Rae, the Kooks and an expected return by both Coldplay and Williams.

Mr Clark paid tribute to Mr Wadsworth, saying: “Tony was a real music fan and his support for the artists he signed to EMI was whole-hearted.”

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