As is customary at this time of year, Universal Music Group CEO & chairman Sir Lucian Grainge has penned a New Year message to staff at the major outlining the priorities for the year ahead.
One of those is the Downtown acquisition – currently undergoing an European Commission investigation – which Sir Lucian highlighted as part of the acceleration of its services to independent label partners.
In his message, the UMG leader also identified “enhanced premium tiers for superfans” on DSPs as a priority.
It’s also a chance to reflect on the market-leading company’s success in the past year – Sir Lucian even pointed out the list of artist achievements is so long, it had to be appended at the end of the message.
“Our single greatest investment every year is our investment into artists and the infrastructure we build to support them and amplify their creativity,” wrote Sir Lucian.” By combining talent, expertise, and long-term vision, our foundation of artist development consistently delivers lasting success. In 2025, once again, that success was on full display.”
Key highlights for UMG included the major securing four of the Top 5 artists (Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Drake and Billie Eilish) on Spotify; seven of the Top 10 songs on Apple Music including four of the Top 5 (Kendrick Lamar & SZA – Luther, Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars – Die With A Smile, Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us and Billie Eilish – Birds Of A Feather); and all of the Top 5 albums on Amazon Music (K-Pop Demon Hunters, Morgan Wallen with two LPs, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift) as well as seven of the Top 10 most requested artists on Alexa.
Our single greatest investment every year is our investment into artists and the infrastructure we build to support them and amplify their creativity
Sir Lucian Grainge
On TikTok, UMG act Katseye was named Global Artist Of The Year and the major had seven of the Top 10. On Deezer, UMG had the four most streamed artists (Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and The Weeknd), nine of the Top 10 Albums, six of the Top 10 Songs and the most shared song worldwide (Lola Young’s Messy).
On Spotify’s year-end rankings, seven of the of the Top 10 Global Artists are UMPG songwriters: Bad Bunny (No.1), Taylor Swift (No.2), The Weeknd (No.3), Drake (No.4), Billie Eilish (No.5), Kendrick Lamar (No.6) and Ariana Grande (No. 8).
AI in 2026 and beyond
Reflecting on the industry trends, Sir Lucian noted that AI “became the dominant economic and cultural narrative last year – with the potential to disrupt aspects of many businesses”.
“While I fundamentally believe AI, deployed responsibly, can be a hugely beneficial commercial and creative driver for UMG and our artists, we cannot overlook the fact that AI’s blossoming ubiquity can also create challenges, particularly from those who act in disregard for the rights of artists, songwriters and other rights-holders,” wrote Sir Lucian. “Therefore, it’s important that music and artists don’t get lost in a global AI conversation.”
He also welcomed the fact that the music industry as a whole has “punched way above our weight on the global stage to ensure that the interest of artists and music companies are front and centre”.
UMG was the first media company to enter into AI-related agreements with established platforms such as YouTube, Meta, TikTok and KDDI as well as with emerging AI entrepreneurs such as Udio, BandLab, Soundlabs, Klay Vision, Splice and Stability AI.
“The opportunities AI can deliver kept us working tirelessly through the year and my personal commitment to the artist and songwriter community is that, in 2026 and beyond, music will remain central to the AI conversation in terms of technology, public policy and commercial opportunity,” he added.
The New Year message follows the major’s latest “responsible AI” deal with tech giant Nvidia, which comes in the wake of new licence agreements.
“I’m confident that our approach to AI is the right one, and differs meaningfully from two other approaches that are equally flawed,” wrote Sir Lucian. “Even as UMG leans into AI, there are some corners of the creative sector occupied by those who think there should be no engagement with AI. Meanwhile on the other extreme, there are some who believe that the ‘genie is out of the bottle’, so we should acquiesce to accepting whatever AI models are released, regardless of their ethicality.
The link between music and technology has been the fundamental growth driver of the music industry for more than a century
Sir Lucian Grainge
“If we’ve learned anything over the prior decades, it’s that trying to smother emerging technology is futile… and as history has demonstrated, completely counterproductive! The link between music and technology has been the fundamental growth driver of the music industry for more than a century from the player-piano to the phonogram to radio to vinyl, cassette, MP3, downloads, ad-funded streaming into premium subscription and so on.
“That is why, when it comes to new technology, we engage, adapt and innovate. Whether that’s being the first to embrace streaming and ad-funded models, or striking the first deals to monetise music on social platforms, we must lean in and take the reins in determining our future. And that is exactly how we will continue to approach AI.”
“At the same time, that approach must be thoughtful, strategic, commercial and nuanced. Validating business models that fail to respect artists’ work and creativity – and promote the exponential growth of AI slop on streaming platforms – is a grave disservice to artists, songwriters and all of us who work in music. Let me be clear: UMG will not stand by and watch irresponsible business models take hold – models that devalue artists, fail to provide adequate compensation for their work, stifle their creativity and ultimately, diminish their ability to reach fans.”
Sir Lucian stressed that it is his mission to protect artists, UMG workers, the company and the industry as a whole.
“The importance of music to humanity throughout the world cannot be overstated,” he wrote. “Our role in partnering with artists to produce the most popular music on the planet has an impact that far exceeds our imagination. The music artists create is – and always will be – an extraordinarily meaningful part of the lives of billions of people around the globe. Music is simply beautiful.
“Since I was a teenager, I have spent my career investing in and fighting for artists, and I will never stop. It is the privilege of my life to be able to do this work with all of you. The more seismic the changes that come our way, the more energised I become. Together, we continue to march on!”
While the impact of artificial intelligence made up the lion’s share of Sir Lucian’s New Year message, he also touched on other key areas – reproduced in full below…
Services to independent labels
We’ll be developing different models, structures and competencies to service and grow an increasingly vibrant diversity in music. It’s no secret that much of our company’s success is powered by our entrepreneurial culture and decentralised structure, so identifying and partnering with like-minded leaders and entrepreneurs will only help ensure our continued future success while supporting the health of the entire music ecosystem.
With the anticipated closing of our acquisition of Downtown Music, and by continuing to broaden our independent partner portfolio, we want to accelerate our efforts in providing best-in-class services to both independent entrepreneurs and labels.
Streaming 2.0, artist-centric and the superfan
A key part of our Streaming 2.0 initiative and artist-centric strategy is serving superfans and bringing them closer to our artists. In 2026 we will accelerate these efforts both by working with our established DSP partners on the launch of enhanced premium tiers for superfans, as well as by working with emerging platforms that are focused on special events and products for superfans – both virtually and in the physical world.
A key part of our Streaming 2.0 initiative and artist-centric strategy is serving superfans and bringing them closer to our artists
Sir Lucian Grainge
For example, we have recently established a portfolio of retail stores in Tokyo, Madrid, New York and London as a complement to our growing D2C business, including our network of online artist and branded stores, which reached new heights this past year. 2026 will see additional scaling of this activity, including the expansion of our experiential hospitality strategy and seamless integrations between virtual and IRL events for superfans. All of this activity is further evidence that the very definition of UMG is expanding, while our direct connection with music consumers is growing.
Global footprint
We will continue to broaden our global presence in fast-growing markets through organic A&R within our growing network of local labels, as well as through partnerships and acquisitions of dynamic music companies in Africa, China, India and Southeast Asia. This will include continuing to identify the most accomplished entrepreneurs and independent labels that will provide access to some of the best artists and music in those regions, but also the ability to grow the influence of those artists and their music in markets around the world.
And we’re already getting started. Earlier this week, we announced that Universal Music India will become a significant minority shareholder in Excel Entertainment, a leading Indian film and digital content studio. The deal will expand opportunities for Indian artists and strengthen our position in original soundtracks, which remain at the heart of India’s high-potential music market.
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