Universal Music Australia

From the powerful performances to the vibrant energy in the room, it was truly a night to remember.   We had the honour of welcoming the incredibly talented Olivia Dean, Sebastian Schub, and Sienna Spiro to Sydney for IGNITE!     IGNITE, now in its third year, continues to shine a spotlight on breaking artists, connecting them with international audiences, new markets, influential industry leaders and key label executives.   This latest instalment of the IGNITE international artist showcase series was held last Thursday at Events By Alpha, spotlighting three Universal Music Group global priority artists, Olivia Dean, Sebastian Schub, and Sienna Spiro, delivering a night of unreal performances and setting the bar for what's next.    Our people behind the scenes of this year's showcase went above and beyond to deliver for our artists and to bring to life a collective vision. Our team's creativity, passion, and excellence in executing all the moving parts resulted in a world class event, continuing to step it up and break the mould.

Kicking off the new year with our first artist showcase of 2025! 🤠   The All Country Australia artist showcase was a once in a lifetime country music experience with Universal Music Group Nashville, multi-platinum international artist Jordan Davis performing an intimate one off live performance at the Soda Factory in Sydney. The inaugural showcase set out to bring together music and entertainment industry professionals, partners, and most importantly country music fans to enjoy and discover our global priority Island Records Australia country music artists Bella Mackenzie and Rachael Fahim.    At the show, Jordan Davis was surprised by UMA President & CEO Sean Warner with a commemorative plaque celebrating over 68 million streams in Australia and 7x ARIA-certified multi-platinum/platinum singles (“Buy Dirt” 4x-Platinum, “Next Thing You Know” 2x-Platinum, “Singles You Up” 2x-Platinum, “What My World Spins Around” Platinum, “Take It From Me” Platinum, “Slow Dance In A Parking Lot” Platinum, “Almost Maybes” Platinum”.     All Country Australia is the home of all things country music at UMA, providing a unique platform for discovery and amplification for the remarkable roster of country music talent represented across our family of labels, this investment reflects the longer term commitment and vision for artist development at UMA.    Watch our wrap reel! https://lnkd.in/ghQhrPza

In case you missed it! Our Universal Music Australia Internship Program for 2025 is here ⭐🎶   If you’re passionate about music and looking to experience what it’s like to work for the world’s leading music company, you can learn more about our exciting internship program and how to apply - https://lnkd.in/gHM7KEa9 Applications close 14 February. UPDATE - Applications are now closed for Semester 1, 2025 Internship Program. Stay tuned for the second intake in June 2025!

Last week we came together for AusMusicTshirtDay to raise donations for Support Act. As always, our people never disappoint and showed up in full support with their aussie music t-shirts! Special mention to our office dogs joining in on the fun! We held our inaugural AusMusicTshirtDay staff BBQ and raffle with special live performances at our office, to come together and raise donations! A huge thanks to our partners, labels and local businesses that donated raffle prizes, tickets or experiences! 🙌   Support Act's crucial work, programs and crisis relief support are needed all year round! It’s never too late to show your support towards the Australian music industry, whether it’s the artists, crew, or all those behind the scenes - they bring us the sounds we love! Let's keep the music playing for everyone working in Australian music. #ausmusictshirtday #SupportAct #KeepTheMusicPlaying #AustralianMusic

Island Records Australia presents NOW & NEXT a celebration of Live Australian Music.    In line with our ongoing commitment to invest in local talent, we’re incredibly proud to showcase the breadth of amazing talent coming out of Island Australia. Held during Aus Music Month, we’ll be bringing together local industry, key partners, and of course the fans for this exclusive showcase in Sydney to celebrate and enjoy our epic lineup of Island artists.    It’s all happening on Friday Nov 15 in Sydney! You can enter to win an exclusive double pass by visiting https://lnkd.in/gEKhsMYz #IslandNOWandNEXT

This year marks 10 years of partnership with Musicians Making A Difference (MMAD), we’re incredibly proud to support a national organisation that provides life changing support and empowerment to young people across Australia through the power of music.    Our teams at UMA have been involved in mentoring over 80 young people through the Rise Up program at MMAD. They work together to create incredible campaigns and songs that help shine a light on the important work happening at the charity.    This year’s campaign features artist and MMAD Graduate Kalani Artis, our teams at UMA mentored a group of young people who developed an artist strategy, and a wider campaign surrounding the track to generate audience engagement and help raise donations for the charity.    Listen to Kalani Artis ‘Sounds Like Home’ - http://bit.ly/3UhIgSz Watch ‘Sounds Like Home’ Kalani Full Length Film -  https://bit.ly/3AlnJFZ   Yesterday we welcomed the MMAD team into our office to come together in support for this year’s campaign, we raised donations for MMAD with a staff raffle full of epic prizes and our teams enjoyed an incredible live performance by Kalani and Fletcher Kent. A huge shout to MMAD Founder Dominic Brook and the entire team! Video credit: D Minor.

We were treated to a truly unique experience with award-winning Pianist, Composer, Podcaster and Certified Breathwork Coach Chad Lawson joining us at UMA office last week to take us through an immersive breathwork session combining meditation, mindfulness, classical music and wellness. A huge thank you to Chad Lawson, our Classics & Jazz team and all involved!    Whilst in Australia, he joined SXSW Sydney as a featured speaker to discuss the Power of Music in the wellness space with Poppy Reid.   Chad Lawson is the first and only musician to serve as a United Nations Ambassador to The World Federation For Mental Health, and is the first to be asked to compose a theme song for World Mental Health Day this year. You can listen to the brand new piece titled “The Light Within” here -https://lnkd.in/gETuGDKC

Get Ausmusic T-Shirt Day ready! We’re donating $10 from every sale of our exclusive artist t-shirts to Support Act until Nov 30! Grab yours now - https://lnkd.in/gpHs_7T5 Thursday 28 November is Ausmusic T-Shirt Day, it's a day to celebrate Aussie music and raise much needed funds through Support Act which helps every person in the music industry doing it tough. #ausmusictshirtday

We had the honour to attend the inaugural AUSTRALIAN WOMEN IN MUSIC Award (AWMA) ceremony, to celebrate and recognise the value, contribution and vast achievements of women in the Australian music industry.    We’re proud to be a supporting partner of AWMA, and with our commitment to supporting long term careers for our artists, investing in their journeys and amplifying their voices - we’re thrilled to sponsor the Universal Music Lifetime Achievement award again this year. Our Senior Vice President of People, Inclusion and Culture, Yvette Cachia was delighted to present the Universal Music Lifetime Achievement Award last night in Brisbane to the incredibly talented Kasey Chambers for her outstanding artistic contribution, a truly special moment.     A huge congratulations to everyone involved in the Australian Women in Music Awards. Thank you for providing a platform that celebrates and advances women in the music industry. This year Universal Music Australia and our President and CEO Sean Warner received recognition as a finalist nominee for the ARIA Executive Leader Game Changer Award, a great privilege to be recognised amongst industry leaders – Congratulations to all the 2024 AWMA winners and nominees from across the music industry. 

We’re incredibly proud of our family of artists, labels and partners that were widely recognised across the 2024 ARIA Award nominations announced today, and we extend our congratulations to all artist nominees. Our nominations were led by EMI Music Australia artist Troye Sivan, receiving four nominations across categories Album of the Year, Best Solo Artist, Best Pop Release and Song of the Year presented by YouTube for Something To Give Each Other. Hip Hop supergroup 3% (1788 Records/Virgin Music Group) also led with four nominations for their KILL THE DEAD album in Best Hip Hop/Rap Release, Best Group presented by Stan, Best Cover Art and in the Michael Gudinski Breakthrough Artist category. Tkay Maidza, Kobie Dee, Fanning Dempsey National Park, Peach PRC, Barkaa, Tori Forsyth (Island Australia), Missy Higgins, Middle Kids, Empire Of The Sun (EMI Australia), Amyl and The Sniffers, Grinspoon, Grigoryan Brothers, Orava Quartet and Sophie Hutchings all received nominations across 19 categories, including Best Solo Artist, Best Group, Best Video, Best Soul/R&B Release, Best Country Album, Best Rock Album, Best Australian Live Act and many more. In addition, this year ARIA - Australian Recording Industry Association will recognise influential singer-songwriter and nine-time ARIA Award winner Missy Higgins (EMI Australia/Eleven), by inducting her into the ARIA Hall Of Fame during the 2024 ARIA Awards on Wednesday, 20 November 👏