According to Reuters and several newspapers, record company EMI is planning to cut as many as 2,000 jobs.

The Sunday Times claims that, in addition to the layoffs, the company will also "ditch thousands of artists." The music industry has faced some hard times recently, due to rampant piracy and illegal downloads.

While most of you might be tired of the music industry's moaning, when a big label such as EMI is forced to such measures, the full impact of piracy and P2P becomes painfully obvious.

EMI's private equity boss, Guy Hands, also warned artists that they would be dropped unless they didn't work hard enough. On the upside, you can probably expect more tours and gigs by EMI artists.

More here.