Virtually famous: Digital Farm Animals

Frustrating news for those who long for Simon Cowell to end up penniless under a bridge with only remaindered Zig and Zag singles for warmth: the Dark Lord of commercial pop has added another cash cow to his roster in the shape of Digital Farm Animals.

That’s the quirky alias of former lawyer Nick Gale, who began producing electronic music while looking out of his window at an agricultural facility. He’s become a rare signing to Cowell’s Syco label who isn’t a talent show contestant, and has so far been in the background on some notable pop hits.

He co-wrote and produced No Money by Galantis and Dua Lipa’s best song, Be the One, both international hits, and sang on Belgian DJ Netsky’s timely summer song Rio.

Now he’s got his brand name on the cover of another collaboration, Millionaire featuring Cash Cash and Nelly, which should enter our top 40 for the first time today. It’s summery, shouty, catchy to the point of irritation, and already has around 20 million plays on Spotify. It has the X factor that should see it sitting in our stagnant singles chart long enough to keep Cowell a millionaire for a while longer.