The joint venture company will be called Quietus Group and will be headed by Sean Adams as editor-in-chief.

It will aim to build a substantial editorial, technical and design team based at its offices in Paddington. The deal will also allow the company to use its formula of "user interaction and intelligent creative editorial" to produce new sites, based on the Drowned In Sound model but aimed at broader audiences.

Adams says, "This is a really significant deal for everyone ...