Elliot Grainge
Logan Mock
On Aug. 1, shockwaves reverberated through the music industry when the Warner Music Group announced that Elliot Grainge would take the helm of Atlantic Music Group as CEO effective Oct. 1, succeeding longtime leader Julie Greenwald in the role and bringing his independent label 10K Projects under the Atlantic umbrella. The change marks both a generational transition at the storied label (Grainge is just 30 years old and more digital-focused than Greenwald and her longtime Atlantic co-head Craig Kallman) and a new level of influence for the 10K Projects founder, the son of Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge.
While that family connection is impossible to discount, Grainge has managed to pave his own path in the industry since founding 10K, through which he launched artists like Trippie Redd, XXXTentacion, iann dior, 6ix9ine and Ice Spice, whom he managed to woo amid heated competition from major labels (he ultimately signed the rapper in partnership with Capitol Music Group). Of course, Grainge was afforded an unparalleled training ground courtesy of his father, who offered his son a rare window into the business early on; in interviews, the younger Grainge has told of accompanying his father to meetings, reading the music trades and soaking up all he could about the business from a young age.
Now, as Grainge prepares to assume the top role at one of the most prestigious gigs in the industry, here is a look back at his career so far — from his early entrepreneurial ventures in college to his time running his successful independent label.
-
2013: Take Boston
While enrolled at Northeastern University, Grainge kickstarted his career by co-founding the nightlife promotion company Take Boston with Boston University student Robbie Earl and later forming Strainge Sessions, under which he promoted shows by Berklee College of Music students at local clubs.
-
2016: 10K Projects Launch
After relocating to Los Angeles after college, Strainge Sessions morphed into the record label Strainge Entertainment, which Grainge later renamed 10K Projects after rapper Tech N9ne sued him for allegedly infringing the trademark of the latter’s long-running indie label Strange Music (the two eventually settled). Launched under UMG’s Capitol Music Group, with many of its releases distributed through Caroline (now Virgin Music), 10K has since released more than 30 platinum singles, including Surfaces‘ “Sunday Best,” Internet Money‘s “Lemonade” and Ice Spice’s “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2” with PinkPantheress, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 2023; while Trippie Redd has landed seven top 5 albums on the Billboard 200, including one No. 1.
-
2019: Homemade Projects Investment
Alongside Create Music Group, 10K made a strategic investment in Zach Friedman and Tony Talamo‘s management and marketing company Homemade Projects in October 2019. Under that deal, they launched the label Homemade Records, which eventually signed artists including COIN, Salem Ilese, WizTheMc and Peach Tree Rascals.
-
2022: Homemade Projects Acquisition
10K acquired the Homemade label in 2022 and brought Friedman and Talamo aboard 10K as co-presidents to oversee A&R, marketing, publicity and creative. 10K additionally invested in other parts of the Homemade business, including its management, merchandise and digital marketing wings.
-
2023: Move to Warner Music Group
In September 2023, 10K exited its distribution agreement with Virgin/Universal and struck a joint venture deal with Warner Music Group (WMG) and became a standalone label under WMG, which purchased 51% of the label as part of the agreement. Grainge remained 10K’s CEO while also joining WMG’s global leadership team. Since arriving at Warner, 10K has landed hits such as Artemas’ “I Like the Way You Kiss Me,” which peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100, and Rich Amiri’s “One Call” (No. 60).
-
2024: Appointed Atlantic Music Group CEO
As part of a broader WMG executive restructuring, on Aug. 1, Grainge was announced as the new CEO of Atlantic Music Group effective Oct. 1, reporting to Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl and succeeding Greenwald in the role. The restructure also saw 10K shift under the Atlantic Music Group umbrella alongside Atlantic Records and the 300 Elektra Music Group. Only five days after the announcement, on Aug. 6, Greenwald announced she would officially exit the company at the end of January, ending her 20-year run at Atlantic.