WARNER Music Group, the record company behind Madonna, James Blunt and Green Day, yesterday replaced the London-based head of its international division with an executive from America’s NBC television company.

Paul Rene Albertini will be succeeded by Patrick Vien, who will be based in New York, where Warner Music has been uniting its top executives as part of an effort to integrate its various operations.

Mr Albertini, who was under contract with Warner Music until 2008, is expected to receive a payoff of about $7 million (£4million).

According to filings with the US Securities & Exchange Commission, he was paid some $1.5 million in salary last year, with bonuses worth $2.75 million and share awards and other payments of $4 million.

Mr Vien will be paid $750,000 a year and is entitled to an annual cash bonus of up to $750,000. The former TV executive will also receive a $150,000 golden hello and substantial stock options.

Warner Music would not give a reason for Mr Albertini’s abrupt departure, but it is understood that Edgar Bronfman Junior, the Seagram’s heir and Warner Music chief executive, was unhappy with the performance of the international division. Warner Music was a distant fourth among the big record labels in Europe in 2004 with 11.7 per cent of the market, compared with more than with 12.5 per cent in 2003. The company also ranked fourth in Asia with a 4.9 per cent market share in 2004.

The relocation of the role from London to New York casts doubt over Warner Music’s continued presence in the UK. Mr Bronfman hired a new head of the Warner/Chappell music publishing business last year and relocated the post to New York from Los Angeles.

The Warner Music group chief also created a New York-based post to oversee the US recorded music division.

The company could not be reached for comment about the developments.

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