Nashville's EMI Christian Music Group lay off 10 per cent of staff.

IN NASHVILLE EMI Christian Music Group has laid off almost 10 per cent of its staff as part of a major restructuring. The changes bring the Sparrow and Forefront labels under the same roof. Additionally, EMI CMG's publishing and distribution arms will be renamed. The move leaves EMI CMG with 261 staff. Said the company's president Bill Hearn, "We challenged ourselves and our leadership team here to figure out how to realign our company to best serve the changing needs of the music consumers and better serve our artists, our staff and our customers." Hearn says the reorganisation will make EMI CMG "a better company, a more productive company. This will reduce our costs in the eight to 10 percent range, which is significant."