| Lucian Grainge | |
|---|---|
| Occupations | Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Universal Music Group |
| Years active | 1982-present |
| Labels | Universal Music Group |
Lucian Grainge, CBE, is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Universal Music Group. Over the course of his career, he has been instrumental in the careers of artists such as Amy Winehouse, ABBA, Eurthymics, Mika, Duffy, Take That, Psychedelic Furs, Sting, Jamie Cullum and Andrea Bocelli, among many others. Grainge has been in the music business for his entire working life, known for, “keeping the lights on,” who once put a conference room full of executives into darkness to demonstrate “what it’s like when you don’t have any hit records.” [1]
Contents |
Lucian Grainge grew up in northern London. Grainge worked his way up through the London music scene after leaving school at the age of 18, when he began working as a runner at a talent scout company called MPC, “getting the assistants sandwiches."[1] After cold-calling several record label heads from the Music Week directory, he got through to Maurice Oberstein, the chairman of CBS Records, who hired him for publishing company April Music’s A&R department. His first signing was the Psychedelic Furs. In 1982 he became the director of RCA Music Publishing. Two years later he became an A&R director for MCA Records. He set up PolyGram Music Publishing in 1986 and joined Polydor as GM of A&R and business affairs in 1993. He was promoted to managing director of Polydor in 1997, and had success with acts including Boyzone and the Lighthouse Family.[2]
He became the chairman of the UK division of the Universal Music Group and later became chairman of Universal Music Group International in 2005. He served in this position until 2010. On January 1, 2011 he became CEO of the Universal Music Group and later became chairman on March 9, 2011. He succeeded Doug Morris who served as Chairman and CEO since 1995.[3]
Grainge has spearheaded Universal Music’s international digital expansion by pioneering distribution models with a wide range of technology partners, including Apple[4], Spotify[5], Nokia[6], Google, Sky[7], Vevo[8], Rdio[9], Virgin Media[10], Vodafone[11], Omnifone/Sony Ericsson[12], 19[13] and the BBC, among many others. He recently established the licensed music service, One-Stop China, with Baidu, as well as a deal with B’IN to break Taiwanese acts on the mainland.[14] There is also an agreement in place with Reliance to start India’s first mobile music service.[15] On the TV front, he entered strategic alliances with 19 Entertainment’s Simon Fuller for American Idol as well as with NBC for the hit series, The Voice.[16]
Grainge also helped arrange the partnership between Bravado, Universal Music’s entertainment merchandising division, and Tommy Hilfiger[17] and oversaw expansion for flagship classical labels Deutsche Grammophon and Decca Classics. He also put together the global strategic partnership with entertainment company Live Nation.[18]
Within his first year as Chairman & CEO of Universal, he led the company in acquiring EMI's record labels. [19]
Peter Mandelson's new crackdown on online piracy was launched after talks with one of British music's most powerful men. The Business Secretary met Lucian Grainge, chairman and chief executive of Universal Music Group International, just weeks before moving to beef up measures to tackle illegal file-sharing.
Mr Grainge, who handles the record company's multi-billion business outside North America, looks after a glittering roster of best-selling artists including Amy Winehouse, Elton John and U2. He is a fierce opponent of illegal downloading of music, games and movies from the internet.[20]
In 2008, Grainge was honored with the prestigious Music Industry Trusts’ Award, which recognizes the world’s most influential and successful executives in music. Members of U2 presented him with the award, and other acts he was associated with, like Take That, performed.
Grainge serves on the Vivendi Management Board, and is a member of the Board of Directors of Activision Blizzard. In Britain’s New Year Honours for 2010, Grainge was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in recognition of his services to the creative industries.[21]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/aug/25/mandelson-web-cutoff-plan-attacked
| Preceded by Doug Morris |
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Universal Music Group January 1, 2011 to Present |
Succeeded by incumbent |