EMI now awaits a decision from the European Commission after offering concessions on its proposed merger with Warner, but will the deal stick? The media and entertainment industries are in the melting pot over the next two years as Jupiter and Saturn oppose deconstructive Pluto in the signs most associated with media and publishing, Gemini and Sagittarius. EMI's horoscope (March 29 1928) takes the full impact of these changes across its fiery, Sagittarian Ascendant.

EMI is a pioneering Aries with its Sun next to giant Jupiter and hi-tech Uranus. It is gifted at finding and creating new talent, but its defining quality comes from a trine of planets in water signs. Magical Mercury and musical Venus sit together in Pisces, aspecting a popular Cancer Moon next to collective Pluto, suggesting tribal and popular culture expressed through music. Artists who connect with these water planets are EMI's big success stories. Robbie Williams (February 13 1974), for example, has cheeky chappie Mercury at 11 degrees of Pisces, joined to EMI's own Mercury at the same degree. Aquarian Williams also picks up on EMI's Mars-Neptune opposition, with its images of groups and bands, drugs, sex and rock n' roll.

Neptune may be fine for music and film but in the business world, it often sows the seeds of confusion, and with EMI's Ascendant opposing this illusory planet now, the current merger is beginning to resemble a beached whale. The advantages of the deal have never been obvious to most EMI shareholders, and the horoscope for its announcement (10am00 GMT, January 24 2000, London) has always seemed dodgy. The astrology is just as confused as the merger, but even if the EC lets it through, it still looks as if the matter won't be settled until late June and July next year. Before then, moves from EMI shareholders could sink the whole deal.