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The singer's manager Tim Clark criticised new EMI boss Guy Hands in an interview this week, accusing him of making a "vanity purchase" when he took over the label. He also said that Robbie had "no idea" how EMI would promote his next album.
Clark's comments have resulted in a furious response from EMI chiefs, with one claiming that he is trying to "blackmail" the label.
"Tim Clark always uses the media to negotiate. He put a gun to EMI's head with that £80 million deal in 2002," one highly-placed source told The Mirror. "He announced it before the deal had been formally done. EMI were put in an impossible position. It was either that - or lose a high-profile British artist. So they had to pay what everyone knew was a ridiculous amount.
"Robbie then fell out with his song-writing partner Guy Chambers and never did his big tour of the US. And he has only delivered two studio albums since, which is a pretty poor work rate."
The executive added: "Mr Hands wants to get a business on its feet. He feels very strongly that acts should be measured on their own merits. There's plenty of EMI acts who are still very jealous and unhappy about Robbie getting that deal because it meant less for them.
"Stratospheric amounts have been paid to managers and lawyers too. It's time for a change."
