Layoffs Are Reshaping the Music Industry. jump.global Wants to Train Executives for What’s Next

The fourth annual jump.global summit in Los Angeles is just weeks away, on Nov. 8-10 and its founder, Nick Maiale, is convinced its timing couldn’t be more necessary. Just a few weeks ago, Universal Music Group made significant cuts to its staff at record labels like MCA, Def Jam Records, Republic Records, Capitol Records and more — a continuation of its layoffs, which kicked off back in 2024. Still, Universal is far from the only music company culling employees this year. 

“We need to dive into the fact that layoffs have become common in this industry,” Maiale tells Billboard. At the jump.global summit, which focuses on executive development, mental health and leadership skills for music professionals, Maiale preaches the gospel that every modern careerist should be in the “business of your first and last name.” At the conference, his name tags are just that — name tags. No company names and no titles are listed to create a level playing field. 

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Instead, he wants attendees to be focused on getting to know each other on a human level. Even his panelists, some of whom bear impressively high ranking titles at major companies, don’t tout their credentials either. Every speaker is vaguely listed on the jump.global website as simply a “music business human.” 

Those who attend the three-day affair, which is part conference and part leadership retreat, are treated to a mix of small group break outs and panel, featuring names like Janelle Lopez Genzink, Stephen Brower, Jason Feinberg, Lexi Todd and Moody Jones. And while the summit has always been known to hand out free badges for people who have newly been laid off as a courtesy, Maiale says that, due to increased demand for these comped badges, he’s now upping the supply. This year, he estimates that 30% of attendees are laid-off employees looking for their next move. The other 70% are a mix of folks sent by their companies, folks who buy badges themselves and executive coaches. 

While Maiale is going to address layoffs and how work in the music industry is changing, he clarifies: “The conference is definitely not a place where people come simply to complain about how the music industry is doing. What we want to do is be solutions-focused and opportunity-focused.” 

I have heard you say many times with jump.global, that you’re promoting “the business of your first and last name.” Is that a mentality you have always had while working in music, or is it something that has developed more recently, in light of how much the music industry is changing and how uncertain it has become?

It’s definitely the latter. I started thinking about it in my 20s, but I think COVID really brought it into focus. I talked to a lot of people and learned that, in an industry where you are passionate about your job, work can take over your identity. Whether that’s conscious or subconscious, it can affect you.

I went to school to become a certified executive coach. I did the program in London, and I learned that this is a real thing. I started talking to a lot of music executives, and there are different levels of identity within your job.

I also think the music industry itself is becoming more entrepreneurial, with more independent companies than ever. I don’t have the facts to support that, obviously, but it feels that way. People need to think of themselves as businesses. We’re telling artists the same thing, aren’t we? So I think we should be proactive about it. 

We’re not trying to create an environment where everyone says, “The industry sucks; I have to become a consultant,” or anything. This is more about empowerment. It’s the reality of a career in entertainment, the arts and music.

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Are you seeing any of your clients leaving the music industry amidst these layoffs?

I’m seeing it [broadly], although not from my clients yet. I’ve definitely seen it among people who worked in larger companies and were used to that grind for 10 years. Now they’re out of it, and they’re trying to rethink how they work.

As a coach, I can’t lead anyone to the [right] answer; they have to find it themselves. I do a lot of open-ended questioning. When you ask someone, “Tell me about the industry. What do you think about the industry right now?” and then ask, “What opportunities are out there?” they begin to put the pieces together, and the answer comes.

 Maybe they need to become a consultant. Maybe they need to create something that works for them for the next five years — or even the next year. 

As a result of the conference, I’ve seen people attend and decide to move forward in a new direction. Some have thought, “Maybe I should be a yoga teacher,” or, “Maybe I should work in sports.” I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

At most conferences the goal is to get the biggest-name speakers and the most powerful titles in the room to generate buzz. Although jump.global certainly has high-ranking people at the conference, you’ve also done a lot of outreach to people who have recently been laid off or lost their formal power. You still tell them that you want them at the conference and at your networking events. Why have you stayed committed to that when the easier path might be to focus only on the most powerful names?

The crazy thing is that we could do that. We could get the biggest and most powerful people there, and we have, which has been beautiful. But let’s look at the facts: A lot of the best people in the music industry — people who built it or played a crucial role in it — are no longer in the official nine-to-five or nine-to-nine job market.

They’re still people with feelings, and most importantly, they have stories. Quite frankly, they may be in an even better position to be vulnerable and their minds may be very clear. When you mix clear-minded people with people who are still in the hustle of the music industry, a lot of beautiful things can come from it.

There are people at the conference who could be in that position next year. Someone came last year completely unemployed. We gave them a complimentary registration, and this year they’re a major executive at a major music company. I didn’t do that with any expectation, but those connections still matter.

I don’t see many other conferences doing that, although I understand why. At some of my other conferences, we list people’s job titles, but at the end of the day, people who are between jobs still exist and they are important to the ecosystem.

I’m curious what the statistics will look like in 10 years when it comes to entrepreneurship versus full-time employment.

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Often, companies do need to pivot and downsize to stay alive. The roles that were important for the last 10 years may not be the roles that are important for the next 10 years, so companies have to make difficult decisions. It’s unfortunate, but it’s also sometimes just business. As a leadership coach, you’ve probably spoken with people on both the giving and receiving end of layoffs. Based on your experience, what is the best way for a company to handle layoffs?

I can’t answer from the perspective of delivering layoffs, but my biggest answer is empathy. A basic understanding of empathy, care and truth is very important.

You said it best: This is business. I point back to the idea of the business of your first and last name; the two ideas go hand in hand. Different companies are different — there are public companies, private companies, small companies and so on — but a basic understanding of emotional intelligence and empathy can help.

 Get the job done, but make it understandable on both ends.

jump.global has always been committed to talking about mental health, work-life balance and ways to make a music career more sustainable. But employees who haven’t been laid off are often expected to go above and beyond every day — to do more with less just to keep their jobs.

That means longer hours and more stressful conditions. A lot of people probably feel as though they’re in survival mode, so I can understand why someone might feel they don’t have time to think about their well-being or work-life balance. What do you say to that person about why it’s still important to carve out that time?

This is my favorite question because we’re making a significant change at jump.global. The upcoming summit will be our last public summit before we transition to a year-round membership community. Instead of requiring people to fly to Los Angeles, we’ll bring events to their cities through a membership model. 

We realized that people are stretched for time and bandwidth, so we wanted to create what we call “containers for curiosity and growth.” We bring members together for several hours to talk about topics related to self-leadership and professional and personal development.

When people give their professional and personal development to a company, it can sometimes be disguised as mental health and wellness. In reality, it needs to be a more proactive approach to development.

I want to be clear that there is mental health distress caused by the music industry, and there are also mental health issues that existed before people entered the industry. Our approach is to help people become more effective leaders, navigate friction in the workplace, communicate with different kinds of communicators and understand neurodivergence. When you do that, your well-being in the workplace can improve.

People often equate Jump Global with mental health and wellness, and I understand why. But there are many great companies that focus on that work full time. We’re trying to own the personal and professional development lane so people don’t get to the point where we have to call it mental health and wellness.