Universal Music Group, the home of artists from Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Bob Marley to Elton John, Adele and Coldplay, has made its second senior appointment this week, recruiting its first president of global brands and commercial partnerships.
Libby Bush joins from Creative Artists Agency, where she served as global head of entertainment partnerships and was a member of the agency board; she starts her new role in November.
Bush, who has more than two decades of experience driving growth and cultivating relationships at the highest levels of the industry, lead a new global function that brings together UMG’s brands, media, and commercial partnership businesses, including Universal Music Group for Brands (UMGB). She will report to UMG’s chief operating officer Boyd Muir.
Drawing together the expertise and relationships across UMG’s labels and businesses, Bush has been tasked with making ambitious collaborations easier to develop and deliver worldwide. Spanning digital platforms, physical products and live experiences, these collaborations will be rooted in artists’ originality and authentic connections with fans.
Bush joined CAA in 2020, when the agency bought Tandem Entertainment, a business she had founded in 2015. She went on to launch and build CAA’s entertainment partnerships division, establishing it as a leading business connecting entertainment, brands and media.
Prior to that, Bush worked in senior partnership roles at Marvel Entertainment, ABC Television and the National Basketball Association.
Muir said, “As the ways fans experience music evolve, the opportunities for our artists multiply. Bringing our brand, media, and commercial partnerships together under Libby’s leadership will help extend our artists’ reach and grow their revenues, while giving our partners new ways to build relationships with fans and collaborate with the world’s most influential voices.
“Libby brings exceptional creative and commercial expertise to the world’s leading music company. She’ll work with our talent, teams, and partners to create memorable experiences for fans, lasting value for brands, and new possibilities for artists.”
Bush added: “Music has never been more central to culture, and what artists can build around it has never been bigger. Today’s artists are storytellers, founders, and brands in their own right.
“UMG has the greatest artists and songwriters in the world, extraordinary label teams, and incredible global reach. I am excited to bring those strengths together to give artists even more ways to reach fans and build lasting businesses, and to give brands a meaningful role in something people love.
“I look forward to working with Boyd, our leadership and teams around the world on collaborations that artists are proud of and fans want to be part of.”
Bush’s appointment is the latest in a series of moves to strengthen UMG’s central operations under Boyd Muir’s leadership, including the appointments of Òscar Celma as senior vice president of applied AI and machine learning earlier this week and Hannah Poferl as chief data officer in January.
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