Mick Jagger can now join AARP

Mick Jagger turns 65 today but the old rogue demonstrates that he is still capable of stirring it up with the birthday announcement that The Rolling Stones are switching labels from EMI to Universal.

Mick has always been as fascinated by business as by sex, drugs and rock and roll, and his acumen in this department has done as much to keep the Stones rolling as Keith’s mercurial riffs.

This is an astute move for the Stones, switching to the biggest and most successful major record company at a time when their old partners are undergoing massive internal restructuring. The Stones have more marquee than sales value these days, but I am sure Mick and co have negotiated a very favourable deal. Having given Universal (and boss Lucien Grange) the chance to demonstrate they are the biggest hitters in the musical park, you can be sure the new company will be working their tails off to recoup.

None of them are getting any younger (though Ronnie Wood is certainly acting like it) so this could be a last big deal for the Stones but it demonstrates that there is life in them yet.

Not such good news for Guy Hands, whose company has now lost the services of a Beatle, The Stones and Radiohead, three of EMI's biggest names. When Terra Firma first took over EMI there were unfounded fears they might be engaged in asset stripping, but while they put their efforts into rebuilding the company it is starting to look as if their assets are being stripped from them. To lose one superstar may be regarded as misfortune. To lose three in a row looks like carelessness.

With power shifting to the artists, it is actually becoming increasingly common for acts at the ends of their deals to look for new partners, using their established status to increase royalty rates and gain other commercial benefits (hence Madonna announcing that she will depart Warners at the completion of her deal to sign to Live Nation).

Unfortunately, the loss of so many marquee names in such a short space of time could create an impression that EMI is not trusted by artists. Given the voraciousness of Universal (who recently tried to tempt Oasis from SonyBMG with a multi million pound offer), I am sure the Stones' new partners are delighted to be putting one over their rivals. Officially, EMI wish the Stones well at their new home. Unofficially, the message is more likely to be: "Et tu, Mick?"

He may be pensionable, but it looks like Jagger's still handling himself like a street fighting man.