Simon Cowell launches a new venture with Universal Music under the Syco umbrella named Syco Publishing.
Syco Publishing is a boutique publisher dedicated to supporting and developing global songwriting talent.
Focused on nurturing rising songwriters, new boutique pubco is home to Lucy Spraggan and John Samuel Gerhart, as well as song catalogues from Camila Cabello, James Arthur, Grace VanderWaal, Fifth Harmony and more
Simon Cowell and Syco Entertainment, the pioneers behind the world’s most successful talent discovery formats, together with the global publishing division of Universal Music Group (UMG), today announced the launch of SYCO Publishing, a boutique publisher dedicated to supporting and developing global songwriting talent.
Through the new collaboration, SYCO Publishing will sign and develop songwriters and catalogs that will be administered and supported exclusively through UMPG globally. The initiative will also create new opportunities for its writers to work across Cowell’s extensive network of media formats and projects.
In making the announcement, Simon Cowell said, “There is nothing more important than a great song. I started my career in music publishing. Mike and Universal have given me the chance to build a music publishing company. They are a brilliant company and share my wish to work with amazing songwriters.”
SYCO Publishing is already home to songwriters Lucy Spraggan and John Samuel Gerhart, as well as song catalogue rights for hits from Fifth Harmony, James Arthur, Grace VanderWaal and Camila Cabello, including “Havana”, “Sangria Wine” with Pharrell Williams, and rights to songs performed by artists including Machine Gun Kelly, Major Lazer, Ed Sheeran, Mark Ronson and Shawn Mendes.
Mike McCormack, MD of UMPG UK, said, “Simon has been a good friend for decades and I’m thrilled he has finally decided to launch a publishing business with UMPG. His track record is incredible – he’s always had great instincts and passion for outstanding songs, and brings incredible value to every songwriter, producer and catalogue he works with. The UMPG team looks forward to working closely with Simon on SYCO Publishing and providing the best global support to develop tomorrow’s stars.”
SYCO Publishing is the second songwriting-focused project that SYCO Entertainment and Universal Music Group have launched collaboratively. In 2022, the companies teamed to launch StemDrop - a new creative platform for musical collaboration, curation and artist discovery, which launched exclusively with TikTok and Samsung.
Simon Cowell's company Syco Entertainment, is an independent entertainment company which created and owns TV formats such as “Got Talent” and “The X Factor”. Got Talent is officially the world’s most successful reality TV format; America’s Got Talent has remained the No1 summer series in the US for the past 16 years; The X Factor is the most successful music TV format in history delivering more global chart stars than any other show in the world. These two shows are currently on air in more than 180 countries and are watched by more than a billion people each year.
Through his TV formats, Simon has launched more superstar careers than any other in history including One Direction, Fifth Harmony, Leona Lewis, Little Mix, James Arthur, Grace VanderWaal and Susan Boyle.
