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Eric Nicoli said that Apple's iPhone has shown what can be done by putting the customer first.

'Apple makes stuff that people love to own,' he said. 'They love the simplicity and user-friendliness of the iPod and iTunes. Apple doesn't employ any sorcery or dark magic to achieve this. They listen to what consumers want. And that shouldn't be Apple's unique privilege.'

Nicoli also touched on the issue of DRM, saying that EMI is prepared to look at different options in order to find the best in each situation. He said that the company's recent experiment of making a tiny number of tracks available without copy protection had been promising, but would not reveal EMI's future plans.

The record company, which is currently the subject of takeover interest from the staunchly pro-DRM Warner Music, recently withdrew from talks with music store operators about the possibility of providing DRM-free downloads.