Music Week can reveal that there’s been a big shake-up over at Universal Music Recordings.
Today (July 3), Universal Music UK CEO & chairman David Joseph has announced Hannah Neaves as president of the award-winning catalogue division, Universal Music Recordings.
Neaves takes charge two years after returning to Universal Music in 2022, initially to lead UMR as co-president, following a series of high-profile label and management roles. Neaves and Azi Eftekhari were appointed as co-presidents of its catalogue division in January 2022. Music Week understands that Eftekhari has now left the business.
Neaves’ promotion to sole president comes as UMR is enjoying a string of successes globally with the music of Amy Winehouse, Elton John, Florence & The Machine, The Rolling Stones, The Spice Girls, Sam Smith, Bob Marley and The Beatles’ Now And Then release.
UMR won the coveted Catalogue Marketing Campaign at the Music Week Awards three years running for Spice Girls (2022), ABBA (2023) and The Beatles (2024).
Speaking about the appointment, David Joseph, chairman and CEO, Universal Music UK says: “Hannah is, first and foremost, an artist person with an innate understanding of where creativity and discovery meet, something she has brought in abundance since re-joining our team. A truly exceptional and inspiring executive, Hannah has already had huge success, most recently creatively leading the global and record-breaking Now And Then campaign for The Beatles, and there’s so much more to come.”
A truly exceptional and inspiring executive,
Hannah has already had huge success...
And there’s so much more to comeDavid Joseph
In her 23-year career in music, Neaves has played a pivotal role in the stories of Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Rihanna, Ellie Goulding and James Blake among many others.
She first joined the industry as an intern at EMI before rising to the role of head of artist development at Polydor then spending several years as marketing director at Atlantic Records where she worked on Ed Sheeran’s record-breaking ÷ (Divide) album campaign. She then made the switch to artist management, joining Tap Music as head of artist development & marketing, overseeing the album marketing and creative for Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia.
I am enormously proud of everything the
brilliant and successful team at UMR
has already achievedHannah Neaves
Speaking about her new role, Hannah Neaves, president, UMR, added: “I am enormously proud of everything the brilliant and successful team at UMR has already achieved, and feel privileged to be continuing the great work with the best artists in the world.”
You can revisit our interview with UMR’s director of marketing Hannah Chadwick about their Music Week Awards winning campaign for The Beatles’ Now And Then here.
Photo: Laura Lewis
