Sizeable UMG Layoffs Looming?
• Variety and Bloomberg are reporting that Universal Music Group will be laying off “an unspecified but significant number” of employees in the coming weeks. According to Variety, UMG’s recorded-music division is said to be receiving the brunt of the layoffs.
UMG Chairman Sir Lucian Grainge had mentioned forthcoming layoffs during the company’s October earnings call; on Friday, Bloomberg was first to report the scale of the layoffs, although rumors had gained momentum in the last several days and other sources tell Variety the numbers will be in the hundreds.
In a statement, a Universal rep said, “We continue to position UMG to accelerate its leadership in music’s most promising growth areas and drive its transformation to capitalize on them. Over the past several years, we have been investing in future growth — building our ecommerce and D2C operations, expanding geographically, and leveraging new technologies. While we maintain our industry-leading investments in A&R and artist development, we are creating efficiencies in other areas of the business so we can remain nimble and responsive to the dynamic market, while realizing the benefits of our scale.”
Universal wouldn’t be the only major to be hit with layoffs in recent months — Warner reduced staff by around 4% in March and new CEO Robert Kyncl laid out plans in an internal memo last week for a broad change in the company’s focus over the next 10 years, and sources tell Variety that layoffs at Sony Music, the third major music group, may be imminent as well.
