Funfair's Tyler Brown: 1% of a Hit Beats 100% of a Miss
Tyler Brown would rather own 1% of a hit than 100% of a miss.
That is how the founder of London-based Funfair sums up his business. He set out the approach in an interview published on 2 October 2026, tracing a route from talent-show television to recent chart success with K-pop group BTS and a roster of newer names. Music Business Worldwide
Brown joined Simon Cowell's Syco as an A&R assistant in 2008. A&R, or artists and repertoire, is the work of finding talent and shaping records. He worked in that department on One Direction alongside Sonny Takhar, and was named managing director of Syco Music in 2016. Syco ended its run as a label operation in 2020.
Funfair came next. It operates as a management, publishing and recordings business backed by Coran Capshaw. Publishing looks after songwriting rights and collects royalties when songs are played or used. In 2024 Brown co-founded a second label, Heatwave Records, with Harold Serero, formerly an A&R executive at Ultra Music Publishing. Heatwave focuses on signing artists from emerging markets.
The interview puts songwriter James Essien at the centre of the Funfair story. He was the first writer signed to Funfair Publishing in October 2022. He went on to co-write the BTS single SWIM, which topped the US Hot 100. It was the first song released in 2026 to pass 500 million streams on Spotify. Essien also has writing credits with Giveon, LISA, Sienna Spiro, Joji, Tyla and Chris Brown.
Two other Funfair clients show the range of the operation. Silva Bumpa scored a UK Top 10 single with On 2nite and sold out his headline show at London's Roundhouse within 24 hours. Funfair co-signed Nigerian artist Mavo with Nigeria's Inner Circle. Mavo amassed more than 500 million streams over a 12-month period and scored six Top 5 records in Nigeria.
The structure behind those results was built in stages. Kobalt signed Funfair Publishing to a global publishing deal in 2022, covering administration of its songs worldwide. Music Week Funfair Records then signed a marketing and distribution deal with AWAL in 2023, an arrangement in which AWAL pushes releases to streaming services while Funfair retains control of the recordings. Music Business Worldwide Billboard's song index lists Funfair Publishing as one of the publishers of SWIM. Billboard
For listeners, this means the name on the cover is only part of the story. A chart single can support a chain of writers, publishers and distributors across London, Lagos and Seoul. Brown's bet is simple. Take a smaller share of more songs, and let the hits pay for the misses.
