Welcome to an historic edition of Music Week.
Fresh from the company securing a host of Grammy nominations and spearheading a high-profile showcase of British talent in Los Angeles, this month we go right to the heart of Universal Music Group UK for a world exclusive interview series, triple gatefold cover and photoshoot, headed up by the first interview new chairman and CEO Dickon Stainer has given since taking the role.
Inside, we bring you 14 brand new and exclusive interviews, starting with Dickon Stainer, and taking in a range of executives shaping the new era at the market-leading major.
As well as huge change at the restructured UMG UK over the past year, there has been a deluge of success for its artists, including Olivia Dean, Sam Fender, Lola Young and many more. Stainer and his colleagues, they tell us, have one mission: to break British talent around the world. Now, we find out exactly how they plan to do that, all while gathering 14 of the busiest executives in the game for a photoshoot on location in the heart of UMG’s UK’s London HQ.
The gatefold cover of Music Week's December issue
First up is Dickon Stainer, as we meet the UMG UK leader in his office to hear all about his goal to put British music right at the heart of the global conversation again and find out what he’s been doing to ensure the market-leading company is built for the future.
In an expansive interview, Stainer talks candidly about the changes that the British music industry needs to make, plus the evolution of Universal's label groups, leadership, the changing nature of the market and their competition, the nuances of label partnerships with artists and managers, regional talent, grassroots venues, AI, the government's relationship with music, "indies vs majors" and the career life lessons he's learned so far. What’s more, UMG CEO & chairman Sir Lucian Grainge joins us to give his verdict on the company’s UK impact since Stainer’s appointment and the 2024 restructure.
If Stainer’s first interview in the top job wasn’t enough, Polydor Label Group president Ben Mortimer, Capitol UK president Jo Charrington and 0207 Def Jam president Alec Boateng give their first ever joint interview. We meet them on PLG’s buzzing floor at UMG UK HQ to talk in-depth about the global breakthrough of Olivia Dean, the huge 2025 sales for Sam Fender, A&R and how “Universal is putting its money where its mouth is and backing British talent when perhaps other companies aren’t”.
Also setting out their stall – and likewise in conversation together for the first time – are Island EMI Label Group president Louis Bloom, MD Lucy Dann and Nicola Spokes, MD of the label’s new department, The Collective. As well as spelling out their plan to stand out among competition from “other majors, indies, distros and America trying to steal our lunch”, the trio talk about their plan to preserve the identities of both legendary labels, big campaigns by Lola Young, The Last Dinner Party and FLO, plus their double triumph at this year's Music Week Awards.
And the firsts don’t end there. Rebecca Allen, president of UMG UK’s new Audience & Media division, gives her revelatory debut interview in the role to detail the "industry first" work she's doing behind the scenes. She is joined in a special feature by Nickie Owen, president of the major’s international marketing department. Supporting the frontline labels while offering a helping hand to artists and their management teams, their work constitutes a vital cog in connecting Universal to audiences at home and abroad. In our interview, the pair detail exactly how they do it.
We also bring you exclusive insight from chief people officer Andrea ‘Ange’ Pattico, who shares her insight on Universal’s company culture and examines the wider industry’s push for equality. Two years on from joining the business with a brief to “push boundaries”, Ange gives us an unmissable – not to mention incredibly important – interview that gets to the heart of many of the industry's most pressing issues.
Completing the bill and interviewed together for the first time is a stellar quartet of executives. Music Week listens in on a four-way conversation between Laura Monks, president of Decca, her former co-president Tom Lewis – who now heads up the revived Fontana Records and is giving his first interview since taking over the label – Globe & Globe Originals president Marc Robinson and Universal Music Recordings president Hannah Neaves.
Monks and Lewis specialise in bringing lesser known corners of the music industry into the mainstream, while Neaves spearheads UMG UK’s work supercharging the major’s incredible catalogue, and Robinson ensures the roster is represented at the cutting edge of sync, soundtracks and brand partnerships. Together, they tell Music Week about their essential roles in everything Universal does.
It all amounts to the most in-depth look at Universal Music Group UK ever.
Elsewhere in this month’s issue, there’s a special look back at the Music Week Women In Music Awards, as we celebrate the winners and relive the magic moments of this year’s bash in a gallery feature. For the first time, Girls I Rate brought Mentor Me to the event as GIR founder – and former Women In Music Award winner – Carla Marie Williams interviewed Skin, WIM co-founder Lara Baker, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and more. This month’s Mentor Me page has the full report.
The Big Story gathers a group of leading executives to analyse the rise in immersive live shows, while we also bring you news from Bandcamp, as GM Dan Melnick charts the platform’s evolution into curated music subscription.
The latest edition of Hitmakers sees Ryan Tedder, superstar writer, producer and member of OneRepublic, tell the story of Tate McRae’s smash Sports Car, while in The Aftershow BBC Radio 2 boss Helen Thomas looks back on her illustrious career.
UK rap sensation JayaHadADream stars in On The Radar, with new Manchester band The Guest List under the microscope in Making Waves. IMPEL CEO Sarah Williams features in Spotlight, while Distiller Music Group’s Nick Gartland is our Rising Star and Craig David’s Just Eat ad is the subject of our new Sync Story.
The new issue of Music Week is available from November 18.
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Photos: Carsten Windhorst/Gerard Hynes
