Latest EMI News: Pink Floyd Resigns, But March Miracle Sill Needed

Despite a recent court ruling that a deal signed in the pre-download age could be not applied to digital sales, Pink Floyd has dropped its lawsuit against EMI and resigned. "All legal disputes between the band and the company have been settled as a result of this new deal," EMI said in a statement. But EMI's troubles are far from over and an end of March deadline looms.

The Pink Floyd deal is a major victory for EMI, who has seen more than its share of defections since investment house Terra Firma bought the music group in 2007. Superstars like The Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, Queen and Radiohead have all taken their valuable catalogs elsewhere, and the resulting drop in income won't help EMI when it has to pass its next loan solvency test with CitiGroup in March.

There has been lots of speculation that WMG, BMG, Universal and others are all interested in purchasing parts of EMI.  But it now seems unlikely that any investor will make a move before early April when CitiGroup may take control of EMI and trigger a sale at bargain prices.