A number of major record labels are reportedly up in arms about tonight’s X Factor final.

Both Universal Warner Music have complained that Simon Cowell’s record label and production company SYCO are flooding the show with it’s acts, or acts affiliated to it, to the detriment of other industry stars.

There are a number of celebrity performances lined up for the ITV show over the next two nights, One Direction and Leona Lewis are both with SYCO, while Westlife and JLS are signed to labels belonging to SYCO’s parent company Sony.

On the two shows, only Michael Buble (who is signed with Epic) and Coldplay (a Warner act) will come from outside the Sony family. However, Michael is due to perform in an ITV hour long special later this month.

An industry insider complained about the lineup in an interview with The Guardian, insisting that the bias towards those affiliated with the show and Simon Cowell is obvious. They explained:

“The X Factor final should feature the biggest acts in the world. Leona Lewis is already frankly on the way down. JLS and One Direction have already been on this series, and you have to question the choice of Westlife.”

Warner Music have already complained to OFCOM about the situation, saying that ITV are not in proper control of the show and that it is not editorially balanced. The regulator will act on the complaint, after the final two shows have aired.

Universal Music are also understood to be preparing a complaint, however X Factor officials have hit back at them, pointing out that three of their judges – Gary Barlow, Tulisa Contostavlos and Kelly Rowland – are currently all signed to Universal, and all three will be performing live with their acts this evening.

They also broke down the acts who have performed on the series to date and claimed that including tonight’s mentor duets, SYCO and Sony have accounted for 10 acts, eight of whom are former contestants. 13 were signed to Universal, though this figure did include the judges and six were with Warner Music and EMI.

Do you think Simon Cowell is simply looking out for his own, or is it a case of sour grapes on the other labels’ part? Leave your comments below.