Music Business Worldwide recently sat down to interview David Gray, Managing Director UK and Head of Global A&R, about UK music, global ambitions and why breaking artists still matters.

Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) today announced that Julian Palmer will be joining the team as Senior Director, A&R and Catalogue.

In his new position, Julian will act as a bridge between the core and catalogue roster, whilst sharing his expertise and instincts with the wider team. Julian brings a wealth of invaluable experience and relationships to his role at UMPG, having concluded 12 years at Columbia Records, where his successes included Katy B, Snakehips, Shift K3Y, MK and Rag N Bone Man.

Last night the winners of The Ivors with Amazon Music were revealed at the annual awards ceremony held at Grosvenor House, London, recognising and celebrating exceptional achievements in songwriting and screen composing. UMPG artists and writers U2, Robbie Williams and Brandon Flowers were all honoured with special awards. 

The nominations for The Ivors with Amazon Music 2025 have been announced, with nominations for UMPG writers Finn Keane, Felix Joseph, Steph Jones (Disney Music Publishing), Linton Kwesi Johnson, Rodney Jerkins, Tobias Jesso Jr., Harry Styles and Kid Harpoon. In addition, UMPG published TV soundtracks for True Detective: Night Country (Vince Pope via HBO), Rivals (Natalie Holt, Jack Halama via Disney Music Group), and film scores The Substance (Raffertie via Universal Pictures) Hard Truths (Gary Yershon via Thin Man Films) were nominated.

The Ivors Academy has announced that U2 are to become Academy Fellows - a prestigious honour reserved for legendary songwriters and composers who have mastered and defined their craft. They are the first Irish songwriters to receive the award. 

UMPG's artists and songwriters were celebrated at Saturday night's BRIT Awards, with representation across the Global Success Award, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. 

UMPG celebrated outstanding success at the 2025 GRAMMY Awards, representing 15 of Sunday night's Grammy Award winners, who garnered trophies across 19 genre-diverse categories, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. In addition, UMPG Chairman & CEO Jody Gerson received the Recording Academy’s 2025 Industry Icon Award, recognizing her transformative leadership and impact on the music industry.

The BRIT Awards nominations were announced today, with a strong showing across key categories for UMPG artists and writers. Fred again.. and Jamie xx are both nominated for artist of the year, whilst Coldplay and The Cure for Group of the Year. We have 10 artists and writers nominated for Song of the Year, 13 for International Song of the Year – plus many more across multiple categories.

Universal Music Group’s Global Classics & Jazz (GCJ) division has today announced the appointment of Natasha Baldwin to the newly-created leadership role of President, Global Classics, Jazz & Screen, effective immediately. This title reflects her unique dual position: she will continue her work within Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), where she is currently Executive Vice President of Classics & Screen, leading UMPG’s global classical and screen composer businesses. 

She will also take on an expanded remit for GCJ’s world-leading classical and jazz record labels including Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Blue Note, Verve, Hyperion and ECM. Baldwin will oversee the international strategy for GCJ’s exceptional roster of artists which includes Andrea Bocelli, Max Richter, Jon Batiste, Samara Joy, Ludovico Einaudi, Lang Lang, Lise Davidsen and many more.

For the 67^th GRAMMY Awards nominations, UMPG songwriters, artists, producers and composers earned a record 111 nominations spanning 51 categories! Across genres, our talent contributed to many of this year’s most influential and culturally significant songs.