Universal Music Group, home to today’s biggest pop stars, quietly files to list on the US stock market

Universal Music Group—the undisputed Goliath of the global music industry—has sent financial shockwaves through Wall Street after filing a confidential application to float its shares in the United States. The same label that controls the music libraries of Taylor Swift, Drake, Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, and Harry Styles now wants a piece of the American stock market, and it’s not playing small.

Already listed in Amsterdam, where its valuation stands near €50 billion ($58.5bn), UMG has long dominated the charts. But now, it’s aiming for a different kind of hit: a blockbuster public offering that could vault it into the upper echelons of US trading giants. This bold step comes just as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both hit fresh all-time highs, despite political jitters triggered by President Donald Trump’s ongoing tariff wars.

In a move cloaked in secrecy, UMG filed a confidential registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. That means exact details—such as how many shares it wants to sell and at what price—remain hidden. For now.

But make no mistake: the music giant isn’t dabbling. It’s making a calculated play for more power, more capital, and, perhaps, more control over the future of the global music industry.

“This is a megaton move,” said one analyst. “We’re talking about the company behind every major chart-topper you hear on the radio. If they go public in the US, investors will throw money at them like it’s confetti at a concert.”

The secretive filing allows UMG to quietly test investor appetite and respond to regulator concerns behind closed doors, away from the glare of public scrutiny. This practice, increasingly popular among corporate heavyweights, lets companies avoid spooking the market if plans change—or flop.

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who holds a sizeable stake in UMG through his hedge fund Pershing Square, has long pushed for the firm to debut on the US market. In January, he took to social media to declare that a stateside listing would “greatly improve trading liquidity” and “increase the company’s value.”

And it’s not hard to see why. UMG isn’t just a music company—it’s a cultural force. It controls some of the most valuable back catalogues in history, including music from Motown legends like Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson, as well as global icons like the Beatles and Katy Perry. Its influence is so vast, it even went to war with TikTok last year in a royalty dispute that saw thousands of songs removed from the app—until a deal was hammered out in May.

With the US markets on a tear and investor appetite for tech-adjacent media companies surging, Universal’s timing could be pitch-perfect. The listing could open the floodgates to more music firms looking to cash in, and could ignite a fierce battle for dominance in how music is monetised, streamed, and sold.

But for fans, it raises a curious question: if your favourite artist’s label is now accountable to Wall Street, will creativity suffer under the weight of shareholder pressure?

One thing is clear: Universal isn’t just chasing hits anymore. It’s chasing billions.