OLI's operation in US gives artists support. (News).

One Little Indian is setting up a New York office in an effort to accommodate its artists who do not want to make the compromises sometimes inherent in licensing deals.

The new Manhattan-based offshoot has signed a three-year deal with distributor Navarre Entertainment Media, with one of the first major releases under the arrangement including a boxed set of Bjork live CDs and a DVD of rare performances on August 18.

One Little Indian founder Derek Birkett says the motivation for establishing a US base was that many of his acts were finding they were being asked to tailor their output to fit the expectations of major partners. "We've always given our artists complete artistic control, but when it came to the US some were being asked to make compromises," says Birkett.

He cites the example of Cody Chesnutt, who had wanted to release a double album in the States. Birkett says a major brought in to distribute it wanted to cut the release down to just a 10-track album.

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