There are a lot of big changes within American Idol at the moment. Ryan Seacrest still has a job, Simon Cowell has left and today they announced that they have signed a deal with Universal Music Group as the label for the show’s performers starting next season (this is probably why Simon Cowell left, because he is tied to Sony).

The move kicks Sony Music out of the bed after nine-seasons with the Fox show, a successful partnership that has sold more than 100 million CDs and 120 million digital downloads by performers such as Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry.

As part of this multi-year agreement, UMG’s Interscope Geffen A&M will market, promote and distribute albums globally from American Idol’s finalists and winning contestants across a broad array of retail and new media platforms.

“With Idol celebrating our tenth season I wanted to inject some new power and weight behind our brand,” said Mr Fuller.

“It is exciting to have the world’s biggest show partnered with the world’s biggest music company.”