UMG’s hospitality arm strikes JV with way of life funding group IMI to develop ‘music-led beach club concept’

Universal Music Group‘s hospitality division is making a push into the beach club business, announcing a joint venture with IMI Group, the private hospitality and lifestyle investment group behind O Beach.

The latest move comes as Universal Music recently expanded its global portfolio of brick-and-mortar retail spaces with the launch of two new UMusic Shop locations in New York and London in December 2025, dedicated “to reimagining the fan experience.”

In 2023, UMG launched its flagship store in Tokyo’s Harajuku district, adopted by its second bodily retail location globally in July 2025 with the UMusic Shop inside its personal UMusic Hotel in Madrid.

Now, UMG introduced the launch of a brand new entity known as UMusic Beach Clubs & Lifestyle, a three way partnership between its hospitality arm UMusic  Hospitality & Lifestyle and IMI Group. IMI has a decade-long expertise working O Beach, a daytime venue model with flagship areas in Ibiza and Dubai.

Under the deal, each current O Beach properties will fold into the three way partnership’s founding portfolio and proceed working underneath their present branding.

UMusic and IMI mentioned they plan to develop “a new five-star music-led beach club concept for future projects across the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. The companies are still negotiating the first location under the new partnership.

The joint venture will embed artist collaborations, live showcases, digital integrations, and what both companies describe as “curated pop-up moments” into every location, in keeping with the announcement on March 11.

The firms mentioned growth will likely be selective and that O Beach’s current operational management workforce will transfer into the three way partnership, which is meant to supply consistency because the platform enters new markets.

Robert Lavia, CEO of UMusic Hospitality & Lifestyle, mentioned: “This is about creating spaces where music doesn’t just soundtrack the experience, but shapes it. Travel, hospitality, and music have always been deeply linked. UMusic Beach Clubs & Lifestyle allows us to bring those elements together in a way that feels natural, global, and culturally relevant.”

“Travel, hospitality, and music have always been deeply linked. UMusic Beach Clubs & Lifestyle allows us to bring those elements together in a way that feels natural, global, and culturally relevant.”

Robert Lavia, UMusic Hospitality & Lifestyle

Maxi Johal, Chairman of IMI Group, mentioned: “O Beach has always been about a feeling — about how a place makes you want to stay, connect and return. This joint venture gives us the opportunity to take that feeling to new destinations around the world, while staying true to the DNA that has defined O Beach from the very beginning.”

The timing comes amid rising world demand for experiences that seamlessly mix music, journey, and way of life, in keeping with the businesses.

UMG had earlier outlined growth plans for extra UMusic Hotels throughout Europe, the US and Latin America.

“O Beach has always been about a feeling — about how a place makes you want to stay, connect and return. This joint venture gives us the opportunity to take that feeling to new destinations around the world, while staying true to the DNA that has defined O Beach from the very beginning.”

Maxi Johal, IMI Group

Originally, UMG introduced in 2020 that Atlanta, Georgia; Biloxi, Mississippi; and Orlando, Florida would home the primary three areas via a beforehand introduced three way partnership with leisure funding group Dakia U-Ventures. Madrid finally grew to become the debut property as an alternative.

UMG launched the UMusic Hotels model in October 2020, at a time when the worldwide hospitality trade was nonetheless struggling to get well from the affect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Music Business Worldwide