The room was abuzz with excitement. The date was September 13, 1992 and the occasion was In The City, the now-defunct Manchester music conference founded by the late Factory Records boss Tony Wilson and his partner, Yvette Livesey.

There, at the city’s Crown Plaza Hotel, dozens of artist managers convened for an historic meeting that would change the UK music biz forever.

Simply Red manager Elliot Rashman took to the stage. “The recording industry is highly organised and we are ...