Peer secures Mac's signature.

INDEPENDENT MUSIC PUBLISHER PEERMUSIC has secured one of its biggest signing coups in years by landing the services of hit songwriter and producer Steve Mac.

Mac has gained a reputation over the last decade for being one of the UK's most successful songwriters and producers with countless credits including hits by artists such as Leona Lewis, Il Divo, Westlife and Kelly Clarkson.

He has now agreed a global sub-publishing deal for his Rokstone catalogue and future works with Peermusic, which the publisher's UK managing director Nigel Elderton describes as the biggest deal he has undertaken in his 17 years with the independent. "For us it's a huge deal and very important strategically. It gives us a high-profile writer and producer in the UK," he says.

Mac moves to Peer at a particularly busy time for him, having for the first time solely produced an Il Divo album - the forthcoming Syco- issued The Promise - while his ongoing close working relationship with Simon Cowell is underlined by current projects with both Leon Jackson and Rhydian. He also has a track on Polydor act Bryn Christopher's debut album My World and has been working on the ITV musical theatre drama Britannia Heights.

Mac's manager David Howells of Darah Music says, "We're fortunate our number one client is Simon Cowell and Simon likes to get his releases out the last quarter of each year, so Steve is in that ...