He was the chief executive of EMI's music division and the man credited with signing the Spice Girls.

But he left the company "by mutual agreement" last October when EMI was struggling to revive its fortunes.

At the time there was speculation that he would receive approximately £5m based on his two-year rolling contract.

Shareholders' money

EMI's annual report, published on Thursday, shows the payment was in fact £6.1m

Ken Berry earned more than £2m a year

The company said in the report that the compensation figure reflected Mr Berry's contractual entitlements, including future bonuses, and was based on standard music industry practice.

The National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) criticised the payment and said it highlighted the problem with two-year rolling contracts.

A spokesman said: "The main reason we recommend one-year rather than two-year contracts is that if something like this does happen then the person in question does not end up walking away with so much of shareholders' money."

Failing to perform

Mr Berry became the highest-paid music executive in Europe when he joined EMI in 1992 on a salary of £2m.

But he left because the group was failing to perform.

His successor, former Polygram president Alain Levy, has overseen a major overhaul of the recorded music business.

EMI has cut approximately1,800 jobs and reduced its number of artists to 1,200.