Universal Music Poland Acquires Kayax Records Catalog

Universal Music Poland has acquired the catalog business of Kayax Records. The agreement, announced on Thursday August 20, covers global recording rights to the label's catalog plus the rights to the Kayax Records brand. It also sees Universal Music Poland enter a strategic partnership with Kayax's separate management business, Kayax Management, which is not part of the acquisition. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed by Universal or Kayax.

Founded in 2001 and based in Warsaw, Kayax Records has a roster that includes Smolik, Zakopower, Nosowska, Krzysztof Zalewski, Natalia Przybysz, Maria Peszek, Brodka, Artur Rojek, Mery Spolsky and Karaś/Rogucki, according to the announcement. Records issued under the Kayax banner also include albums by Hey, Urszula Dudziak, Reni Jusis, Skubas and The Dumplings. Kayax lists among its releases Brodka's Clashes, Krzysztof Zalewski's Złoto, Nosowska's Basta, Zakopower's Boso, Maria Peszek's Maria Awaria and Artur Rojek's Składam się z ciągłych powtórzeń. Kayax puts its catalog at close to 130 albums. The label also lists singer Kayah's 2009 album Skała among its releases. Kayah said in May 2025, however, that she had recovered master recording rights to her albums released after 2003, and was no longer under a recording contract with Kayax Production & Publishing. On her account, that would place her post-2003 recordings outside the catalog Universal has acquired.

This is an exciting transaction for Universal Music Poland. From the very beginning I have admired Kayax Records' ability to combine artistic integrity with commercial success, while consistently discovering and nurturing some of the most important voices in contemporary Polish music. Combining Universal Music's global expertise with the experience of the Kayax Management team will help create new opportunities for both established artists and the next generation of talent.

This is another important step in delivering our mission of connecting Polish artists with fans around the world, said Maciej Kutak, CEO, Universal Music Poland & SVP Central Eastern Europe, Universal Music Group. Kayax Management is entering a new chapter. Together with my team, we want to focus even more on what we do best: developing the careers of the artists we represent and building their personal brands. We will continue strengthening our position by providing comprehensive artist management while expanding our roster with promising new talent and the next generation of artists, said Tomasz Grewiński.

For more than twenty years, we built Kayax Records together with extraordinary artists, creating a catalog that has become an important part of the history of contemporary Polish music. I am confident that Universal Music Poland will provide this body of work with the best possible foundation for its continued growth, said Tomasz Grewiński. Once the transaction completes, Kayax Records will keep its own identity as Universal Music Poland's fourth label. Paweł Tetłak will take the role of Head of Kayax Records, while Jakub Barzak will oversee both Kayax Records and Polydor Recordings Poland. Kayax said in its own announcement that it will no longer operate as a record label in its previous form, and is switching to a distribution and licensing model, with management and distribution as the pillars of the business.

The deal arrives during a run of Universal transactions in Europe. Poland's recorded music revenues grew 22.3% YoY in 2024, according to the IFPI's Music in the EU report, behind only Sweden, Romania and Hungary in the bloc. Sweden's 30.2% was inflated by a one-off private copying levy payment covering multiple years, the report noted; excluding that levy, its growth was around 6.5%. Strip out that distortion and Poland was the third fastest-growing recorded music market in the EU in 2024, behind only Romania and Hungary. The IFPI said the fastest-growing markets tended to be those in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe. The same report found that domestic artists took an average 50.9% of the places on countrywide year-end top 10 lists across the EU.