Concord has acquired a portion of songwriter, musician and producer Johnny McDaid’s song catalogue.
As well as being a member of Snow Patrol, McDaid has also written for Ed Sheeran, Pink, Lewis Capaldi, Keith Urban, Shawn Mendes, Zara Larsson, Alicia Keys, Jung Kook, Rag ’n’ Bone Man, Kelly Clarkson, Sam Smith, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, amongst others.
Huge hits from the catalogue include Photograph, Shivers and Bad Habits from Ed Sheeran, and BTS’ Permission to Dance.
As a part of this worldwide publishing agreement, Concord will also represent McDaid’s future works.
The Grammy-nominated, Ivor Novello-winning songwriter has established himself as a writing partner for a wide range of artists. His catalogue also boasts co-writes with Robbie Williams, Biffy Clyro, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Kodaline, David Guetta, Birdy and Maisie Peters.
McDaid co-wrote seven of the songs on Sheeran’s multi-platinum album X, including Photograph and Bloodstream, the latter of which was nominated for Best Song at the 2016 Ivor Novello Awards. X won the Brit Award for Best Album and was Grammy-nominated in the same category.
In 2017, McDaid co-wrote eight songs on Ed Sheeran’s multi-platinum album ÷ (as of 2024 the most streamed album of all time on Spotify). He co-wrote Shape Of You, which went to No.1 in the US and in the UK (where it stayed for 14 weeks), earning him another Grammy nomination (Song of the Year) and went on to win an Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed Work.
McDaid also co-wrote The Joker And The Queen, from ÷, which landed a feature from Taylor Swift.
We’re thrilled to represent some of his iconic works and honoured to partner with Johnny for the future
Jim Selby
He went on to co-write 10 songs on Sheeran’s 2021 album =, including Shivers and Bad Habits. The latter was a UK No.1 for 11 weeks, earned a further Grammy nomination for Song of the Year and won McDaid another Ivor Novello for Most Performed Work. Each of the singles has over 1.5 billion streams on Spotify.
Johnny McDaid said: “These songs that I am honoured to have been a part of creating, are some of the most important things in the world to me. I am very glad that they have found a home at Concord Music Publishing, and I am excited to work with the team there, now and in the future”
“Johnny is a true artist. His songwriting, whether with his band or for other artists, is both personal and universal,” said Jim Selby, chief publishing officer at Concord. “His catalogue to this point has reached incredible heights, culturally resonating around the world. We’re thrilled to represent some of his iconic works and honoured to partner with Johnny for the future.”
The agreement was negotiated on behalf of Concord by Reed Smith LLP. McDaid was represented by Michael Poster and Claire Hoffman of Michelman & Robinson, LLP, along with his business manager, Kevin McCullough and his lawyer, Willie Ryan.
PHOTO: Bradley Quinn