Simon Cowell Launches SYCO Publishing With Universal Music

With the launch of a music publishing venture, Simon Cowell returns to the business where he honed his own talents in pop.

Unveiled this week, SYCO Publishing, a collaboration between Syco Entertainment and Universal Music Publishing Group, will sign and develop songwriters and catalogs that will be administered and supported exclusively through UMPG globally, reps say.

At launch, SYCO Publishing is home to Lucy Spraggan and John Samuel Gerhart, as well as song catalog from Camila Cabello, James Arthur, Grace VanderWaal, Fifth Harmony and others.

The record executive, TV personality and current judge on America’s Got Talent got his break in publishing.

“There is nothing more important than a great song. I started my career in music publishing,” comments Cowell on the unveiling of his new venture. Paying tribute to Mike McCormack, managing director of UMPG U.K., and the music publishing giant, Cowell says he’s been given “the chance to build a music publishing company. They are a brilliant company and share my wish to work with amazing songwriters.”

SYCO Publishing will also create new opportunities for its writers to work across Cowell’s network of media formats and projects, reads a statement.

“Simon has been a good friend for decades and I’m thrilled he has finally decided to launch a publishing business with UMPG,” adds McCormack. “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 catalog he works with.”

It’s the second songwriting-focused project in the past year that has brought together Cowell’s entertainment venture and Universal Music Group. In 2022, both companies got behind StemDrop, a creative platform for musical collaboration, curation and artist discovery, which launched exclusively with TikTok and Samsung, by providing users with access to music “stems,” the isolated components of a song, from an exclusive track, which creators could then use to record and share their own versions.

Syco Entertainment is the independent company which created and owns TV formats such as “Got Talent” and “The X Factor”.