As expected, Universal Music Group announced today that Mike Biggane is joining the company, effective September 13, as Executive Vice President of Music Strategies and Tactics. According to the announcement, this is 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/ CEO 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.”
Prior to joining Spotify in 2014, Biggane served as Director of Operations at HitPredictor, he spent eight years evaluating audience reaction at radio formats while identifying potential hits.