Lucian Grainge: Last News

Universal Music Group (UMG) has announced their plans for 2024, including job cuts and an “artist-centric” streaming model.A report by Bloomberg alleged that the company was planning to lay off hundreds of jobs within the first quarter. Anonymous sources claimed that the recorded music department would suffer the most cuts.

As its public dispute with TikTok continues, Universal Music Group has set an expanded strategic relationship with Spotify.

HYBE, home to K-pop juggernauts BTS, have inked a new 10-year “global alliance” with Universal Music Group (UMG).HYBE – also home to other K-pop groups such as SEVENTEEN, NewJeans and more – announced an expanded agreement with UMG. The new deal will give UMG “exclusive distribution rights” to HYBE releases for the next 10 years, while HYBE’s roster of artists will have access to the former’s “global network”.The new agreement will also see UMG further working with HYBE’s fan platform Weverse, in order to “[bring] more of a direct connection between UMG artists and their fandom[s]”.

K-pop music purveyors HYBE today announced an expanded long-term agreement with Universal Music Group (UMG), providing them exclusive distribution rights across HYBE music for the next 10 years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hybe, the Korean firm behind K-pop’s BTS, has struck an expanded 10-year deal with Universal Music Group (UMG), providing Hybe’s roster of artists and labels access to UMG’s leading global network. UMG will further collaborate with Hybe’s global superfan platform Weverse, bringing more of a direct connection between UMG artists and their fandom. Hybe and UMG will additionally collaborate on artist promotions and marketing activities in North America under the oversight of Scooter Braun – who, in his time as CEO of Hybe America, acquired QC Media Holdings and incorporated SB Projects as well as Big Machine Label Group into the existing roster. Hybe and UMG first teamed up in 2017 on BTS, through a distribution agreement in Japan. In 2021, the companies expanded their relationship with a global strategic agreement which saw collaborations across multiple projects and use of Weverse for fan communication.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The U.S. recorded music industry grew its revenue by 8% in 2023, reaching an all-time high of $17.1 billion and marking eight consecutive years of growth. However, there’s no question that the streaming boom of the past decade, which produced years of double-digit growth, is leveling off and the industry is reacting with layoffs and talk of a “transformational moment” in the months and years to come.

UPDATE: As expected, layoffs commenced today at Universal Music Group, which includes Interscope, Republic, Capitol, Def Jam and Island, as well as catalog division Universal Music Enterprises and UMG corporate. 

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music As expected, layoffs began hitting Universal Music Group almost immediately after the company’s earnings call on Wednesday. The moves, which have been signaled by chairman-CEO Lucian Grainge since last fall, were still evolving at the time of this article’s publication, and follow the broad consolidation of the company’s labels under Interscope (West Coast) and Republic (East Coast) groups, under CEOs John Janick and Monte Lipman, respectively.

A record producer who used to work with Sean “Diddy” Combs is the latest individual to sue the music mogul.

Sean Combs is already facing several sexual assault lawsuits, and now the producer of his latest release The Love Album: Off The Grid is going after the performer for $30 million in a biting legal action.

Steven J. Horowitz Senior Music Writer After a string of lawsuits from former associates and employees, Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing yet another legal battle as a former male employee has filed a fifth sexual assault suit against the mogul. Producer Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones filed the suit against Combs in the Southern District of New York on Monday, alleging that Combs made unwanted sexual advances and forced him to hire sex workers and engage in relations with them.

Thania Garcia Universal Music Group has acquired a 25.8% interest in Chord Music Partners — whose portfolio includes music from the Weeknd, Ellie Goulding, John Legend, Kid Cudi and more — for $240 million. Chord, which was formed in 2021 by KKR and Dundee Partners, will work with UMG and Dundee as part of a long-term partnership where UMG will handle distribution and publishing administration for Chord’s existing catalog through Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) and UMG’s Virgin Music Group (VMG).

Sofia Richie recently revealed she is having a baby girl with her husband, Elliot Grainge. The couple, who wed in April 2023, kept the news under wraps and then decided to tell their parents, Lionel Richie, Diane Alexander, Lucian Grainge, and Caroline Grainge.“We went to Elliot’s parents, who live about five minutes away from us,” she told Vogue.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music After weeks of rumors, Universal Music Group has confirmed that it will be laying off an unspecified but significant number of employees in the coming weeks. The company’s recorded-music division is said to be receiving the brunt of the layoffs.

Thania Garcia Universal Music CEO Lucian Grainge issued his annual memo to staff for 2024 on Tuesday, making note of the music company’s global and innovative advances throughout the last year. Grainge heralded UMG’s financial and “competitive” performance metrics, along with the company’s efficiency in applying remodeled, “artist-centric” royalty models.

Vice has a new Executive Chairman.

Mark Sutherland Awards season has been in full swing in the U.K., and the highlight of the month was the glittering Music Industry Trust Awards, held in London last month. The awards honor individuals for their contribution to the U.K.’s musical and cultural landscape, while raising vital funds for the BRIT Trust and Nordoff & Robbins.

YouTube is working on a new AI tool that would allow users to create videos that use the voices of well-known musicians.Billboard reported that the company is currently in talks with record labels to negotiate permission for the use of artists’ intellectual property.If it goes ahead, the beta version of the tool would allow a “select group of creators” to use the voices of the artists that agree to participate to create new video content on the platform.However, it is reported that conversations between YouTube and record labels are taking longer than expected. YouTube had intended to unveil the tool at their ‘Made on YouTube’ event in September, but that did not happen.Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group are some of the major labels that are currently in talks over voice rights for the beta version, although it is expected that any wider launch of the tool would require a new set of legal agreements.UMG CEO Lucian Grainge has said that the new technology could “amplify human imagination and enrich musical creativity in extraordinary new ways.”Robert Kyncl, the CEO of Warner Music Group said, “You have to embrace the technology, because it’s not like you can put technology in a bottle.”It is thought that many major artists are resistant to allowing their voices to be used, and Billboard reports that there remain questions about how artists would be paid for the new content that the tool would create.This week (October 18), music publishers including Universal Music Group Publishing, Concord Music Group and ABKCO sued an Amazon-backed AI company over alleged copyright infringement.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Universal Music Group and BandLab Technologies have announced plans for a strategic relationship concentrated on protecting artists’ rights in the age of AI. “Centered on empowering the next generation of artists, including within BandLab’s global community, the alliance will advance the companies’ shared commitment to ethical use of AI and the protection of artist and songwriter rights,” the announcement states.

Selena Gomez is letting her feelings be known.

Thania Garcia Universal Music Greater China (UMGC) has appointed Timothy Xu as its new chairman and CEO of the Greater China division. He will be responsible for the music company’s operations across mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, effective immediately.