Universal Music now manages more than 130 artists in Southeast Asia
Universal Music Group now manages more than 130 artists across Southeast Asia, regional chief Adam Granite said on October 5 in Singapore.
Granite is chief executive of the company's Africa, Middle East and Asia division, usually shortened to AMEA. He gave the figure during a session at the Hilton Singapore Orchard, as reported by Music Business Worldwide. Universal is one of the three large global record companies, alongside Sony and Warner, with local offices that sign and release music in many markets.
He was speaking in a fireside session, an on-stage interview, titled "Music is Universal, A Look at the Region's Exciting Musical Future". The session was part of Music Matters, the industry discussion strand of All That Matters. The 2026 edition of All That Matters runs from October 2 to 7 in Singapore, and is the 21st staging of the event, according to Pollstar. The October dates make it a week-long meeting point for labels, promoters, streaming services and artists.
That return carries history. Granite last spoke at the Singapore conference in 2019. Then executive vice-president of market development, he used the appearance to announce the launch of two regional label operations, Def Jam South East Asia and Astralwerks Asia.
Those launches set up what followed. In June, Universal took a minority stake, a small ownership share rather than full control, in Solution One. The Thai company works in distribution, getting recordings onto streaming services and into shops, and in publishing, which handles the rights in songs themselves. In 2024, the company acquired the recorded music catalogue of Thailand's RS Group, in other words the collection of existing recordings built up by that business. On May 8, Universal Music Singapore signed a three-year memorandum of understanding with the Singapore Tourism Board, a written agreement to cooperate on projects without being a full commercial contract.
Running that network day to day sits largely with Calvin Wong. He is chief executive of Universal Music Southeast Asia and Korea and senior vice-president, Asia. His brief covers the local offices that sign artists, plan releases and coordinate marketing, touring and partnerships across different languages and markets.
For listeners, the effect is practical. More staff on the ground can mean recording, promotion and live plans made closer to where fans actually live. For the business, the number is people too. A roster of more than 130 supports artists and their managers, plus the crews, producers and office teams whose rent depends on records getting out and heard.
What makes this stand out is continuity rather than a single deal. The roster total pulls together label launches, a catalogue purchase, a local investment and a tourism partnership into one headcount.
