It's often joked that musicians have very little business sense, but in what some are judging a bizarre move Epic Records has named Amanda Ghost - co-writer of James Blunt's You're Beautiful - as its new president.
Ghost has co-written for Beyoncé and Shakira, has worked with Kanye West, The Prodigy and Britney Spears and Ghost is also herself a singer-songwriter.
But she has, by her own admission, little or no management experience.
"I'm not a conventional choice as a music business executive," Ghost admitted in a statement. "I'm here to draw on my experiences as an artist, songwriter and producer to make the new and existing artists signed to Epic as brilliant and successful as possible."
Artists turned managers
Appointing artists to the top of the company tree is not a completely new idea. Jay-Z was president and CEO of Def Jam Records for three years to 2007, though he'd certainly already proved his business acumen with his own Roc-A-Fella empire. Producer Rick Rubin became Sony Music US's "music czar" in 2007 but that relationship soured at the end of 2008.
Ghost's own recording career has had limited success, so can she point to much else other than her songwriting savvy?
As president of Epic, Ghost will be responsible for overseeing the label's management and creative direction - as well as the careers of artists such as Franz Ferdinand, Jennifer Lopez, Editors, Judas Priest and others. Now that's beautiful.
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