Lily Allen has launched her own record label, with financial backing from Sony Music. The singer is behind the Columbia Records imprint In the Name Of, which will release the debut album of New York noise-pop band Cults.

Allen's reps confirmed the news , first reported by the Sun . The imprint's name was first dropped earlier this month, as rumours circulated about Cults' major-label signing. But no one mentioned the LDN singer, who said in late 2009 that she wanted to start releasing other people's music.

According to the Sun, Allen is receiving a ￡100,000 salary from Sony and has started hiring staff for the label. The 25-year-old also recently launched her Covent Garden clothing shop, Lucy in Disguise, and reportedly became engaged to boyfriend Sam Cooper on Christmas Day. "I think things need to change in the music industry and we need to rethink a lot of stuff," Allen said in 2009. At the time, she joked that her first signings would be "terrible [bands] that work on the radio".

Cults are not typical top 20 fare ? the duo are best known for Go Outside , a lo-fi, reverb-heavy song released last year. The single will be reissued on 20 February, with a debut album to follow in May. Cults will play three dates in London next month.