Hits has Guy Hands' internal memo  regarding the reorganization of EMI staff posted on its website and he actually spells out what has and might happen.
The interesting parts:
EMI  has 14,425 artists on its roster.
Last year, they tried to break 1,300 globally.
He writes: "This is clearly unsustainable; we need to focus on those artists for whom we have both the time and expertise to support properly and with whom we can be successful.
As of today, I cannot tell you the future size of the reduction in EMI’s roster. We are going through a systematic process of categorising artists signed to EMI:
1)      Those currently profitable, which is currently only about 3%.
2)      Those we believe can be profitable, which we clearly hope is as large as possible.
3)      Those whom will never be profitable, no matter how we change the model.

"We believe there are alternative models outside of the profit model required by EMI to support these artists, such as local and corporate sponsors and angels."

Angels? Does that mean that if jazz is to survive as an art form, it will require grants and donors contributing to EMI so that Bill Charlap and Robert Glasper are allowed to continue to record for Blue Note?
Jazz has got to be the least profitable music style that still  gets a bit of attention at the major labels. Of course, the recording of instrumentalists has pretty much disappeared within Warner Music (Nonesuch handles the occasional release), Sony BMG (Columbia jazz where are you?) and Universal, which has nearly shut down Verve but continues to distribute ECM.
Blue Note, with its brilliant history and recent bounty (that would be Norah Jones), has become EMI's home for adult-oriented music (that would those of us in our 40s). It is quite likely that the label will continue to eliminate jazz artists until it is strictly a collection of singers who appeal to NPR listeners.  Suzanne Vega made a fine album for them last year and  it was a clunker at retail; an Hunt was moved over from Capitol and, sadly, there has been little buzz.
It's just another indication that the possibility of an out of left field hit - not a novelty record but a true career artist working on the fringes - will become impossible. And that's a sad day.