Mike Biggane to join Universal Music Group as Executive Vice President of Music Strategies and Tactics

30 July 2019 - Press release

Newly created position will work across the company’s labels and territories as an accelerator for artists’ careers and to maximize the opportunities for new music releases

 

Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, announced today that Mike Biggane is joining the company, effective September 13, as Executive Vice President of Music Strategies and Tactics, a newly created role that will work across UMG’s labels and territories as an accelerator for artists’ careers and to maximize the opportunities for new music releases.

Biggane, who most recently served as Spotify’s Global Head of Curation, will work closely with UMG’s industry leading data analytics, marketing, creative and insights teams to advance the success of the company’s global artist releases. Biggane will be based in UMG’s headquarters in Santa Monica and report to the company’s Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge.

In making the announcement, Grainge said, “Mike brings the skills and vision that will help accelerate our artists’ careers. I’m so pleased to welcome him to UMG, where he is joining a future-focused team that is providing artists around the world with new opportunities for enduring global success.”

“I'm so excited to work with the incredible amount of talent that resides within Universal Music,” Biggane said. “I've been watching as a fan from afar as many of my favorite artists and songs have come from the UMG family and become international success stories. I can't wait to do my part and contribute to the world-class legacy that has made UMG the most desired destination for artists, while continuing to set the tone as the biggest music company in the world.’

Biggane joined Spotify in 2014, rising to Global Head of Curation Strategy. At Spotify, Biggane developed and help build New Music Fridays and Today’s Top Hits into two of service’s biggest playlists and led a team responsible for creating the curation strategy for the company’s owned-and-operated global playlist ecosystem.

Prior to Spotify, Biggane served as Director of Operations at HitPredictor, a predictive song research and music testing company, where he spent eight years evaluating audience reaction at radio formats while identifying potential hits. During this time, Biggane developed techniques and strategies that leverage data to predict a song’s future performance.