2024 Impact 50 Honoree: Lucy Dickins

GLOBAL HEAD OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC & TOURING
WME

FIRST GIG IN THE BUSINESS: Product manager at PWL Records.
BIZ PHILOSOPHY: Embrace the uncomfortable, and think outside the box.

There’s lots to be proud of for WME’s global contemporary music department. The non-exhaustive list includes Olivia Rodrigo’s sold-out tour; 214 dates with Backstreet Boys, selling more than 2 million tickets and spanning six continents; Usher’s Paris residency; Luis Miguel’s 121-show tour; Bruno Mars’ seven sold-out shows at Tokyo Dome in Japan, and more.

“We’re really pleased with the growth shown from our clients this year,” says Lucy Dickins, who heads up the department, and whose personal highlights include the first-ever live show by her mysterious client, Sault, last December. “It was really one for the history books,” Dickins recalls, “it utilized many of our longstanding industry relationships, which is what this business is really all about. It was a one-night-only immersive live show heralded as changing British culture.”

Dickins believes agents today need to be as creative as they’ve ever been when finding new opportunities for their artists. “We’re helping our clients find new ways to connect with their fans,” she says, “whether that be in unique venues, new markets, live streams, or festivals around the world.” Towards that end, she cites “an emergence of artist curated events that still has plenty of room to grow. It allows artists to control their own production and aesthetics while providing ways for fans to feel more connected and elevate their live event experience.”

The importance of international, too, has become something of an industry mantra. “There is certainly more globalization in the live music sector than ever before,” she says, “and artists are taking advantage of it. Wherever they want to go in their careers, we’ll ensure they get there.”

Dickins’ client Adele, for one, wanted to go to Munich, where she’s going to play a 10-date residency on a specially curated stage on the city’s fairgrounds – her only European shows this year. “It’s the first time an artist has had a temporary stadium purpose built for them – hosting 80,000 people a night for 10 nights across the month of August.”

Apparently, the fun won’t be stopping anytime soon. “I also have a lot of very exciting clients with new records coming out,” Dickins says, “so it’s going to be a busy time.”