Bowen: aiming for a global powerhouse: regional boss unveils plans in new international role.(News)

After a successful year running BMG in the UK and Ireland, Tim Bowen is preparing to return to the international arena and one of the biggest and most exciting challenges of his two-decade career.

"We now have a company which is a major force in the industry," he says. "I want us to be a powerhouse."

Bowen's role--heading the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa--will see him report to Sony BMG COO Michael Smellie and oversee strategy internationally across the markets.

"It is bringing together all the main English-speaking countries outside of the US and there is a certain method behind the plan in terms of maximising our A&R opportunities," he says. "It is an exciting job. It will be interesting to export some of the ideas we have generated in the UK."

In parallel with the appointment of Stringer last Wednesday, Bowen put Denis Handlin in place to run the new Australian company and this week turns to South Africa. But he stresses the UK's important role within the Sony BMG family.

"The UK is the most important international market in the global business," he says. "In a global business, it has a responsibility and obligation as a repertoire source. We have to develop artists across all genres who not only break locally but also have real international appeal."

But Bowen is quick to stress that he will have no direct involvement in the market, which he believes to be in eminently good hands.