Thanks, Bob.
After watching it, as a mental exercise I tried to form a counter-argument on behalf of EMI.
I drew a comparison with Microsoft. Like EMI, Microsoft is nothing without the content that its software designers and engineers create. Those guys and gals are the equivalent to a record company's talent pool. They, too, have "360" contracts insofar as Microsoft owns anything they create, even if they do it on their own time. They may also be contractually prohibited from going to work for a competitor. Like EMI, Microsoft pays them a very small percentage of the company's revenue.
But there are two big differences. Software engineers don't have to take out a loan before they can start working, and most of them are free to walk at any time. Anything else would be indentured servitude.
So in the end, I had to conclude that Terra Firma really is the villain of this story. Sadly, the scenario of an investment company wading in and destroying its acquisitions isn't limited to just the recording industry.