vansandburberry:

Zayn Malik may have left One Direction for a solo career but his former bandmate Louis Tomlinsonis branching out in the music business in the different way.

The 23-year-old is starting his own record label. Tomlinson’s venture is being backed by Sony and is an imprint of One Direction mentor Simon Cowell’s Syco label, The Sun reports.

“This is something I’ve wanted to do for some time,” Tomlinson toldThe Sun. “To be given the opportunity to potentially give new artists a platform is an incredible feeling. I hope to sign some really exciting new artists down the line.”

The singer has already signed UK X Factor finalist Jack Walton as his first artist, and he plans to hold auditions for a new girl band during his downtime from One Direction. 

Tomlinson has been described as the most business-minded member of the group and admitted in a 2012 interview that he is “a bit of a perfectionist.”

“I have to be kind of be on board with every minor detail and [I’m] quite opinionated,” he told Billboard. “It’s quite important for me personally to be involved with the whole project.”