Universal Music Group CFO Boyd Muir Promoted to COO

Boyd Muir, who serves as executive VP/CFO/president of operations at Universal Music Group (UMG), has been promoted to COO, the company announced Thursday (Oct. 31). Muir, who has been the company’s CFO since 2010, will hold the titles of both CFO and COO while UMG undergoes its search for a replacement.

“Boyd’s done an outstanding job leading the company’s financial and operational functions for a period of unprecedented growth and change over this over the last 2025 years,” CEO Lucian Grainge said during UMG’s earnings call. Now, three years after UMG’s spin-off from Vivendi into a public company, “it’s important that Boyd be able to fully focus on overseeing some of our key operational and strategic functions,” he added.

Elaborating on the new role, Muir said he will support Grainge as UMG executives implement the strategic initiatives the company laid out in its Capital Markets Day presentation in September. Those goals include what UMG calls “Streaming 2.0,” an effort to extract more value from music on various streaming platforms, as well as better targeting of superfans. Those initiatives, Muir said, are important for positioning UMG in the marketplace and redefining the company’s relationships with its partners.

Before becoming UMG’s CFO, Muir was CFO for Universal Music Group International, the division that manages UMG’s businesses around the world, for 11 years. He was involved in the acquisitions of Sanctuary Group and V2 Music Group in 2007 and EMI in 2011.

From 1984 to 1991, Muir worked for accounting firm Ernst & Young before moving to EMI from 1991 to 1994. At EMI, Muir was head of internal audit and was involved in EMI’s acquisition of Virgin Music and Chrysalis Records.