Downtown Music Publishing has signed a new multi-territory music publishing administration pact with songwriter and former One Direction-er Niall Horan, currently climbing the charts with his second solo single "Slow Hands."
After its debut May 4, "Hands" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 90, with little less than a day in the tracking week. In only its second week, the track jumped all the way to No. 52. His highest peaking song to date is his solo debut, "This Town," which topped out at No. 20 in January.
In a recent interview with Carson Daly, Horan said fans should expect his first full-length album by "end of fall, start of winter." Earlier this week he released a lyric video for "Hands."
Horan co-wrote songs on each of One Direction's five album, including the multi-platinum song "Story of My Life." Downtown administers 1D's songs as well.
Founded in 2007, the New York-based rights-management firm owns or administers the rights to songs by John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, The Kinks, Motley Crue and Benny Blanco, among others. In April, the company signed a wide-ranging partnership with Ryan Tedder, and in February, it launched Downtown Music Japan to sign and develop Japanese talent, as well as represent its catalog there.