Megan Robinson

The company of Sony SyCo Entertainment belongs to Simon Cowell
and Sony Music Entertainment. SyCo is a joint business between
Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment and it has offices in
London and also Los Angeles. It focuses on the production and
marketing of music, television , film and digital content. The award
winning television programme ‘X Factor’ is produced by SyCo, a
programme that has topped the charts in both the UK and in Europe.
Simon Cowell is the executive producer of the show as well as being a
judge to the contestants. Another show that SyCo owns is the ‘Got
Talent’ television format. Versions of both the ‘X Factor’ and ‘Got Talent’
shows are co-produced by SyCo and are now shown in over 70
different countries, these shows have won many different awards
including the National Television Awards and also BAFTA awards. In
2011 X Factor was launched in America for the first time and became
an instant success, again Simon Cowell appeared on the show as a
judge. Both The ‘X Factor’ and ’Got talent’ are ideas that were created
by Simon Cowell. As well as owning the above mentioned shows, SyCo
is also the record label for international stars such as Leona Lewis and
IL Divo.

Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment own SyCo together,
making it a partnership. Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment
each own 50% of the business. They were excited to work together,
knowing that they each had a lot of experience and success to bring to
the company. Although Simon Cowell does not own any other
companies, he is involved in many other activities including shows such
as ‘Red or Black’ and ‘American Inventor.’
Sony Music Entertainment, as well as being a shareholder in SyCo
continues to be a global recording company which owns other
companies including Columbia/Epic label and Sony Music Nashville,
they have many international superstars in their company. As they are
both integrated in other companies they have the ability to constantly
expand.

SyCo is a joint venture between Simon Cowell and Sony Music Entertainment.
It came about because of the collaboration between these two companies. The
company is a horizontally integrated company because they have strengthened
their impact in the music industry by combining their knowledge, links and their
influence. The integration happened by merging together in a positive and
productive way for each company, bringing immense benefits to each other.
There are many benefits to both Sony and Simon Cowell. They are able to use
each others links and influences to further promote their interests in SyCo. For
example, SyCo entered into an agreement with Columbia Records (owned by
Sony) to launch the careers of various X Factor winners including Matt Cardle.
This in turn will promote the success of the show X Factor which is owned by
SyCo. With the ever changing music industry in this age of digitalisation it is
important for companies like Sony to be involved in television, film and digital.
The disadvantages could be when either partner may disagree with a venture
or an idea by one party may not be successful causing a financial loss.

Like any huge company involved in the music industry there will
always be competitors. The X factor and ‘Got Talent’ are 2 of Sysco's
biggest ventures, however there are many television shows
attempting to steal there audiences. For example, the relatively new
production of The Voice has been getting big audiences and
competes with ‘Got Talent’ over the weekend period.
Also during the X Factor season the dance show ‘Strictly Come
Dancing’ is a massive competitor to X Factor, often overtaking X
Factor in it’s audiences. Many people both the public and the press
have accused the X Factor of becoming too staged and too staid.
With the audiences getting fed up with the antics and arguments of
the judges with it being less about the people taking part.
There are other talent shows that are always trying to compete for top
ratings, for example, Got to Dance, and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
Superstar to name just a few.

SyCo is the worlds most successful producer of international talent. SyCo
Music is the label for many different bands including One Direction, Leona
Lewis, Susan Boyle, Little Mix and Il Divo plus many more. These artists
have very different target audiences because you have One Direction for
the younger audiences and people like Susan Boyle for the older
audience. SyCo has sold over 2000 million albums and had over 180
number 1 records.
The X Factor is extremely popular because the local version is aired in
more than 41 territories and in over 166 countries for the American
version. ‘Got talent’ (from many different countries) has ended up the
biggest selling in the world and is now aired in 52 different countries. In
2009 in peaked at 9 million viewers for the final.

Since the company was set up there have been some changes in the
organisational structure of the company. Following the initial success
SyCo entered an agreement with Columbia Records in order to launch the
careers of some X Factor winners. It also saw Sony Music Entertainment
state it’s intent to focus on music, television, film and digital content.
SyCo CEO at the time resigned and Charles Garland took her place,
overseeing the day to day running of the company. Other new
appointments were made at a similar time. In 2010 SyCo signed a deal
with ITV to keep Britain’s Got Talent on the television until 2013. Using
their television links SyCo have been able to sign many hit acts from their
shows. Very recently SyCo have hired Adam Milano, who the company
are hoping will move them into the world of feature films. All of this has
meant a huge success for the company, allowing them to move forward in
this day of television and digitalisation.

Since becoming a company SyCo has had to deal with a few
controversial issues. In 2011 it came to light that a hot favorite for
Britain’s Got Talent had previously worked for SyCo, appearing in
videos and also performing as a backing singer on the X Factor.
Also the show the X Factor has faced many issues over the years, one
of the most recent being that the audition process was unfair when
Louis Walsh was accused of cheating.
The most recent issue was that SyCo was faced with a $1 million law
suit because of the hottest new boy band One Direction. Apparently
there was already a US group performing under this name. Even
though the US group had not been signed by a record label they did
have an album out. The case is ongoing as SyCo do not want to
change the British bands name.

These websites I have used to help me to research about SyCo but I have used
Wikipedia for some points.
http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1098018/simon-cowells-record-label-sued-
over-hot-boy-band-one-direction - accessed on 21/05/2013
http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/indies/simon-cowell-launches-new-production-
company/5050547.article - accessed on 21/05/2013
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2215009/X-Factor-producer-Richard-
Holloway-denies-claims-told-Louis-Walsh-save-Rylan-Clark.html - accessed on
04/06/13
http://www.justsimoncowell.com/#/syco/4561272890 - accessed on 21/05/2013
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1693096/one-direction-name-lawsuit-settled.jhtml -
accessed on 21/05/2013
http://www.simoncowellonline.com/#/syco/4560890384 - accessed on 05/10/12