Terra Firma’s drive to cut costs at EMI, the troubled record company it acquired in May for nearly $5bn (£2.4bn), is now hitting the music industry’s trade organisations.

Earlier this month, Guy Hands, Terra Firma’s chief executive, sent letters to members of the industry’s two largest trade groups – the Recording Industry Association of America and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry – threatening to cut EMI’s annual funding commitment by half, according to people familiar with the matter.