{"id":229436,"date":"2025-04-22T20:48:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T19:48:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=229436"},"modified":"2026-03-26T19:36:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T19:36:50","slug":"dugi-lipa-dua-happens-to-be-my-daughter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/dugi-lipa-dua-happens-to-be-my-daughter\/","title":{"rendered":"‘My interest is purely about what’s right for the artist… who also happens to be my daughter.’"},"content":{"rendered":"

MBW\u2019s World\u2019s Greatest Managers series profiles the best artist managers in the global business. Dugi Lipa is the manager (and father) of global pop phenomenon Dua Lipa. Here he discusses his own extraordinary story as well as the challenges of management in the modern music industry and much more. World\u2019s Greatest Managers is supported by Centtrip<\/a>, a specialist in intelligent treasury, payments and foreign exchange \u2013 created with the music industry and its needs in mind.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>

In another world, this article would celebrate the precise dental work of Dr. Dukagjin Lipa, a respected Kosovo-born practitioner. But life \u2013 and music \u2013 had other plans.<\/p>\n

In this world? Dugi Lipa is best known as the father and manager of global pop phenomenon Dua Lipa \u2013 though that sells his story dramatically short.<\/p>\n

Dugi grew up in Prishtina, Kosovo, where as a 15-year-old he formed a band that would achieve No.1 status in his home country.<\/p>\n

Despite musical talent (he was trained on violin before jumping to the guitar) Lipa was directed into dentistry, which he studied until conflict in the former Yugoslavia changed everything.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div> <\/div> \n

Arriving in London with his then-girlfriend (now wife) in the early 1990s, Lipa fell instantly in love with the British capital. \u201cI felt like I belonged from the very first second I stepped foot in London,\u201d he recalls. \u201cLondon was not a typical destination for Albanians from Yugoslavia or Kosovo \u2013 but it was definitely a place for people who were in love with music and the arts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we get secretly trained in life, unknowingly, for what we are destined to do.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While waiting for the war to end, Lipa began working in bars for promoter Mean Fiddler.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, he reconnected with fellow Kosovo musicians living in London (along with an English keyboard player), and formed a new band, ODA. Their self-produced album \u2013 recorded in a bedroom studio and initially pressed in a run of 1,000 CDs \u2013 eventually sold around 20,000 copies worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where I found my love for managing artists,\u201d Lipa says of this formative period. \u201cI was doing the booking, the organizing, the distribution, negotiating the deals.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds: \u201cI believe we get secretly trained in life, unknowingly, for what we are destined to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having pursued a marketing education while developing his creative skills, Lipa later returned to Kosovo with his family, where he was part of building a successful telecoms business that was acquired by Slovenian Telecom.<\/p>\n

With some money in his back pocket, he subsequently founded a marketing agency that still operates \u2013 as Republika Communications \u2013 with Dua as its star client.<\/p>\n

<\/div> <\/div> \n

Dugi officially became Dua\u2019s full-time manager following her departure<\/a> from TaP Management in 2022.<\/p>\n

He has since been navigating, contracting and arranging landmark moments in her career, including releasing her acclaimed third album\u00a0Radical Optimism<\/em>\u00a0(a UK No.1), plus opening last year\u2019s Grammys and BRIT awards, and a stunning Glastonbury 2024 headlining set (which was livestreamed worldwide \u2013 a first \u2013 following a pioneering agreement between Dugi, Warner Music, and the BBC).<\/p>\n

Dugi also served as executive producer on Dua\u2019s landmark Royal Albert Hall show in October, complete with a 54-piece orchestra and 14-piece choir. That show, co-produced by Fullwell73 and Lipa\u2019s Radical22, was broadcast worldwide and featured a rare guest performance from Sir Elton John.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>
A triumphant Royal Albert Hall show in October 2024 \u2013 including a duet with Sir Elton John (photo: Ben Gibson Photography)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

In 2025, Dua Lipa is taking on a global sold-out tour including domestic stadium shows \u2013 two nights at Wembley, two at Liverpool\u2019s Anfield, and one in Dublin. Her worldwide jaunt started in Singapore in November 2024 and will likely conclude in South America in December.<\/p>\n

All this, plus multiple Grammys and BRITs, and a jaw-dropping 48 billion-plus streams to date.<\/p>\n

Here, MBW<\/em> speaks with Dugi Lipa about his journey from dentistry student to music manager, his perspectives on publishing rights, and why the British music industry needs to rediscover its confidence\u2026<\/p>\n

\n
When did music first become important in your life?<\/h6>\n

My parents were very much into music, but weren\u2019t connected to the music world at all. My dad was head of the Historical Institute of Kosovo, an academic, and my mom was a teacher.<\/p>\n

As a teenager, I formed a band with my friends. We had a No.1 hit in Kosovo, which still seems ridiculous! We were a band of 15-year-old guys practicing in my garage \u2013 none of us aspired to make a living out of it.<\/p>\n

“the war started so I went to spend a few weeks in london. Here we are, 34 years later.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I went on to study dentistry, which was quite typical at that time in ex-Yugoslavia. You would study to be a doctor, a dentist, a lawyer, an architect, or an accountant.<\/p>\n

I moved to Sarajevo to study because of the political situation changing in Kosovo and the University in Albanian language being banned by the Serbian regime [as the threat of conflict loomed in the early 1990s]. Then the war started. I had some friends in London, and they invited me to come and spend a few weeks with them. Nobody thought the war was going to continue and define our lives.<\/p>\n

With my then-girlfriend, now wife, Anesa, we came to London to spend a couple of months. And here we are, 34 years later.<\/p>\n

\n
After arriving in London you started working in bars for Mean Fiddler, striking up a friendship with legendary live music mogul Vince Power…<\/h6>\n

Yes. I worked behind the bar at CUBE Bar in Swiss Cottage, and then later at Bartok, Camden, as well as Jazz Caf\u00e9, The Kentish Town Forum, Point 101 \u2013 a lot of them. It was something to do while waiting for the war to end.<\/p>\n

Vince used to come to CUBE Bar because it was the new trendy place in the Mean Fiddler [portfolio]. He felt comfortable talking to me about things, and I found it easy to talk to him. \u2013 not everyone did! Every time we were there, we would have conversations about music and festivals, marketing and creative directions. We had great conversations about music, festivals and how [Mean Fiddler] were promoting them. I often think fondly of him, God rest his soul.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s when I started thinking maybe I wasn\u2019t cut out to be a dentist after all…”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Vince persuaded me I had something creative to offer and helped me enroll in university to study marketing and communications, with the idea that I\u2019d come back and work in the marketing department at Mean Fiddler. But while I was taking the courses, Mean Fiddler was sold.<\/p>\n

At the same time, I\u2019d started helping out on the marketing side for Reading Festival, which was relatively small compared to what it is today. I loved it, and it gave me the bug for [the combination of] marketing and music.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when I started thinking maybe I wasn\u2019t cut out to be a dentist after all…<\/p>\n

\n
After your time with Mean Fiddler, you moved into the world of marketing and advertising, becoming a successful Creative Director. How did that career change come about?<\/h6>\n

While studying, I worked in nightclubs and also sold cable internet door-to-door. It taught me a lot about people, sales and negotiation \u2013 finding a way to talk to people effectively is an essential skill that has helped me in the music industry to this day.<\/p>\n

After completing my marketing diploma \u2013 and Mean Fiddler being sold \u2013 I had no desire to go back to working in the bars. That\u2019s when I set up my own small marketing consultancy.<\/p>\n

In the early 2000s I landed a contract working with an association of specialized British Airways partners that were opening routes to Tirana in Albania, Prishtina in Kosovo, Zagreb in Croatia, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and throughout Eastern Europe.<\/p>\n

I created a campaign \u2013 the tagline was \u2018Home Is Closer Than You Think\u2019 \u2013 that not only excited the client but also resonated with immigrant communities. British Airways and their partners liked it and wanted to use the creative [IP] outright, but that\u2019s where I saw an opportunity.<\/p>\n

Instead of selling, I asked to be employed as a freelance Creative Director: \u2018I\u2019ll give you the campaign, but I want to run it.\u2019 After that, I started working as a freelance Creative Director with different advertising agencies in London. When you can say, \u2018I created a campaign for British Airways,\u2019 it opens a lot of doors.<\/p>\n

\n
Whatever happened to your own musical aspirations?<\/h6>\n

After I arrived in London, I met certain people from different bands back home who\u2019d moved here. We found each other and started playing together, when we weren\u2019t working in bars. [Dugi was the frontman and songwriter.]<\/p>\n

For fun, we started doing some local gigs and before you knew it, we set up a bedroom studio and then had an album in our hands [performing as the band ODA]. We recorded it with zero commercial expectations. But people started to like it, and we sold many copies at every gig.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>
ODA, featuring Dugi Lipa (second right)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

I ended up ordering 1,000 CDs, delivered to my flat in Swiss Cottage. They took up half the flat, and I thought, \u2018What have I done? I\u2019m never going to get rid of these!\u2019 But we sold those, and then we sold more. We ended up selling about 20,000 copies all over the world \u2013 in Kosovo, Albania, America, Australia, all over Europe, wherever Albanians were living after leaving [their homeland]. That\u2019s where I found my love for managing artists. I was doing the booking, the organizing, the distribution, and negotiating the deals.<\/p>\n

During the 1990s, I discovered that our music had become huge; we had become a cult band. Later, when I returned to Kosovo in the mid-noughties, the reunion saw us regularly playing to thousands of people.<\/p>\n

My ultimate claim to fame is that we played the Montreux Jazz Festival. I believe it was something to do with the timing and Kosovo\u2019s strong exit from the conflict. I still have no idea why we were invited \u2013 I guess they had an ODA fan working for them! \u2013 but I\u2019m happy to tell anyone that we did it.<\/p>\n

\n
What led you to return to Kosovo from London?<\/h6>\n

A few years after my father passed away, I had to go back to Kosovo to sort a few things out.<\/p>\n

Some friends back home were starting an internet company and had been asking me to join their team for years, so I did \u2013 as Creative Director and Marketing Head.<\/p>\n

We became the market leader, then partnered with Slovenian Telecom to create the first privately-owned telco in Kosovo. Six months later, they bought us out.<\/p>\n

“I wasn\u2019t built for corporate life; I couldn\u2019t handle sending endless emails to people sitting right next to me.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After that, I quickly realized I wasn\u2019t built for corporate life; I couldn\u2019t handle sending endless emails to people sitting right next to me. So in 2008, I started my own marketing agency \u2013 just me, my wife, and a designer. The telco company became our first big client, and soon we grew to handle all the major brands and clients in the region.<\/p>\n

That agency still exists today, now counting over 50 staff members. We do everything for Dua as well as other major international brands.<\/p>\n

\n
At what point in your life does Dua enter the picture with her own musical ambitions?<\/h6>\n

Dua was 11 when we moved back to Kosovo in 2006. She always loved performance and music, and I loved taking her with me everywhere I performed with the band. And she didn\u2019t mind staying up late with me on the road! It was great; we kind of \u2018grew up\u2019 together in a way.<\/p>\n

In 2010, our kids needed to go back to the UK for GCSEs and A-levels, so Anesa and the children returned to London. Each month I did two weeks in London, two weeks in Prishtina, and during holidays, we would all be together. Then, at 14 or 15, Dua came to us and said, \u2018I want to do music, full-time.\u2019<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>
Photo: David Sims<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

People ask me, \u2018Dugi, she was 14, 15 \u2013 what were you thinking saying yes to this kid?\u2019 But they don\u2019t understand; she was always very mature for her age, very determined, had a God-given talent and her passion was as tangible as it can get.<\/p>\n

With all my kids, I never treated them like babies. We would have serious conversations about life and the future, even when they were teenagers. Kids are much smarter, and much more resilient, than many parents assume.<\/p>\n

\n
I understand there was an early opportunity with an X Factor<\/strong><\/em> ad that could have led Dua down a very different path?<\/h6>\n

Yes; you can still find that ad on YouTube.<\/p>\n

Dua was about 16, she was part of Sylvia Young Theatre School in London and their \u2018Spotlight\u2019 agency, which did auditions for TV commercials, plays, musicals etc. She got an audition for what turned out to be a promo ad for X Factor<\/em> [released in 2013].<\/p>\n

The final stage of the audition required her to record a song \u2013 a Sister Sledge cover [Lost In Music<\/em>]. When she went to record, there were casting agents who said, \u2018Oh, I like this girl\u2019s style.\u2019 Then when the recording came out, they said, \u2018I like her voice too!\u2019<\/p>\n

In Dua, it seemed like they had found someone with both the look and the sound. Then a gentleman from the music business who I won\u2019t name \u2013 he\u2019s a very talented person and a very good professional \u2013 offered a [production] deal to a 16-year-old Dua.<\/p>\n

Dua directed that decision to me. She said, \u2018I would love to do it but you have to talk to my dad.\u2019<\/p>\n

This is where our trust and understanding comes in; she found security and trust in me. I looked over the contract, had a meeting with him over Skype, and refused the deal. Anyone who had just a little bit of knowledge or experience about contracts would never have signed it either.<\/p>\n

“There were a few tears at the time but it was definitely a decision that had to be made.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There were a few tears at the time but it was definitely a decision that had to be made. And after that, others in the music industry quickly became interested in Dua Lipa.<\/p>\n

Look at all these TV documentaries coming out now about boy bands. They all just signed the first thing they put in front of them, and they now all regret it. It was an early lesson for Dua and me about how the music industry can operate at its worst.<\/p>\n

\n
There\u2019s an old adage in the music biz: \u2018Never work with children, animals… or artists who are managed by their family!\u2019 What\u2019s your perspective?<\/h6>\n

I agree and strongly disagree at the same time.<\/p>\n

Young people don\u2019t choose to be touched by God-given talent for writing songs, singing, performing. At the same time, their mums, dads, brothers, sisters can be well-equipped to help them… or they can be completely unequipped.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s very natural for those who aren\u2019t equipped to say, \u2018Darling, I can support you privately, emotionally. If you have a problem, I\u2019m here, but I cannot help you professionally.\u2019<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s also this other side, where a parent, a brother or a sister\u00a0is\u00a0equipped to help professionally, because of what they\u2019ve done, seen and achieved in life. [Before becoming Dua\u2019s official manager], I had dealt with major negotiations, selling businesses, creating businesses, managing people, and managing contractors, subcontractors, and partners \u2013 I had all the experience needed to professionally represent my daughter.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019d argue there is no better scenario for an artist than to be represented by somebody whose entire focus in life has always been on them.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019d argue there is no better scenario for an artist than to be represented by somebody whose entire focus in life has always been on them \u2013 a mom, dad, sister or brother \u2013 but who is also professionally equipped to do it. That combination is a blessing.<\/p>\n

At the same time, if you\u2019re [a family member] who\u2019s\u00a0not\u00a0equipped but wants to manage them anyway, I can see how that could be damaging.<\/p>\n

\n
What\u2019s different about the artist-parent manager relationship compared to a traditional management relationship?<\/h6>\n

People who work on the other side of the negotiating table often object to parent managers. Your natural instinct to provide for your children is often different from their instinct, which is very business-oriented.<\/p>\n

In my case, with Dua, it\u2019s not primarily about the money, it\u2019s about the future; what I can do for Dua, what I can provide, what security I can give her. Something I would do for any artist I represent.<\/p>\n

\n
In 2024 you announced a historic moment: Dua \u2018RE-ACQUIRED\u2019 HER PUBLISHING RIGHTS<\/a> from the pubco of her former management company, TaP. I\u2019m guessing you committed a lot of time, money, and expertise to strike that deal. Why?<\/h6>\n

It\u2019s very important for artists to retain their ideas, creativity, and IP \u2013 it is their wealth. That is something that belongs to the artist; it does not belong to anyone else.<\/p>\n

Personally, I would make it law tomorrow that you cannot own somebody\u2019s ideas, creativity, talent, publishing rights. You can represent them, administer them, but ownership of the songs they write would only go to the person who created them. It\u2019s their savings, their future. [Dugi is obviously referencing publishers taking ownership of a songwriter\u2019s \u2018future\u2019 rights \u2013 not writers choosing to sell their catalogs years after creating them.]<\/p>\n

“This moment was really about something we\u2019ve already discussed: family.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After two years of heavy negotiations, I managed to get the publishing rights back which, as you say, was publicly reported.<\/p>\n

Apart from creating this interesting, historical moment \u2013 something that doesn\u2019t happen very often \u2013 this moment was really about something we\u2019ve already discussed: family.<\/p>\n

My interest is purely about what\u2019s right for the artist… who also happens to be my daughter. But I would fight for every artist just the same as I do for Dua.<\/p>\n

\n
Dua\u2019s professional relationship with TaP ended abruptly in 2022. Why?<\/h6>\n

I can\u2019t comment on that other than to say that from February 18, 2022, I fully took over the management and manager\u2019s role.<\/p>\n

\n
Do you regret the original publishing deal that was done with TaP?<\/h6>\n

My first step after the change was to ‘clean’ the house. Going through all of her contracts \u2013 with various parties \u2013 was priority No.1, [including] the publishing rights.<\/p>\n

“The publishing and everything else that was owed to the artist had to come back. And that is exactly what I did.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The publishing and everything else that was owed to the artist had to come back. And that is exactly what I did. That represents my thoughts on the matter. Beyond that, there\u2019s no point having regrets. It was done the way it was, and I cannot comment specifically any more than that.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, it had a happy ending for us.<\/p>\n

\n
People sometimes overlook Dua as a songwriter because they\u2019re focusing on her as a performer. Can you talk about her songwriting abilities?<\/h6>\n

It\u2019s too easy for people to put female pop stars in that outdated way: \u2018She just performs, other people do the writing.\u2019<\/p>\n

But you have to be in the room to see how talented Dua is, how she interacts with other songwriters and colleagues, how she expresses herself, how she contributes to the creative moments. As I\u2019ve said, it\u2019s a God-given talent that she works extremely hard to constantly nourish.<\/p>\n