Syco Entertainment, often known as simply Syco (and stylised as SYCO), is a global joint venture between Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment focused on the production and marketing of music, television, film and digital content. It employs a staff of more than 30 in offices in London and Los Angeles^[1] and manages a string of high profile television and music brands through partnerships with Sony Music labels and its TV production partner, Fremantle Media. Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment each own 50% of the business which is looking to grow its global portfolio of music and television brands over the next few years. Charles Garland, the former chief executive of Crystal Entertainment and chief operator of Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment is Chief Operating Officer, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the company.^[2] Retail billionaire Philip Green, who is a close friend of Cowell, serves as an advisor to the company.^[3] Sporting executive and Vice-Chairman of West Ham United FC, Karren Brady also serves as an advisor to the company.

Syco TV[link]

Syco Television, often shortened to Syco TV (and stylised as SYCOtv), primarily operates in the UK and U.S. where, in 2011, it produces around 200 hours of primetime television for FOX, NBC, ITV1 and ITV2 networks. Its key franchises are The X Factor and Got Talent.

[edit] The X Factor

The X Factor, which launched in September 2004, has been the #1 show in the UK since 2008. In September 2011, Syco launched The X Factor USA, which averaged 12 million viewers and a 4.0 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic in its first season, leading FOX to nightly wins on Wednesdays and Thursdays and topping all other fall season reality competition.^[4]

Internationally, The X Factor can be seen in almost 30 countries including major markets like Germany, France, the Netherlands and Australia.

[edit] Got Talent

America's Got Talent matched a series high 4.6 rating among adults 18-49 in the summer of 2011 for its sixth season. Since launching in 2006, America's Got Talent has consistently been the most watched show of the summer in the U.S. and topped the ratings in the key adults 18-49 demographic.^[5]

Britain's Got Talent consistently tops UK ratings when it is broadcast in April, May and June. In 2009, nearly 20 million people (one third of the UK population) tuned in to the series 3 final to see Diversity crowned winners.^[6]

Got Talent has been even more successful internationally than The X Factor and is now on air in almost 40 countries including the key markets mentioned above and now China.

Other shows[link]

Syco produces other shows outside its key brands. In 2011, new series Red or Black? was met with mixed reaction in the UK and ITV have hinted that it may not be renewed.^[7] Syco were also behind American Inventor which ran for two seasons on ABC and the unsuccessful Celebrity Duets on Fox. In addition to series, Syco also produce music and entertainment specials. This includes I Dreamed a Dream: The Susan Boyle Story, which broke ratings records in the U.S. on TV Guide network ^[8] and scored 10 million viewers on ITV1 in the UK.^[9] Syco also produced Take That: For the Record when Take That reformed and in 2010, the company produced a special episode of Piers Morgan's Life Stories, which focused on The X Factor judge Cheryl Cole and drew the series' best ratings to date with nearly 8 million viewers.^[9]

Current productions[link]

• The X Factor (2004–present)
• The Xtra Factor (2004–present)
• America's Got Talent (2006–present)
• Britain's Got Talent (2007–present)
• Britain's Got More Talent (2007–present)
• Piers Morgan's Life Stories (special episodes, 2010–present)
• Red or Black? (2011–present)
• The X Factor USA (2011–present)

Syco Music[link]

Simon Cowell, founder of Syco.

Syco Music has offices in London and Los Angeles and is home to a dozen artists. Syco has the exclusive right to sign winners and finalists of The X Factor and Got Talent. Susan Boyle's debut album, I Dreamed a Dream, has sold over 9 million copies, making it one of the best selling releases of the last decade and Syco's most successful release to date.^[10] Between 2004 and 2009, Il Divo achieved four multi-million selling albums ^[11] and in 2007, Leona Lewis became one of the most successful talent show winners when her debut single, "Bleeding Love", propelled the album Spirit to 9 million global sales.^[12]

Syco's original base is in London and it has enjoyed most success in the UK market. From 2004 to date, the label has had 22 UK #1 singles.^[13][14] From 2004 to the end of 2009, the label achieved 13 #1 albums.^[15] Factoring in releases under predecessor label S Records, Syco/S achieved 20 #1 albums in the 2000-2009 period, more than any other imprint in the UK, including far larger operations like Columbia Records (17), Warner Bros. Records (16) and Polydor Records (14). Additionally, the label has achieved 7 top 10 U.S. albums since 2006.

In 2010, Syco began diversifying by adding producer/singer-songwriter Labrinth,^[16] He also set up his own imprint, Odd Child, in conjunction with Syco. Savan Kotecha, who had been writing for Syco acts for several years, also became an A&R Director and set up a joint venture, Kanani Songs.^[17] Syco also began forming closer partnerships with other Sony Music Entertainment UK labels. For the first time, Syco entered into an agreement with Columbia Records that would see them work together to launch the career of an X Factor winner - Matt Cardle.^[18] Similar arrangements were made for Olly Murs, Rebecca Ferguson and Ronan Parke, with Epic Records and Alexandra Burke with RCA Records.

Syco Music is run by Sonny Takhar, a former Head of Marketing for RCA Records who has served as Managing Director of both S Records and Syco Music since their formation. Tim Byrne is Creative Director. David Gray is Senior Vice President, A&R and Mark Hardy is Marketing Director. Simon Jones is SYCO Music’s PR Consultant.

While experiencing success for several of its artists, Syco has come under constant scrutiny from fans for its decisions in regards to its artists' careers. Most notably Leona Lewis and Alexandra Burke. Syco have been blamed for Lewis' second album not reaching the success of her first due to poor management, single choices, six month periods between singles, lack of promotion, release dates and only releasing two singles. Fans state similar factors as the reasons why Alexandra Burke has not found international success.

Current artists[link]

• Leona Lewis (joint U.S. deal with RCA Records)
• Olly Murs (joint UK deal with Epic Records)
• Rebecca Ferguson (joint UK deal with Epic/RCA Records, joint U.S. deal with Columbia Records)
• One Direction (joint U.S deal with Columbia Records)
• Little Mix
• Cher Lloyd (joint U.S. deal with Epic Records)
• Susan Boyle (joint U.S. deal with Columbia Records)
• Jackie Evancho (joint U.S. deal with Columbia Records)
• Labrinth
• Il Divo
• Andrew Johnston
• Melanie Amaro (joint U.S. deal with Epic Records)
• Chris Rene (joint U.S. deal with Epic Records)
• Jonathan and Charlotte
• Molly Rainford
• Ryan O'Shaughnessy

Previous artists[link]

• Gareth Gates (2002–2006, dropped/left to expand)
• Steve Brookstein (2004–2005, dropped)
• Bianca Ryan (2006–2008, dropped)
• Angelis (2006–2007, disbanded)
• Leon Jackson (2007–2009, dropped)
• Same Difference (2007–2009, dropped)
• Rhydian (2007–2010, left to continue career after 3 albums)
• Escala (2008–2010, left to join Sony BMG)
• Shayne Ward (2005–2011, dropped)
• Joe McElderry (2009–2011, dropped)
• Westlife (1998–2011, left)
• Ronan Parke (2011–2012, dropped)
• Jai McDowall (2011–2012, dropped)
• Matt Cardle (2011–2012, dropped)

In December 2011, Cowell had finalised a deal with Sony in relating with Syco. A new U.S. label has been reported and Cowell is considering setting up an Syco U.S., which would fund more money in the U.S., with Syco artists. However, many of the artists signed to Syco currently have U.S. deals with other Sony labels previously.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Syco Tv at IMDb
• Syco UK/US A&R team contact list

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Simon Cowell
Cowell at the National Television Awards at the Royal Albert Hall, London, October 2006.
Background information
Birth name	Simon Phillip Cowell
Born	(1959-10-07) 7 October 1959 (age 52) Lambeth, London, England
Origin	Elstree, Hertfordshire, England
Occupations	A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, television personality
Years active	1979–present
Labels	EMI, E&S Music, Fanfare Records, BMG, S Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Syco
Associated acts	Westlife, Sinitta, Leon Jackson, Jai McDowall, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia, Five, Robson & Jerome, Ultimate Kaos, WWF Wrestlers, Zig and Zag, Leona Lewis, Alexandra Burke, Joe McElderry, Shayne Ward, Il Divo, Susan Boyle, Paul Potts, JLS, One Direction, Melanie Amaro

Simon Phillip Cowell (born 7 October 1959) is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol. He is also the owner of the television production and music publishing house Syco.

As a judge, Cowell is known for his blunt and often controversial criticisms, insults and wisecracks about contestants and their abilities. He is also known for combining activities in both the television and music industries, having promoted singles and records for various artists, including television personalities. He was most recently featured on the fifth series of Britain's Got Talent and the first season of The X Factor USA.

In 2010, the British magazine New Statesman listed Cowell at number 41 in a list of "The World's 50 Most Influential Figures 2010".^[1]

Early life[link]

Cowell was born in Lambeth, London^[2] and brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire.^[3] His mother, Julie Brett (née Josie Dalglish), is a former ballet dancer and socialite, and his father, Eric Selig Phillip Cowell (1918–1999),^[2] was an estate agent developer and music industry executive.^[4] Cowell's father was from a mostly Jewish family, though he did not discuss his background with his children (Cowell's paternal grandmother had immigrated from Poland).^[5] Cowell's mother was from a Christian background, and is of part Scottish descent.^[5][6][7] He has one brother and three half-brothers and a half sister; younger brother Nicholas Cowell, half-brother John Cowell, half-brother Tony Cowell, half-brother Michael Cowell and half sister June Cowell.^[8]

Cowell attended Radlett Preparatory School and the independent Dover College as did his brother, but left after taking GCE O levels. He passed in English Language and Literature and then attended Windsor Technical College where he gained another GCE in Sociology.^[9] At the age of 17, he dated model Paula Hamilton.^[10] Cowell took a few menial jobs—including, according to Tony, working as a runner on Stanley Kubrick's The Shining^[11]—but did not get along well with colleagues and bosses, until his father who was executive at the recording giant EMI Music Publishing, managed to get him a job in the mail room.^[12]

Career[link]

Cowell's father's connections originally got him rehired as the assistant to an A&R man. From there onwards, Simon worked his way up and eventually got promoted to a music publishing^[13] position but left during the early 1980s to form E&S Music with his boss at EMI, Ellis Rich (later Chairman of the Performing Right Society). The company had several hit records at one point with five singles in the UK top 40. The offices were in a converted gentleman's washroom in the NCP car park on Brewer Street in London's Soho district. Cowell left by mutual agreement a few years later. He worked for Iain Burton, manager of choreographer Arlene Phillips, co-founder of dance group Hot Gossip and of nascent independent record label Fanfare Records. Cowell worked with Burton for eight years at Fanfare where he achieved his first real success in the music industry, becoming a partner and building Fanfare into a highly successful 'indie' pop label. Fanfare had numerous top ten hits with various pop artists and particularly Sinitta, selling more than 500,000 copies of her debut single "So Macho", and more than 500,000 copies of her album Rondo Veneziano.^[14] Next in 1984, Cowell and Burton met up with Pete Waterman for the first time.

Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman formed the songwriting and record producing trio known as Stock Aitken Waterman.^[15] Stock Aitken Waterman helped Fanfare during the second half of the 1980s producing several hit singles for Sinitta and licensing The Hit Factory SAW Compilation Albums to Fanfare. Next in 1989, Fanfare's parent, Public Company, found itself in difficulties, forcing Fanfare into the hands of BMG. An in-debt Cowell was forced to move back in with his parents. Later that year, he became an A&R consultant for BMG. In 1990, he appeared as a contestant on the UK gameshow Sale of the Century.^[16][17]

Subsequently, Cowell signed up a number of acts to S-Records that became successful, including Curiosity Killed the Cat, Sonia, Five, Westlife, Robson & Jerome, and Ultimate Kaos. He also released several novelty recordings featuring the likes of Teletubbies, wrestlers of WWE^[18] Zig and Zag and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, that were huge successes.^[3] In 2002, Cowell set up another label, Syco Music, which later became part of Columbia Records and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Artists such as Leona Lewis, Il Divo and contestants from The X Factor and America's Got Talent are released on Syco. Cowell explained, "There has to come a point when I will step down from being on camera and remain behind the scenes because you can't keep doing this forever...I think by [the end of my contract] that the public will be sick to death of me anyway and it will be time to go."^[19]

In 2006, Cowell signed to two more record-breaking deals. In the US, he agreed to remain as a judge on American Idol, earning £20 million (US$33 million) per season for another five years. He also has a deal with FOX which allows his production company to broadcast Got Talent and American Inventor on other networks, but he may not appear on them. In the UK, he signed a "golden handcuffs" deal with ITV, worth approximately £6.5 million a year for three years, which gave ITV rights to his talent show The X Factor, a British singing talent show, and Grease Is the Word, a musical talent show to find the stars of a Grease production in London's West End. In late 2005, he signed a new contract to remain working for Sony BMG.

In 2010, Cowell finalised a deal which secures the long-term business future of Syco with Sony Music Entertainment.^[20] The deal will also see him launching a US version of X Factor on 21 September 2011.^[21]

[edit] Idol franchise and Il Divo

Cowell was given the role of judge on the first series of Pop Idol in the UK by then ITV Controller of Entertainment Claudia Rosencrantz^[22] in 2001, he was then judge on the first season of American Idol in 2002. With his notoriously critical reputation, Cowell is likened to TV personalities such as Judith Sheindlin and Anne Robinson. Though comparable to Robinson, Cowell has expressed his dislike for her and has commented in an interview, "I hate her and I hate her show because it's just an act".^[23] Cowell's prominence grew, fed by his signature phrase, "I don't mean to be rude, but ...", inevitably followed by an unsparingly blunt appraisal of the contestant's talents, personality, or even physical appearance. A lot of these one-liners were the product of coaching that Cowell received from noted publicist Max Clifford.^[24] Cowell also appeared on the one-off World Idol programme in 2003, where it became clear that each country's version of the Idol had attempted to come up with its own "Simon Cowell" type personality. In 2003, Cowell placed No 33 on Channel 4's list of the all-time 100 Worst Britons. Cowell's S Records signed the top two finishers of the first season of Pop Idol, Will Young and Gareth Gates, both of whom went on to have No 1 UK hits. Efforts begun in 2001 materialised in 2004, when Cowell returned to his group manufacturing roots with his latest brainchild, the internationally successful operatic pop group Il Divo,^[25][26] consisting of three opera singers and one pop singer of four different nationalities. Inspired by the success of Il Divo, Simon created a child version, Angelis, beating competition from many similar groups emerging at Christmas 2006.^[27]

On 11 January 2010, Cowell's exit from American Idol was made official. The 2010 season was Cowell's last on the show. It was also announced that FOX had acquired the rights to The X Factor USA, an American version of Cowell's popular British show, The X Factor, which began in September 2011.^[28][29]

[edit] The X Factor

In 2004, with Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, Cowell was a judge on the first series of the British television music competition The X Factor, which he created using his production company, Syco. The X Factor was an instant success with the viewers and began its eighth series in 2011.

Leona Lewis, the winner of the third series of The X Factor, was signed to Cowell's label Syco and has had number one singles and album sales around the world.^[30][31] Cowell returned for a fourth series on 18 August 2007 alongside Osbourne, Walsh and new judge, Dannii Minogue. Walsh had previously been sacked from the judging panel by Cowell for the fourth series, and was subsequently replaced by Brian Friedman, who was a judge on Grease Is the Word. Walsh was later brought back a week into the auditions by Cowell when he and Osbourne realised that they missed Walsh and that without him, there was no chemistry between the judges. Cowell returned for the fifth series in 2008, with Walsh, Minogue and new judge Cheryl Cole, as Osbourne decided to quit before the show began.^[32][33] Cowell returned for series 6 and 7 as well, although series 7 was his to be his last, as he left in 2011 in order to launch The X Factor in America. After placing third in the seventh series of The X Factor in the UK, boyband One Direction signed to Cowell's label in 2011, and the group have gone on to top singles and album charts worldwide.^[34][35]

The X Factor Australia launched in 2005, but was cancelled due to poor ratings. It returned to Australian television for its second season on 30 August 2010, with Kyle Sandilands, Ronan Keating, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Imbruglia as judges.^[36] Season 3 began on 29 August 2010 and ended on 22 November. It featured Ronan Keating, Mel B, Guy Sebastian and Natalie Bassingthwaighte as judges.

Cowell also launched The X Factor USA in September 2011 on American broadcaster Fox. It was originally announced that he would be a judge both on the UK and U.S. editions of the show, which air at similar times of the year,^[20][21] but MTV officially reported on 17 April 2011 that this was not true; Cowell is no longer a judge in the UK version,^[37] but instead will be an enormous presence backstage.^[38] He currently is a judge on The X Factor USA alongside Paula Abdul, L.A. Reid, Nicole Scherzinger and formerly Cheryl Cole.

In October 2010, Cowell signed new three-year deals with ITV for both Britain's Got Talent and The X Factor, renewing both shows until 2013.^[39]

[edit] Got Talent franchise

Following the success of the Idol and X Factor franchises, Cowell, his company Syco, and its business partners developed a talent show format open to performers of any kind, not only singers, but also dancers, instrumentalists, magicians, comedians, novelty acts, and so on. The origins of the Got Talent format can be traced to the British show Opportunity Knocks, which began as a radio programme in the 1940s and later transferred to television, where it was an ITV staple for several decades. Looking further back, Opportunity Knocks had its roots in the variety show traditions of British music hall and American vaudeville.

Cowell is the executive producer of America's Got Talent,^[40] which debuted in June 2006, along with Fremantle producers of the Idol series, but he does not appear on the show due to the terms of his contract with FOX. The show was a huge success for NBC, drawing around 12 million viewers a week, and beating So You Think You Can Dance on FOX (produced by rival and Idol creator Simon Fuller).

Britain's Got Talent^[41] debuted on ITV in June 2007. Cowell appears as a judge alongside Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan. The show was a ratings success and second and third seasons followed in 2008 and 2009. The third series featured a publicity coup when Susan Boyle^[41][42][43] made a global media impact with her regional audition performance comparable to that of any previous talent show series winner.

[edit] American Inventor

On 16 March 2006, Simon Cowell's next competition show, American Inventor,^[44][45] debuted on ABC. Fledgling entrepreneurs from across the United States competed to see who could come up with the best new product concept. The 2006 winner, Janusz Liberkowski,^[46][47] received $1 million and the opportunity to develop his idea into a business. The show returned one more time in 2007 for a second season.

[edit] Celebrity Duets

In 2006, Cowell executive-produced Celebrity Duets,^[48] which was described as "an Idol show for Hollywood superstars." The show was hosted by Wayne Brady, and its judges were Marie Osmond, Little Richard^[49] and David Foster.

[edit] Grease Is the Word

Cowell was also the executive producer of Grease Is the Word for ITV. This show set out to find performers to play Danny and Sandy in the 2007 West End revival of Grease. It was hosted by Zoe Ball and judged by Britons David Ian and Sinitta and Americans David Gest and Brian Friedman. The musical theatre casting concept had already been introduced by the BBC with the ratings hit How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, but Cowell's show was not the hoped for success. He himself said, "It has been slaughtered by the critics – and rightly so. It is far too similar to our other formats."^[50]

[edit] Rock Rivals

Cowell collaborated with UK production company Shed Media to produce 2008 ITV drama series Rock Rivals, which is based on an X Factor type show.^[51]

[edit] Red or Black?

In 2011, Cowell also created his first game show, titled Red or Black? and hosted by Ant & Dec, for ITV.^[52] Series 1 was broadcast over seven nights in one week (excluding Tuesday), from 3 September to 10 September. The show has been recomissioned by ITV for a second series in 2012, which will be aired weekly.^[53]

Other activities[link]

Cowell has been involved in charity work for many years.^[54] He supports children from The Association Of Children's Hospices and invites them backstage to the screenings of The X Factor.^[55] When he can, he stops by some of the hospices to visit the children.^[55] He also supports animal rights and has appeared in a video for PETA in which he reminds drivers of the cruelty to animals that can occur when their pets are locked in cars in the summer.^[56][57] In view of his charitable works, particularly the production of the charity single Everybody Hurts in aid of victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, as well as his services to the music industry, there was considerable media speculation as to whether Cowell would receive a knighthood in the Queen's 2010 Birthday Honours, a proposal allegedly put forward by former Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.^[58] Cowell stated that he believed his chances of receiving the honour were "zero" following what he described as being a "royal row";^[59] ultimately Cowell did not receive an honour in the list.

In December 2003, Cowell published his autobiography titled I Don't Mean to be Rude, but.... In it, he told the whole story of his childhood, his years working in music and experiences on Pop Idol, Pop Stars Rivals, and American Idol, and finally, his tips for being successful as a pop star.