Expect One Direction star Liam Payne to announce a solo deal with Capitol U.K.’s Nick Raphael and Jo Charrington—the first 1D solo signing outside the Sony system. While many observers expected Sony to stay in this one, Universal prevailed.
The question of which U.S. label Liam will be on within the UMG system remains to be decided by the artist, but Raphael and team have helped steer such key U.K. signings as Sam Smith and 5 Seconds of Summer to Steve Barnett’s Capitol mothership, with much success. All this of course occurs in the wake of Columbia’s splashy deal for 1D heartthrob Harry Styles, not to mention the chart success of first-out-of-the-gate member and RCA solo artist ZAYN, whose lead single, “PILLOWTALK,” has racked up 1.3m+ in sales.
I am completely rooting for him. I've always said he'll probably be the most successful out of the 5 of them