Pat Handlin has been appointed to the role of Senior A&R Manager for Syco Music UK, moving from Sony Music Australia to take up the hugely exciting role. 

Pat’s focus will be to be develop and A&R both new and current artists. He will report to Tyler Brown, head of A&R and Sonny Takhar, President of Syco Music. 

Pat began his career in A&R as an intern at Red Label with Sony Music Australia in 2006 and was appointed A&R talent scout just two years later. That same year, he also spent time at Columbia Records in New York City as part an internal secondment programme.

In 2010, Pat was named A&R Manager for Sony Music Australia before being promoted to Director of A&R in 2013. 

During his illustrious career in Australia, Pat has discovered and developed many of Sony Music Australia’s most successful domestic artists.  These include Guy Sebastian, Jessica Mauboy, Justice Crew, The Veronicas, Jai Waetford, Samantha Jade and Peking Duk.

Justice Crew’s smash ‘Que Sera’, sourced and A&R’d by Pat, became the longest running Australian No.1 single in history when it secured nine consecutive weeks at the top of the National ARIA Singles Chart in 2014. It has to date been certified eight times platinum in Australia.

Pat also introduced producer-writer duo DNA to Sony Music Australia, which has led to an incredible creative partnership and delivered a succession of hits.

Pat said: “It has been an absolute pleasure to work at Sony Music Australia with the amazing team there. Now I am truly honoured to be given the opportunity to join Syco Music and work with Simon Cowell and his team who are, undoubtedly, one of the best and most respected in the business both in the UK and around the world.”

Simon Cowell said: “Pat, get ready for the ride. Now the fun really starts." 

Tyler Brown, Head of A&R, Syco Music, said: “Pat is a proven record maker and artist focused A&R. We will all benefit from his talent and wealth of experience. I’m very excited to welcome Pat to our already fantastic A&R team and look forward to having many hits with him over the coming years."