After five weeks off from tweeting, Louis Tomlinson returned to social media to announce that he and his label have separated.
Hope everyone is doing ok! Just wanted to let you know that Syco Music and I have agreed to part ways. I'm really excited for the future and to be back in the studio writing the next album. Can't wait to finally see you all on tour!!
Stay safe and see you soon, Louis x— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) July 11, 2020
Syco Entertainment — which includes Syco Music, Syco TV, and Syco Film — is Simon Cowell’s joint venture with Sony Music. It is most well-known for signing contestants from various Simon Cowell television shows, including One Direction, Fifth Harmony, and Little Mix. Little Mix has since also left Syco.
Louis’s announcement comes a little more than five months after his debut solo album Walls dropped. His world tour was postponed due to COVID-19, but Louis assured fans on Twitter that this label departure would not impact the rescheduling.
One Direction fans vocally disliked Syco during the band’s run, and many were surprised when Louis remained with the label for his solo projects. Although it was recently announced by Official Charts that Walls is the best-selling debut album released in 2020 on CD and cassette so far in the UK, the album had very little promotional force behind it and received limited radio play. It also took Louis the longest out of all the One Direction members to get his debut album out.
Ironically enough, on United By Pop’s most recent episode of the Fandomonium podcast, we discussed Walls’ merits, Syco’s limitations, and Louis’s surprising lack of enthusiasm about his own music just months after its release.
It all makes more sense now knowing there was probably a lot of tension behind the scenes, and we can’t wait to see how LT2 turns out.