LW Entertainment accelerates global consumer products strategy with new licensing partnerships. Published on: 3rd September 2026 New global and local licensees and the launch of a new online store mark the next phase of growth for LW Entertainment's consumer products business. LW Entertainment (LWE) is moving into the next phase of growth for its global consumer products business, announcing an expanding roster of licensing partners across fashion, accessories, stationery, gifts and collectibles as it builds long-term entertainment franchises around some of musical theatre's most iconic global brands. The expansion marks the next phase in LW Entertainment's evolution as an entertainment licensor, with a strategy designed to take its celebrated stories and characters beyond the stage and create new ways for audiences to engage with them year-round. As Phantom of the Opera celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, the milestone marks a major new chapter, led by existing global partnerships with Uniqlo and Penguin Random House. These are in addition to LW Entertainment's ongoing partnership with The Other Songs and The Orchard to manage Andrew Lloyd Webber's legendary music back catalogue and new recordings. A growing network of specialist partners extends into new categories, territories and retail channels as LW Entertainment's brands continue to evolve across major markets. Supporting the next stage of this development is the launch of the new global store on andrewlloydwebber.com, creating a dedicated, fan-focused eCommerce destination that brings multiple consumer product categories together in one place for the first time. The store gives fans access to exclusive and limited-edition products spanning physical music, apparel, accessories, archival artwork and prints, gifts and collectibles, alongside exclusive collaborations. LW Entertainment is expanding its global fashion and accessories footprint through a growing network of new licensee partnerships. With a strong focus on Phantom of the Opera, the new partnerships will bring fashion and accessories collections inspired by the iconic production to markets from October 2026 onwards. The expansion is beginning to demonstrate the potential of the wider LW Entertainment portfolio. Jewellery and accessories partnerships provide an example of a licensing strategy that can extend across multiple LW Entertainment properties. The programme is also expanding significantly across stationery and paper goods from September 2026 onwards, with further growth underway in gifts and collectibles. LWE's global publishing programme with Penguin Random House will rollout in September and October 2026. The publishing strategy creates another route for LW Entertainment's stories to reach new audiences beyond the theatre. With further partnerships and initiatives in development, LW Entertainment enters the final months of 2026 with a significantly expanded consumer products footprint and a growing pipeline extending through 2027 and beyond. Visit LW Entertainment at Brand Licensing Europe, Stand B241 (Merchantwise).

Symphonic expands global A&R Client Development team with 4 new hires. July 29, 2026 4 Mins Read Symphonic is excited to share another major milestone in Symphonic's continued global expansion as Symphonic grow its A&R and Client Development team across key international markets. Symphonic has officially welcomed four new hires to the team: JD Parent, Nick Robinson, Pia Eiser, and David Niran, who will support artist and label growth across Canada, the U.K., Europe, and Africa. These additions strengthen its ability to provide more localized support, deeper market expertise, and tailored growth strategies for independent artists, labels, and managers around the world. Learn more about them below... Symphonic expands A&R and Client Development team across Canada, the U.K., Europe, and Africa. As independent music continues to grow across international markets, regional expertise has become more important than ever. Artists and labels need partners who understand not only distribution, but also local culture, audience behavior, platform dynamics, creative ecosystems, and the specific opportunities shaping their markets. With new team members based across Canada, the U.K., Europe, and Africa, Symphonic is continuing to build a more connected global team designed to support artists and labels wherever they are. "One of the most important parts of global expansion is making sure you have people who understand what each individual market needs," says Ed Poston, SVP, Head of A&R at Symphonic. "JD, Nick, Pia, and David bring strong expertise in their respective countries that will help us serve their artist communities better." Together, these hires strengthen Symphonic's ability to deliver hands-on A&R support, deeper regional insight, and stronger business development opportunities for independent artists, labels, and managers around the world. About JD Parent. JD Parent joins Symphonic as Manager, A&R and Client Development, Canada. Based in Toronto, JD brings more than two decades of experience across major labels, streaming platforms, and independent distribution. Most recently, he served as Manager of Artist & Label Partnerships at Spotify Canada, where he worked closely with leading labels, distributors, and artists, particularly within Québec's music community, while helping shape conversations around streaming and Canadian music policy. Prior to Spotify, JD held senior roles at The Orchard and Sony Music Canada, where he negotiated key distribution partnerships, built artist development strategies, and helped drive growth across Canada's digital and vinyl markets. His deep experience across the Canadian music ecosystem will support Symphonic's continued growth in the region while helping artists and labels navigate an increasingly competitive global landscape. About Nick Robinson. Nick Robinson joins Symphonic as A&R and Business Development Consultant, U.K. Based in London, Nick brings an extensive career across A&R, publishing, music supervision, media, and artist development. He began his career as a reporter for Music Week, where he worked his way up to News Editor before joining Island Records as Head of Press. He later returned to Music Week as A&R Editor before being recruited by EMI Records, where he joined as A&R Manager and quickly moved up to Head of A&R. Nick went on to work as a Music Supervisor before joining BMI as Writer Publisher Relations Executive, where he signed Adele, James Blunt, Keane, and others. After six years at BMI, he joined Kobalt, where he spent 13 years signing and working with artists including Bon Iver, alt-J, Wolf Alice, PJ Harvey, IDLES, Soccer Mommy, Julien Baker, Geoff Barrow of Portishead, Khruangbin, and many more. With his wide-ranging background across discovery, creative development, and publishing strategy, Nick brings a valuable perspective to Symphonic's growing presence in the U.K. market. About Pia Eiser. Pia Eiser joins Symphonic as Senior A&R Manager, GSA Region, Europe. Based in Berlin and Copenhagen, Pia brings extensive experience across the European music industry, with a strong background in A&R, artist development, songwriter relations, and international creative strategy. She has held key roles in German and Scandinavian music publishing at Universal Music Group, Kobalt Music, and Tigerspring, specializing in talent scouting and creative development across pop, dance, and indie music. Throughout her career, Pia has led global songwriting camps in Scandinavia, expanded international artist rosters, and built strong cross-market partnerships throughout the U.K. and Europe. Her experience across multiple European music markets will help Symphonic continue building stronger support systems for artists, songwriters, labels, and creative partners throughout the GSA region and beyond. About David Niran. David Niran joins Symphonic as Manager, A&R and Client Development, Africa, bringing more than seven years of experience in artist development, business strategy, and global African representation. Before joining Symphonic, David served as a Talent Manager at prominent Nigerian record label Jonzing World, where he directed day-to-day operations and A&R. Since joining the team, he has already helped spearhead the release of Afrobeats artist Wande Coal's new album, King Coal, and welcomed Libianca to the Symphonic roster. David's work will support Symphonic's continued investment in Africa's fast-growing music markets, helping artists and labels build stronger international strategies while maintaining the regional authenticity and creative identity that make their music resonate globally. Final thoughts... These new hires mark an exciting next chapter for Symphonic's global A&R and Client Development team. JD, Nick, Pia, and David each bring deep regional knowledge, strong industry relationships, and a shared commitment to helping independent artists and labels grow with intention. Their expertise will play an important role as Symphonic continues expanding its global footprint and strengthening the support Symphonic provide to music communities around the world. Symphonic is thrilled to welcome them to the team and can't wait to see the impact they'll make across Canada, the U.K., Europe, Africa, and beyond.

As agentic advertising floods Cannes, Amazon touts its Alexa advantage. Papa Johns and The Orchard are early partners on a new Alexa+ Agentic Ads format, which executives see as a way to deliver more personalized ads. Published June 25, 2026 CANNES, LIONS - Ask Cannes Lions attendees what's top of mind at the show, and the safe money is on "artificial intelligence" as the answer. Part of that is due to some of the festival's attention-grabbing new entrants, but platforms and publishers nearly across the board are eager to demonstrate that their bets on the space, including in agentic AI, are moving from the realm of hype into reality. Amazon this week unveiled a new ad format, Alexa+ Agentic Ads, that underlines the focus on leveraging AI to deliver more tangible outcomes for brands. Customers that are served an ad can strike up a voice chat, weigh different buying options and complete their transaction without having to leave the Alexa interface. In a demo shown by Amazon, a woman who is interested in getting concert tickets to see Jill Scott refines her results by noting the occasion is her mom's birthday and that she's open to paying more for premium seating options. She eventually finds front-row seats on Ticketmaster, all via voice commands. Papa Johns and The Orchard, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment, are early partners on Alexa+ Agentic Ads, which are currently running in beta on Amazon's Echo Show devices. Alexa+ became publicly available earlier this year following a beta period in 2025. Toward the end of last year, Amazon confirmed to TechCrunch that more than 1 million people had access to the generative AI assistant. According to information shared by Amazon, Alexa is used in tens of millions homes. Amazon plans to bring the format to Fire TV as well, where it will live in the carousel-like Feature Rotator experience on the home screen. While the testing period is early days, executives emphasized they don't view Alexa+ Agentic Ads as a limited experiment or theoretical use case. "We have ad products that are live today. This isn't something that we're talking about or [saying] 'we're working on it,'" said Charlotte Maines, Amazon vice president of devices content and advertising, in an interview Wednesday. Alexa+ Agentic Ads do not require rigid phrases to know when to complete an action, according to Maines, and can pick up on subtler cues. Amazon sees the conversational nature of the technology as a way to eventually realize more personalized, relevant ads, echoing where other AI platforms believe they can deliver value to brands. In Papa John's case, Alexa may remember a customer's favorite toppings from a prior conversation, and surface those as a recommendation for repeat orders. "This is literally the first thing of so much more opportunity for innovation, because Alexa+ - just as all of these agentic AI assistants - is new," said Maines. "My job is to make sure that, as customer engagement grows, advertisers can participate in those high-intent conversations." Leveraging Amazon's tech stack. Cannes Lions may make for a crowded AI playing field, but Amazon sees an advantage over upstarts thanks to the same assets that have powered its advertising division into a $70 billion engine. Those include an robust demand-side platform, established measurement capabilities and a rich trove of transaction-level data. "We've got this incredible Amazon advertising tech stack, infrastructure business, where we are very well positioned to pull things into the DSP, for example, [or] offer something self-service and programmatic very quickly," said Maines. Amazon is also aligning its new agentic products with a larger suite of automation tools, including creative agents that help advertisers develop, create and deploy campaigns on the platform. "[Advertisers] can be as involved or not involved as they want in terms of their creative teams on how they generate these assets, but we... offer a plug and play solution," said Maines. "We do have this foundation, so we're able to offer a lot of data on how creative performs historically." The often winding, more intimate nature of consumer conversations with AI chatbots raises potential privacy concerns as the channel intersects more with advertising. OpenAI, for example, has pledged to not share conversational information with advertisers as it tries to preserve user trust.