The company is believed to have more than halved in value since last summer when it was estimated to be worth £120m following a £24m cash injection from venture capitalist 3i.
3i is understood to be putting pressure on chairman James Palumbo to streamline the business, which it has seen little fruit from the investment it made last year.
Ministry magazine, which sits in the number two spot in the dance music magazine sector behind Emap's Mixmag, is believed to be under review, alongside the business's radio station and music publishing division. Its website is thought likely to be safe.
The magazine has been haemorrhaging readers and in the last set of ABCs its circulation fell 21.7% on the previous period to 65,030, a year on year drop of 13.6%.
Mixmag recorded an ABC of 100,336, while IPC Media's Muzik sits in third place in the sector with 35,018 down 18.5% year on year.
Ministry is said to have used the bulk of 3i's money in building up its A&R division as it moved into music publishing so it could sign up acts for its compilation CDs and avoid large royalty payments to other labels. It also set up a radio station soon after the investment was announced.
Ministry magazine's future is thought likely to depend on whether Palumbo can make significant cuts in other areas. Some of the labels, its A&R division and radio are all under threat from closure.
The company is set to announce its plans to staff later this week.
Ministry, which was set up by Palumbo, son of property tycoon Lord Palumbo, and James Bethell, son of Lord Bethell, from a disused bus depot in a run down part of Elephant & Castle, has become one of the UK's biggest media brands since its inception in 1991.
Along with other major dance music brands such as Cream from Liverpool, Ministry is struggling as youngsters are swapping the all-night rave culture that mushroomed in the 90s for school reunion parties such as School Disco.
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