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, and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), 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.”

At launch, 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.