A TASTE OF RAINMAKERS 2024:
LUCY DICKINS

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.

When we interviewed you last June, you had been in L.A. about a year. 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.

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.

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

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.

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 Stephanie LeFera, UMPG boss Jody Gerson, Dickins and former CMG chief Michelle Jubelirer

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.

(The 2024 edition of Rainmakers will be published this fall.)