The deal with the 679/Atlantic Records signing, whose real name is Ben Drew, will see him overseeing the signing and development of songwriters to the new company, while EMI will look after areas such as sync, licensing and administration globally.

Drew talks at length in this week's Music Week about the new venture, which partly fulfils an ambition he has had since being a kid to have his own record label and music publishing company.

"I feel I can help ...