marot was an early adopter of the world wide web and an advocate for not only the benefits it could provide but also the changes that it would bring about in the music industry. he used the island record's building maintenance fund to divert money into building the uk's first major label website: island.co.uk and as a result was awarded the inaugural "music week prize for website design" in 1996. in 1997 island.co.uk started selling its catalogue online, sparking a short term battle with retail giants hmv, who withdrew support for all of polygram's new artist releases in resistance to island's decision to become an online retailer.