Rebecca Allen Leaving Universal Music After 27 Years

Rebecca Allen is leaving her role as Chief Artist and Strategy Officer at Universal Music Group UK, bringing her 27-year tenure at the label to a close.

Breaking news:

• Allen announced her departure in an email to "friends, colleagues and Universal family" on Tuesday October 13.

• While writing that “the time feels right for me to turn the page and make space for a new chapter,” she said she will “remain connected to UMG in an advisory capacity.”

• There is no news of a successor.

Backstory:

• Allen joined Universal Music as a press assistant in 1999, after starting her career at the BBC.

• She became Director of Media at Decca, and after promotions to General Manager (2012) and Managing Director (2014), in 2017 became the first woman to lead the label when she was appointed President of Decca Records Group UK.

• In June 2020 she was announced as President of a relaunched EMI Records; in 2022 she became Co-President when she was joined in the role by Jo Charrington.

• Following the merger of EMI and Island Records UK in July 2024, Allen was appointed head of the new Audience & Media division (now Audience, Media & Strategy).

• Allen was promoted to Chief Artist and Strategy Officer at UMG UK in December 2025, while continuing to lead the company’s Audience, Media & Strategy and Artist Relations teams.

What they said:

• Rebecca Allen, in her email: “Music and artists have always been at the centre of my world, and the driving force behind every decision I’ve made. To have spent 27 years working alongside such extraordinary artists, and the brilliant people who surround them, has been an enormous privilege.”