LUCY DICKINS:
THE HITS INTERVIEW

Given her longtime role as Adele’s agent, WME’s Lucy Dickins already had a sizable profile before she was upped to global head of contemporary music and touring at the agency. Since the ridiculously charming Brit (who joined WME in 2019) stepped into the post in 2022 and moved her family across the pond to L.A., however, she’s made a massive impression on the biz.

The scion of an influential U.K. showbiz family, Dickins built a powerful roster at ITB—which was, of course, co-founded by her dad, Barry—that included not only Adele but Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling and James Blake. Most recently, the agency added superstar Billie Eilish and legendary alternative band Linkin Park to the fold. Adele’s recent sold-out Vegas residency and run of Munich shows, meanwhile, have seen the inimitable diva hit new heights.

Dickins has, in the last two years, become fairly acclimated to La-La Land. Though talking to us probably didn’t help much.

A lot has happened since our last conversation.

Since we last spoke, several clients have had some massive wins: Adele currently has a sold-out residency taking place in Munich, Germany, featuring a bespoke stadium and one-of-a-kind production; she’s also completed 68 of her sold-out Las Vegas shows and sold-out an additional 32 upcoming dates. Olivia Rodrigo’s sold-out GUTS world tour continues through October, Zach Bryan’s sold-out Quittin Time North American tour continues through December, and Reneé Rapp is on a hot streak with appearances at major summer festivals like Coachella, Lollapalooza and Outside Lands. Our breakthrough acts are dominating the scene as well: Benson Boone has the #1 most streamed song of 2024 so far, Victoria Monét took home Best New Artist at the Grammys, Little Simz garnered widespread praise for her Glastonbury performance and Teddy Swims completed his sold-out tour of Australia, New Zealand, and Asia; he’s already sold out his upcoming North American tour, and just secured 4 VMA nominations.

When we interviewed you last June, you had been there about a year at the time. How would you compare this year and last year, on both a personal and business level?

On a personal level, it’s taken me two years to settle here. January was the turning point for me where this felt like home, I’m comfortable and I’m having a nice time. I’ve got my whole crew surrounding me. I moved from London; I had no setup. I didn’t know anyone. Now I’ve spent so much time going out, badgering people and finding people that I’ve got friends, people I need around to make my everyday life easier.

And your children have acclimated?

My son didn’t at first, but he now likes living in L.A. My daughters always loved it, and my husband is working out here, so it suddenly turned a corner.

You bought a new house, right?

We’re renting a house, just around the corner from here. We love the house; it’s been a game-changer. I’ve got a setup now. I know where I am, what I’m doing, who I’m seeing, who I like, who I don’t like. The kids are settled, which makes me more settled. It’s the same in the company as well—I’ve noticed a difference. I was doing my self-assessment, and I looked back at what I’d written the last time and I could see the clear changes in the company. But we’re working much more collaboratively. It’s real teamwork there now. Everyone’s helping each other out.

With brother (and Adele manager) Jonathan Dickins at the U.K.'s MITS Awards

And you’ve built relationships?

I’ve built great relationships, and they’re going to be lifelong friendships. It’s been great to have a different perspective, especially being a Brit coming into an American office. Everyone likes each other, which is the most important thing. Everything feels lighter; I’m enjoying it. It’s a job—don’t get me wrong. It’s hard work, but I enjoy it.

You can tell that you enjoy it.

I love being an agent, but I also like doing it with the people I’m working with, which makes a difference.

What’s your travel like this year?

Insane. I went to Australia once. I’m going back to Australia again because I’m doing a panel for South by Southwest. I went to the Splendour in the Grass festival, which sadly has now come down due to poor ticket sales.

Why are some festivals not doing as well?

There are several reasons. A lot of bigger artists would rather do their own stadium shows because they can have their own production and make more money. It’s trying to get lineups together. There were so many bands doing the same festivals. Ticket-pricing has become extortionately high. People have only got so much money. They choose what they want to go to, and sometimes they want to see one particular artist.

With WME Partner/Global Co-Head, Contemporary Music & Touring Kirk Sommer

How often do you go to London?

I’ve tried to go less. The last few months I’ve been more, because I went back for Glastonbury Festival. The London office was dominating Glastonbury. We had the Friday and Saturday headline and penultimates. Our electronic stages were heaving. We had a massive turnout, and I didn’t want to miss that. Also, I went to go and see my acts. I flew in for Glastonbury and flew straight back. The week before that, I went to the new Manchester arena [Co-op Live] and then went to the Adele site in Munich.

What about the football team? Are you going to watch the game here?

I was going to watch the game here and then I asked if I could get some tickets from my promoter in Germany. Then I realized the cost of the flights and how difficult it was to get to Berlin. Now my son and I are flying in and out to go to the final. British culture, mate—I can’t miss the football. It’s just the experience, and I want him to see it. There’s a big group of us going. It’s going to be fun. Yet again another transatlantic flight.

Artists at WME have had either breakout years or important years. Who are some of the people that had great years?

USHER, Justin Timberlake, Adele. That was at the door in January. But from Bruno Mars to USHER to Backstreet Boys to the Adele residencies—she’s going to have done a hundred shows plus the Munich residencies. Zach Bryan has been phenomenal. Olivia Rodrigo has been phenomenal. It’s been the strongest year we’ve had. Business has been insane. The number of shows we’ve booked has gone through the roof.

What was it like growing up in a music-business family?

I don’t think as a child I really took on board what it was. You get to go to these amazing shows, and you get to meet amazing people. For us, it was the norm. It wasn’t unusual for people we represented to call or come by the house. They never made it feel like it was anything different. I can remember Diana Ross calling our house—that’s just not normal, is it?

Diana Ross definitely never called my house.

I mean—she is Ms. Ross, but I don’t think I ever really took much notice of it. I look back at it now and think it was quite crazy. It took a while to realize that what was “normal” for me was not everybody’s normal.

At Australia's Laneway Festival with co-founder Danny Rogers

Do you recall the point at which you decided you wanted to work in the music industry?

Initially, I didn’t want to go into music; I wanted to go into film. Coming from a music family can be a blessing or a curse. In those times, the expectation for my brother was, there was [Dickins’ grandfather] Percy, there was Barry, there was [uncle] Rob and then it was going to be Jonathan. He was like a pedigreed racehorse. When he was a young A&R scout, I remember all this added pressure from people speculating about whether his signings were going to be successful or not. I always loved music, but those kinds of expectations made me steer away.

When did you start to come around to the idea of a career in music?

I think I had two days after finishing my exams and my dad’s words to me were, “What are you doing about getting a job? Because you’re not sitting around here on your arse.” So I started going for interviews and I kept getting hired, but I wouldn’t accept the jobs. It was really funny because I kept feeling like the jobs weren’t right for me, or it wasn’t what I wanted to do, or it was about the money. That went on for a while before my dad wasn’t having it anymore. So I went to work in his office. And when I tell you I started working at the bottom, I mean the very bottom.

What did you like about it?

I liked the business of it. I loved live music, and I loved being part of the conversation from the beginning to the end. I knew I loved the music side, but I still wasn’t convinced that live was necessarily it for me. So I went for a job at a record company [U.K. indie PWL] as a junior product manager. I went through an employment agency, and when I went in for the interview, they gave me this sheet of paper with all these questions they wanted me to answer. I had no idea what any of it meant. I didn’t even know what a product manager was at the time! I suppose that was the moment I proved I would be a good agent because I completely blagged my way through that interview and landed the job. I went in as a junior product manager and left as head of international.

WME’s Sara Williams, Dvora Englefield, Stephanie LaFera, Dickins and Becky Gardenhire

Do you think the role of product manager can be a launchpad for a variety of different careers?

Totally. You’d be there from the A&R process of the product being made to it going out to the show. There were so many things it tapped into. I think it probably contributed to my going into more of the live side. I ended up going back to work at my dad’s not knowing what I wanted to do. I said to him, “I’ve got all these A levels and I’m sitting here not being utilized and I’m really bored.” And he was, like, “Well, if you think you’re that great, here’s a map. Here’s Alanis Morissette—now have a go at routing her tour.” I sat there with a pad of paper and a map of Europe and had no idea, but I wasn’t going to ask for help. So I took a stab at it, and he looked it over and said, “You’re not bad at this.” That’s how it started.

What did you learn after routing?

You make relationships, right? You speak to different promoters, learn how different markets work and learn about costings, riders, different productions and so forth—all the basics. It took me a while, but by the time Savage Garden took off I was pretty much doing most of it myself. Then I started getting into the settlement side, and eventually I decided I wanted to start signing my own artists.

Had you hung up your own shingle by this point?

I was still doing bits and bobs and working on stuff from my dad, but I had started to build my own roster of clients. I remember Hot Chip being the one that I wanted to go for. I did so much homework on it and really thought about the strategy of where I wanted to take them. I was up against all these agents who’ve been doing this longer than me. I was sure I was never going to get it. They asked me to go to a pub and meet the band, and they were all sitting there in a line looking at me and asking me questions. I was terrified. Then I had a call from [the group’s] Alexis [Taylor], who said, “We’ve decided we’d love to come with you.” I just remember thanking him for taking a chance on me and his responding, “Thank you for taking a chance on me.” That was 15 years ago, and they’ve been playing to 15,000+ in London ever since. Everyone told me I was just taking on a college band. Right.

WME’s Stephanie LeFera, UMPG boss Jody Gerson, Dickins and former Capitol Music Group chief Michelle Jubelirer

It sounds like this was something of an object lesson in the power of passion and preparation.

To this day, if I’m going for an absolute baby band—and I still sign baby bands—I do the exact same amount of work and preparation with the same passion I did then. I think artists appreciate that, and it doesn’t happen enough. I get personally connected to my clients and I just don’t ever wanna let them down—or let myself down.

What came next?

Things went insane after Hot Chip. I signed Jaime T, who was this really hip kid putting on this show called Panic Prevention Disco at a club in London. People still talk about it. It was basically his own residency, and I ran and promoted it. We started bringing in all these up-and-coming artists, and that’s how I ended up signing Laura Marling, who was 16 at the time. My next signing was Johnny Flynn. After that was Jack Peñate, Adele, Mumford & Sons and James Blake—it just kept going.

What was your initial impression of Adele?

I was going to see Hot Chip at a club in London and I asked Jack Peñate if he wanted to come down. He said yes and asked me to put him on the list plus one, because he wanted to bring his friend who he said was this amazing singer. So I’m at the venue, and Jack’s there with this girl and she says, “Hi, I’m Adele.” She was just the most hilariously funny, warm, lovable character. I told her that I’d heard she was a singer and asked if she had any music. She said, “Hold on a minute” and tapped this guy next to us to whom she’d just given a CD. She made him give it straight back to her so she could give it to me! The next day I’m home doing housework, and I popped her hand-written demo into my little JVC stereo system. The first track that came on was “Daydreamer,” followed by “Hometown Glory” and “My Same”—it was the most insane thing I’d ever heard.

How did all this ultimately lead to your current role at WME?

Adele was doing Wembley Stadium and Mumford & Sons were doing multiple arenas across the world. It’s pretty rare to have two artists break on both sides of the pond, but even though I had accomplished a lot, it still felt like I had to keep proving who I was. I’d been working in live for 20 years, and I was still dealing with a mentality from some people that I’d only gotten where I was because I’m Barry’s daughter or Jonathan’s sister. When I started taking meetings and all these agents and agencies were coming out of the woodwork, I realized that if I wanted to put an end to it I needed to stand on my own two feet. I still deal with that mentality, but the truth is, I’ve gotten what I got because I’ve worked bloody hard and I’m good at what I do. When [former head of WME’s music division] Marc Geiger came along, he was, like, “You don’t realize how good you are.” He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I also thought the agents at WME were the best I’d come across. That’s why I ended up choosing WME.

Did it feel like a bigger challenge?

It was a huge challenge. It was scary. You walk out on your dad’s company with your roster of clients after 20 years with all eyes on you and people saying, “Wow! She’s left her dad’s place.” I’m also one of those people who’s always pushing myself for a challenge. I never sit comfortably. I’m never satisfied. I can always be better. If I was able to leave my dad’s company, go somewhere completely alien to me and set something up, I’m not afraid to do anything.

Comedian-actor Stephen Merchant, film producer/Rick Astley spouse Lene Bausager, Astley, WME’s Richard Weitz, artist Mika, Dickins, DJ Cassidy and fellow ABBA fans, 2023