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In the past, publishing has been a passive business. Media firms would call and ask if they could use the Rolling Stones in a film or Abba on an advertisement. Faxon said EMI and its rivals had become much more active in pushing their products.

The internet and video games are both areas in which music use is growing fast. Bobby Kotick, chairman of Activision, maker of the video-games hit Guitar Hero, chartered a private jet to attend a recent EMI Publishing event.

The two firms have a close relationship and the game has introduced a new generation of fans to old EMI acts such as Aerosmith and Mott The Hoople. The company has been working closely with the likes of McDonald’s to make sure its songs are the top picks when the fast-food giant needs a new tune.

Faxon now wants to make sure that EMI’s vast catalogue gets a better airing. The problem with having such a huge bank of songs is how to encourage people to explore it.

“We own, control or manage 1.3m copyrights. Which one would you like? The ones you want are the ones you know,” said Faxon. Many of the problems in the music industry stemmed from a belief that the industry was in the best position to decide what people listen to, he added. “The music business institutionalised the myth of the A&R [artists and repertoire] guy,” he said. “As if in the absence of the audience the A&R guy has an epiphany when he sees a new band.”

However, it’s the crowd that lets the A&R guy know he is on to something, not the other way round. The internet provides a way to reach that crowd and the same tastemakers who shape future trends in music as they do in fashion.

Faxon said EMI Publishing has had its best year on record thanks in large part to expansion into new areas and its more aggressive selling of songs to media firms.

Although he declined to give details, he said that in 2000 EMI Publishing made 60% of its profits from royalties it received from the sale of CDs. This year the figure was 38%.

The recorded-music business, too, is showing some signs of health. According to a recent memo from Hands, cuts have helped the firm to report a £100m improvement in the division’s quarterly profits.

Rivals are quick to point out that EMI’s sudden recovery should be measured against very poor figures for the previous year.

EMI has a long, long way to go before the venture capitalist can even think about claiming victory for his purchase.

In America, EMI has struggled for years. According to Nielsen Soundscan figures, the company now has only 8.4% of the all-important American market: Warner, its closest rival, has 20.3%, Sony /BMG has 24.1% and Universal 33.8%. If added together, independent labels — those not owned by the giants — now dwarf EMI with 13.4%.

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