‘Compelling’ Sheffield music star following in the footsteps of Arctic Monkeys and Pulp celebrates major milestone
Sheffield singer-songwriter Sam Scherdel has signed a global recording deal with Create Music Group alongside its UK label Ostereo and US-based Broke Records, a milestone he hopes will help him follow acts such as Arctic Monkeys and Pulp from his home city. The deal caps a four-year journey that began in 2022 when Scherdel lost his job and decided to commit fully to songwriting, a decision that led to a breakthrough single, viral online success and growing recognition on both sides of the Atlantic.
His single "Somewhere in the Middle" reached one million TikTok views within four days and was later featured on ITV's Love Island, helping push his overall streaming total past three million. The new deal was marked at a signing event in Manchester and will see him release new single "Kyoto Snow" on 16 October, following a busy 2026 that included performances at SXSW, The Great Escape, BST Hyde Park and Tramlines, plus new representation from X-ray Touring. Scherdel's management describe his style as part of an emerging "redemption music" trend, comparing his emotionally honest songwriting to artists such as Noah Kahan and Jeff Buckley.
- Sheffield's Sam Scherdel signs global deal with Create Music Group and Ostereo
- Career took off after 2022 job loss and viral TikTok hit
- New single "Kyoto Snow" out 16 October after big 2026 festival run
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Sam Scherdel is a singer-songwriter from Sheffield, a city with a strong track record of producing successful bands, including Arctic Monkeys and Pulp. He is not part of a band himself, working instead as a solo artist, and has built up a following largely through social media and streaming platforms rather than traditional routes into the music industry.
His career took shape after he lost his job in 2022 and chose to focus on songwriting full time. Since then he has gained attention through a song that went viral online and was later played on a popular television programme, helping him build a large streaming audience in the UK and the US.
The story matters because it marks a significant step up in his career, as record labels formally back an artist and invest in promoting their music more widely. Scherdel has signed with a group of recording labels based in the UK and US, a deal that follows a series of festival appearances and coincides with the release of new music.