Simon Cowell has confirmed that Harry Styles has a solo record contract.

It was previously reported that the singer had signed up with Columbia.

However, no official word on the deal was forthcoming.

One Direction boss Simon Cowell has now confirmed that Styles did pen a contract with US based label Columbia.

He told The Sun: "I won’t go into the technical detail but it was a deal which we encouraged.

“We spoke about this a long time ago and certain artists do prefer to be signed to an American label and he spends a lot of time over here.

"This was something we were very instrumental in and it was the result we all wanted so it was great."

Cowell added: "I had a fantastic conversation with him after he signed his new contract. He was very sweet, he was appreciative of what we did. And that goes a long way. It is a character trait."

In the same interview, Cowell said Styles' bandmate Payne didn't tell him that he was going to sign with rival label Capitol.

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