Niall Horan has signed a new worldwide publishing agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group. Already a signee of Capitol Records, his new deal with UMPG sees the artist uniting both recorded and songwriting efforts under the Universal Music umbrella. Previously, he was signed to an administrative agreement with Downtown Music Publishing, beginning in 2017.
The Irish singer-songwriter got his start as a member of top selling boy band One Direction, co-writing songs on each of the band’s five albums, including their Billboard top ten hit “Story of My Life.” After the group disbanded, Horan found success as a solo artist. In 2017, his debut album Flicker produced hits like “Slow Hands” (which peaked at No. 11 on the Hot 100) and “This Town” (which hit No. 20 on the Hot 100). He followed up Flicker with sophomore project Heartbreak Weather in 2020 just as the pandemic began.
Earlier this month, Horan released his long-awaited third album The Show, featuring lead single “Heaven.” It debuted at No. 1 in the U.K. and Australia and also marked his third project in a row to hit No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart.
In a statement about the deal, Horan said, “It’s my absolute pleasure to sign with UMPG. I have known Mike personally for many years and I’m so happy that I get to work with a man who firstly genuinely cares about artistry and the art of writing a song, and secondly knows the world of publishing like no other. To have met the great Jody Gerson who I’ve known of throughout my career as being a badass publisher and when I felt the love from her and Mike, I wasn’t going anywhere else to be honest.”
UMPG UK Managing Director, Mike McCormack, added, “I’ve known Niall for years and he has always shown a deep commitment to the art of songwriting. I’m thrilled UMPG has the privilege to represent his past, present and future solo works and support his artistry alongside Harry and Richard from Modest Management. We are especially excited to be celebrating Niall’s fantastic new LP and know he has a bright future ahead.”
Harry Magee of Modest Management said, “Mike has been talking to me about Niall since our lockdown bike rides and when the album finally started to come together, it was then very post-lockdown in McCormack’s kitchen with some great wine, my phone and the obligatory Bluetooth speaker. He really gets Niall’s musicality and singer-songwriter spirit which has reached new levels of maturity on this record. Mike was excited from that day and so this partnership has always been written in the stars!”
