Sathnam Sanghera of the Financial Times spoke with Lyor Cohen, president of Island/Def Jam records, on his controversial move of signing Mariah Carey to a three-album deal worth an estimated $21m.

“I said to Mariah ‘What’s your competitive advantage? A great voice, of course. And what else? You write every one of your songs. You’re a great writer” he explained.

“So just why did you stray from your competitive advantage? Why are you dressing like that, why are you using all these collaborations, with other artists and other songwriters? Why, Mariah? It’s like driving a Ferrari in first, you won’t see what that Ferrari will do until you get into sixth gear’.”