New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Downtown
Music Publishing has entered into a multi-year worldwide publishing agreement with award-winning British record producer and songwriter Shahid Khan, professionally known as Naughty Boy. The company has also established a joint venture with his publishing company, Naughty Words.
An Ivor Novello and MOBO award winner, Khan has collaborated with the likes of Sam Smith, Emeli Sande, Rihanna, Beyonce, Ed Sheeran,
Leona Lewis, Wiz Khalifa, JLS, Cheryl Cole, Jennifer Hudson, Gabrielle, Jess Glynne, Professor Green, and Tinie Tempah.
"We are thrilled and delighted to have signed
Naughty Boy and Naughty Words to Downtown. Shah is a world class songwriter/producer of the highest calibre," said Roberto Neri, Managing
Director of Downtown
Music UK. "He has successfully discovered and nurtured artists with sustainable careers during turbulent times in our industry and continues to identify the creators and artists of the future. Downtown is the natural home to further excel Shah's vision and the extraordinary creative feats and success he has had to date."
In addition to his success as a songwriter and producer, Khan launched an independent music publishing entity Naughty Words, signing lumineers such as
Sam Smith with whom he's achieved bona fide global success. Khan has entrusted Downtown's bespoke creative and advisory services and global royalty collection platform, Songtrust, to service his own and Naughty Words' catalogs.
Of the signing Khan said, "I am really excited about embarking upon a new chapter in my songwriting career with Downtown and together will continue building the
Naughty Boy brand worldwide, film scoring and sync music are just a couple of the areas I want to expand on and also developing the Naughty Words brand further."
Following the success of his debut album, Hotel Cabana, including the #1 smash hit "
La La La" featuring
Sam Smith as well as "
Wonder" and "
Lifted" both featuring Emeli Sande, Khan will be releasing his second album in 2017 on Virgin.
The signing of
Naughty Boy and the new venture with Naughty Words represents Downtown's continued investment in British songwriters. Since opening its London office in 2015, Downtown has signed new agreements with the likes of Sacha Skarbek, Imogen Heap, Izzy Bizu, Slaves, and Zdot.
About Downtown
Music Publishing
Founded in 2007, Downtown
Music Publishing is one of the world's leading rights-management firms, headquartered in New York with offices in Nashville, Los Angeles, London, Amsterdam and Tokyo. The company's catalog spans over seven decades of popular music, encompassing some of the world's most beloved songwriters and artists including The Beatles,
John Lennon & Yoko Ono, The Kinks, Cy Coleman, Hans Zimmer, Bruce Springsteen, Motley Crue, Social Distortion, One Direction, Benny Blanco, Sturgill Simpson, and Carla Bruni. The company's technology platform, Songtrust, powers global royalty collection from over 100 countries and more than 20,000 unique income sources worldwide.
