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With Label Layoffs, Will Artists Get Dropped?

Record label layoffs are coming to Universal Music, Warner Music and Sony Music. Will artists get cut, too?

Roughly 25 years later, UMG is expected to cut hundreds of jobs to create “efficiencies in other areas of the business so we can remain nimble and responsive to the dynamic market,” according to a January statement from the company. Speaking to financial analysts on Wednesday, UMG CEO Lucian Grainge said that “when it comes to supporting their rosters, [labels] will have access to our highest performing internal teams and resources to bring the new artists to even higher levels of success.” Labels are already more willing to trim their rosters than they were in the past, and A&R executives say this may have intensified independent of the recent layoff announcements, after a period of excessive signing driven by pressure to maintain market share and an abundance of viral hits on social media.

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