umg
Page: 2
Narcís Rebollo has been appointed CEO and president of Global Talent Services, Universal Music Group’s full-service company for Latin artists spanning management, booking, live events, promotion and brand partnerships.
In line with Rebollo’s appointment, which was announced by Universal Music on Tuesday (Oct. 1) and is effective immediately, Global Talent Services (GTS) becomes a standalone company, with its management and operation now handled independently from UMG’s local music labels.
In the newly created role of GTS CEO and president, Rebollo — who is based in Madrid — will oversee the company’s operations in the U.S., Latin America, Spain and Portugal, reporting to Jesús López, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Latin America and Iberian Peninsula. Further details of leadership appointments within Universal Music Iberian Peninsula will follow shortly, said UMG in a statement announcing the structural changes.
Trending on Billboard
Launched in 2007, Global Talent Services provides a full suite of artist services for Latin artists and operates offices in eight countries, including the U.S., Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Mexico and Columbia.
Artists signed to GTS’ management roster in Spain include Antonio José, Salma, Natalia Lacunza and Mala Rodriguez with the company’s live events team booking over 500 shows in the country last year, according to Universal Music.
Other markets where UMG says Global Talent Services is experiencing solid growth include Mexico, where it booked 175 shows for 25 artists in 2023; and Brazil, where the company has had strong success as a booking agency and managing partner for artists projects by Maneva, Leo Santana, Atitude 67, Felipe Araújo and Paula Fernandes.
One of GTS’s biggest campaigns to date has been establishing Colombian band Morat as one of the leading Spanish-speaking pop-rock acts in the world with its “Si Ayer Fuera Hoy” 2023-2024 global tour — which included a sold-out show at New York City’s Madison Square Garden Theater in January — selling more than one million tickets across 125 concerts and over 15 countries, according to the company. GTS also operates the multi-date Universal Music Festival, which takes place every year in the Spanish capital city of Madrid.
Prior to today’s appointment, Rebollo served as president of Universal Music Iberian Peninsula since 2015, where he was responsible for UMG’s recorded music and GTS operations in Spain and Portugal. Under his leadership, the company grew its operations to include concert booking and promotion, festivals, touring and live events with GTS clients including Latin artists David Bisbal, David Bustamante, Pablo López, Lola Indigo, Aitana and Camila Fernández.
Before joining Universal, Rebollo held senior roles at Spanish independent music company Divucsa, BMG, electronic dance music label Max Music and Spain’s biggest independent label, Vale Music, which Universal acquired in 2006.
“Narcís is one of the most experienced executives in Latin music,” said Jesús López in a statement. “His vision of the evolution of the business and the expansion of Latin music around the world in recent years, has led him to create a very successful team in Spain and Portugal in the areas of management, booking, promotion and brands.”
López went on to say that GTS was born “with the purpose of being a full-service agency for artists, and the time has come for it to become an independent business unit within UMG.” Rebollo, added López, is the “perfect leader” to lead the growth of GTS globally.
“Today more than ever, our artists need strategic support from a company that is both fully focused on management, but with the ability to deliver global services and support,” said Rebollo in a statement. “With the explosion of interest and influence of live music, and music driving social engagement and conversation more than ever, I strongly believe that GTS is perfectly positioned to provide the best support for Latin artists around the world.”
Universal Music Group opened up about how the company plans to keep growing in amid an evolving streaming landscape on Tuesday at the company’s capital markets day. Held in the storied Abbey Road studios in London, UMG’s c-suite and various executives from Republic, Interscope, Virgin Music Group and more described how they build a world around superstars like Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Olivia Rodrigo, and how they’ve launched new acts like the Afrobeats star Rema.
The crowd of mostly financial industry analysts and investors also got an overview of the collectibles UMG hopes superfans will open their wallets for, its talks with Spotify about higher-priced premium subscription plans, and it’s new strategy to keep streaming revenues growing by an 8-10% compound average growth rate until fiscal year 2028.
Trending on Billboard
Streaming 2.0
Despite industry reports that new streaming subscribers are hard to find in developed markets and that streaming growth rates in smaller music markets like Brazil, Italy and Germany are besting major markets like the U.S., UMG Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lucian Grainge gave an overview of UMG’s new strategy — dubbed Streaming 2.0 — to get more revenue out of streaming.
“The addressable market — in both established markets and fast-growing high potential music markets — is massive,” Grainge said, referring to streaming subscriptions. “We expect more than a billion subscribers by the end of the decade, and we constantly ask ourselves, ‘How long could it take us to get to 2 billion?’”
“While streaming has delivered robust growth to UMG for over a decade, Streaming 2.0 will deliver a new age of innovation, consumer segmentation, geographic expansion and greater value through both subscriber and [average revenue per user] growth,” Grainge said.
The strategy relies in part on increasing the number of streaming subscriptions in developing markets where UMG says subscribers meaningfully contribute to monthly trade average revenue per user. Less than half of people in established markets have streaming subscriptions, with less than 25% of the population in Japan holding subscriptions, UMG chief financial officer Boyd Muir said.
UMG said it also expects a new wave of subscribers in these markets to come from a second cohort of older listeners starting up subscriptions and younger, digitally native music fans getting older and spending more on their streaming subscriptions. They also expect to target audiobook listeners and satellite radio subscribers for music streaming subscriptions.
Super premium streaming subscriptions
UMG’s Streaming 2.0 strategy also relies on innovation in streaming, possibly like the development of high definition streaming plans like the one Spotify‘sDanielEk hinted in June is on the horizon. Ek said that “delux” subscription could cost around $17-$18 per month for a single account.
UMG is in advanced talks to partner with Spotify on the development of that higher-priced subscription plan, Muir said Tuesday. During his presentation, UMG chief digital officer Michael Nash compared it to “another exciting” example of higher priced subscription plans — Tencent Music Entertainment’s super VIP tier, which costs five times as much as the standard tier.
Muir said “a double digit percentage” of TME’s subscriber base signed up for the super VIP plan. UMG’s own research tells it that 23% of current streaming subscribers would pay more for a “better music experience.”
Monetizing superfans
UMG execs spoke admiringly of the good old days when superfans lined up outside stores to spend gobs of money on Michael Jackson and Shania Twain CDs. The reason why? Devotees of artists in prior decades spent more per capita on music, merchandise, concert tickets and collectibles than streaming-era fans.
“Superfans, the most avid 20-30% of all music listeners, once drove over 70% of recorded music spending,” Muir said. “Streaming monetizes them, but not nearly as well in the past. This is an enormous opportunity. We are seeing dramatic growth in revenues that are complimentary to spending.”
He was referring to premium music — vinyl, collectible CDs and cassettes — and merchandise collectibles. UMG has seen its revenues from products sold directly to consumers through some 1,300 odd online stores grow at a 33% compound annual growth rate in recent years.
When something like a $55-Olivia Rodrigo Stanley Cup gets sold, UMG collects as much information as it can, and the purchaser becomes one of the 100 million fans in what Muir referred to as “our owned audience.”
Republic Records has named Miles Beard and David Wolter as co-heads of A&R, the company announced today (July 15). Beard, based on the West Coast, and Wolter, based on the East Coast, will report to label president and chief creative officer Wendy Goldstein.
The duo, who both joined Republic in 2022, had previously served as executive vice presidents of A&R for the label. Their new roles will see them jointly lead the A&R development and strategy for the company, as well as oversee partnerships, alongside executive vp Danielle Price, who oversees the R&B/hip-hop A&R team.
“When it comes to A&R, Miles and David are two of the industry’s most savvy and visionary executives,” Goldstein said in a statement. “They could not be more different in terms of preferences, approach and even location of the two coasts, however they’re the perfect match to run this department. They share a rare passion for music and they’re intensely committed to championing their artists. Their partnership is genuinely next-level and will be integral to our success going forward. Our focus is creating a dominant A&R team with them along with our hip-hop/R&B initiatives.”
Trending on Billboard
Beard has worked with the Jonas Brothers, with Republic’s K-pop partners on Stray Kids and TXT, and on Republic’s recent deal with Nigerian label Mavin for the singer Ayra Starr, among other projects. Wolter, meanwhile, has worked with artists like Conan Gray, Greta Van Fleet, Miranda Lambert and Zoe Kravitz for the label. Republic Records — also home to superstars like Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd and more — is part of Republic Recording Company, alongside Island Records, Def Jam Recordings, Mercury Records, Casablanca Records, indie distributor Imperial and the Corps team, under Monte Lipman and Avery Lipman.
“It’s incredible to work with Wendy, Monte and Avery Lipman, and my new partner Miles,” Wolter said in a statement. “We have so much support. Wendy’s instincts are unrivaled. Monte and Avery don’t stop, and it’s inspiring. When it comes to our artists, I just want to be a vigilant fighter for their artistry. My main hope is for our team to have a massive impact on culture and challenge the status quo.”
Wolter spent a decade at Virgin Records from 1997 through 2007, signing The Gorillaz, before spending another 10 years at RCA Records, before returning to Virgin under the Capitol Music Group umbrella in 2017, and then shifting to Republic in 2022. Beard, a longtime DJ, spent 10 years at Mike Caren’s APG, signing Charlie Puth, before moving to Republic.
“Wendy, Monte and Avery make you feel like anything is possible,” Beard said in a statement. “The way they balance being good people and being extremely competitive is one-of-a-kind. David and I are opposites. He’s a purist, I just love what people love. He has no filter, I’m measured. He’s tall, I’m short. We complement each other in every way. As an A&R, I want to make our artists feel comfortable and motivated to think as big as possible.”
LONDON — Universal Music Group is to merge its historic Island and EMI label divisions as part of a widespread restructuring of the company’s U.K. business that will also see the launch of new Audience and Media Division to support artists and labels.
The announcement was made on Tuesday (July 9) by David Joseph, chairman and CEO Universal Music U.K. and Ireland, in an internal memo, which has been viewed by Billboard.
The reorganization of Universal Music’s U.K. operations follows changes the company made to its U.S. teams earlier this year with the formation of Interscope Capitol Labels Group and Republic Corps.
That structure is now being loosely mirrored in the United Kingdom with the creation of what Joseph called “two new powerhouse frontline label groups” — Island EMI Label Group, headed by Louis Bloom as president, and the newly formed Polydor Label Group, led by Ben Mortimer.
Trending on Billboard
Both label groups will be home to multiple labels “all with creative autonomy,” said Joseph’s memo. Each department will also contain a team dedicated to supporting artists from the wider UMG family, said the Universal U.K. boss.
In line with the restructuring, which comes into effect Oct. 1, Universal is shuffling its executive ranks.
EMI Records co-president Jo Charrington has been appointed president of a “reimagined” U.K. arm of Capitol, which will sit within the wider Polydor Label Group, as will 0207 Def Jam, led by president Alec Boateng. (Billboard understands that Boateng’s brother and co-president of 0207 Def Jam Alex Boateng is to remain with Universal and will be given a job within an international division).
EMI Records’ other co-president, Rebecca Allen, will take up the role of president of Universal’s Audience and Media Division (AMD), a newly formed U.K.-based department dedicated to serving artists and labels that will have a global remit.
Joining Allen in the Audience and Media team will be Suzy Walby (media), Kate Wyn Jones (Audience and Digital Strategy) and data and strategic branch The Square insight team, led by Jack Fryer.
In his internal staff memo, Joseph said the “industry first” AMD team “will revolutionise how we deliver for our artists” and will become Universal U.K.’s largest division.
Not mentioned in the memo is the scale or number of job losses that will result from the changes, although it does state that the consultation period for staff whose roles are potentially at risk starts today and will continue until mid-September.
In the United Kingdom, it is a legal requirement that companies must follow so-called “collective consultation” rules if it is making 20 or more employees redundant within any 90-day period. Universal U.K. declined to comment on staff redundancies.
Not impacted by the changes are Laura Monks and Tom Lewis, who will continue in their current roles of Decca co-presidents, which will remain a stand-alone label. Hannah Neaves remains sole president of Universal Music Recordings.
“As a company, we must continue to be forward-looking, innovative, and bold. Developing artists now requires more creativity and patience than ever before,” said Joseph in his internal memo.
Joseph went on to say that the restructure would “strengthen our labels’ capabilities to deepen artist and fan connections.”
“We are committed to being the number one place for artists, fans and talent,” surmised the U.K. CEO. “I have an incredible appreciation for our team given what we have achieved in the past and what I know we will achieve in the future.”
Universal Music Group has announced a new partnership with SoundLabs, a “responsible” AI music tools company, to provide AI music editing tools to UMG talent. This includes a real-time personalized AI voice clone plug-in, called “MicDrop,” due to launch later this summer.
The SoundLabs AI-powered music editing tools (AU, VST3, AAX) hook up to all major digital audio workstations (DAW), including Logic, ProTools, Ableton and more, to let musicians clean up their vocals, make changes, and even shape-shift their voices in the click of a button, thanks to AI technology. With MicDrop, UMG artists can create their own AI voice models, but these custom models will exclusive to their creative use, not available to the general public.
The news falls perfectly in line with the company’s “responsible” AI strategy, laid out by UMG CEO and chairman, Lucian Grainge, at the beginning of 2024. As he stated in a January memo to staff, obtained by Billboard, Grainge wrote that even though some experts viewed AI as “a looming threat,” UMG’s view was that AI would be “presenting opportunities” for the company. “Just as we did with streaming, we went out to turn those opportunities into reality.”
Trending on Billboard
He went on to explain his two-prong approach to embracing what he called UMG’s “responsible AI initiative.” First, he would lobby for “guardrails,” or public policies to protect artists’ name, image, voice, and likeness from wrongful impersonation and other “basic rules.”
Second, Grainge set out “to forge groundbreaking private-sector partnerships with AI technology companies,” which now includes its deal with SoundLabs. “In the past, new and often disruptive technology was simply released into the world, leaving the music community to develop the model by which artists would be fairly compensated and their rights protected,” Grainge continued. “In a sharp break with that past, we formed a historic relationship with our longtime partner, YouTube, that gives artists a seat at the table before any product goes to market, including helping to shape AI products’ development and a path to monetization.”
SoundLabs was co-founded by Grammy-nominated producer, composer, software developer and electronic artist BT. After a 25-year career, working with David Bowie, Madonna, Sting, Death Cab for Cutie, Peter Gabriel and Seal, he turned to software development to create new music tools to help producers innovate. Over the years, his software products — including patented audio plugins like Stutter Edit, BreakTweaker (iZotope), Polaris, Phobos (Spirfire Audio) — have generated $70 million in gross sales.
The company’s other co-founders — Joshua Dickinson, Dr. Michael Hetrick and Lacy Transeau — are all aligned with BT on an “artist-first” approach to making AI music tools. As a press release from UMG about the partnership states: “SoundLabs was founded with a foundational respect for intellectual property rights and is focused on helping artists retain creative control over their data and models.”
“It’s a tremendous honor to be working with the forward-thinking and creatively aligned Universal Music Group. We believe the future of music creation is decidedly human. Artificial intelligence, when used ethically and trained consensually, has the promethean ability to unlock unimaginable new creative insights, diminish friction in the creative process and democratize creativity for artists, fans, and creators of all stripes. We are designing tools not to replace human artists, but to amplify human creativity,” says BT.
Chris Horton, svp of strategic technology at Universal Music adds: “UMG strives to keep artists at the center of our AI strategy, so that technology is used in service of artistry, rather than the other way around. We are thrilled to be working with SoundLabs and BT, who has a deep and personal understanding of both the technical and ethical issues related to AI. Through direct experience as a singer and in partnership with many vocal collaborators, BT understands how performers view and value their voices, and SoundLabs will allow UMG artists to push creative boundaries using voice-to-voice AI to sing in languages they don’t speak, perform duets with their younger selves, restore imperfect vocal recordings, and more.”
It’s time for another spin around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. Don’t forget to dig into this year’s Indie Power Players list. We also have a weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive and a regularly updated gallery honoring many of the industry figures we’ve lost throughout the year.
Sphere Entertainment has turned to Hollywood studio veteran Carolyn Blackwood as its new head of Sphere Studios, which develops and produces the “multi-sensory entertainment experiences” for concerts, corporate events and more at the next-generation spherical wonder. At Sphere, Blackwood will lead a team of creative, production and other various wizards responsible for those immersive experiences, plus work closely with MSG Ventures on developing the production technologies needed to create them. Blackwood has more than 25 years of studio experience, and was most recently chief operating officer at Warner Bros. Pictures. Prior to WB, she spent 20-plus years at New Line Cinema, where she rose to president and chief content officer. Between those two studios, she was integrally involved with some of the biggest films of the last quarter-century, including The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Barbie and The Conjuring franchise.
Trending on Billboard
“Throughout my career, I have focused on creative and business innovation in the entertainment industry, as well as the pursuit of production excellence, and this is a tremendous opportunity to be part of the cutting-edge work at Sphere,” said Blackwood. Sphere’s newly elevated president and COO Jennifer Koester added that she believe’s Blackwood’s “expertise bringing high-profile entertainment projects to life will be an asset as we continue to build on, and grow, the Studios’ capabilities.”
The creative team at Sphere also includes chief creative officer Ned McNeilage, who joined earlier this year. Since opening last year with a successful run of U2 shows, the Las Vegas megavenue has been in a jam-y mood with a four concert mini-residency by Phish and an in-progress 24-date residency by Dead & Company. An eight-date run by Eagles is scheduled for the fall.
Meanwhile…
Universal Music India and South Asia promoted Viral Jani to chief revenue officer. Jani joined UMGISA in 2023 as head of digital, strategy & transformation, having previously held senior positions at Times Network, GroupM and Twitter, among others. The promotion follows the May elevation of Sanujeet Bhujabal from evp of content to managing director of the Mumbai-based label division. “[The promotions of Bhujabal and Jani] reflects the company’s commitment to growth and development of one of Universal Music Group’s most important emerging markets,” noted Adam Granite, CEO, Universal Music Group AMEA. “Together they will work closely, alongside Chairman & CEO Devraj Sanyal and myself, to deliver our mission of creating the best music-based entertainment company in the region.”
Warner Chappell Music promoted A&R exec Jessi Vaughn Stevenson to vp, A&R and digital. Stevenson will continue reporting to Ben Vaughn, president/CEO WCM Nashville, as she strategizes opportunities for songwriters. During her career, Stevenson has worked with songwriters including Jessi Alexander, Rhett Akins, Parker McCollum, Hailey Whitters, Morgan Wallen and Randy Montana. “Jessi has always shown commitment to songwriters, helping them with their craft and careers,” said Vaughn. “She is always thinking of new ways to support songwriters and is a wonderful team player. We’re happy to announce her promotion.” –Jessica Nicholson
APM Music elevated creative executive Adam Weitz from senior director to vp of TV and film sync. Weitz has spent the bulk of his 16-year sync licensing career — roughly 11-and-a-half years — at APM, a production music joint venture between Universal Music Publishing Group and Sony Music Publishing. During that time he and his TV/Film team has banked large-scale licensing deals with Hollywood studios, streaming platforms and others, and locked in placements with hundreds of films and shows, including recent wins in Oppenheimer, Succession, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Ted Lasso and more. He also spearheads APM’s sample clearance business, which has collaborated with Drake, Beck, The Black Keys and others. Weitz reports to chief revenue officer Chad Elbert and president Adam Taylor, who remarked, “His deep industry connections and unique blend of creative and licensing expertise have established him as one of the very best in the industry.” Prior to joining APM in 2013, the Los Angeles-based exec spent nearly five years in leadership at sync licensing house Visions from the Roof. Under the pseudonym Phofo, Weitz composed music for several animated shows including Sushi Pack, Care Bears and Club Penguin, and he co-produced the first studio LP by MC Paul Barman. Reach him at aweitz@apmmusic.com.
BOARD SHORTS: Furnace Record Pressing founder and former CEO Eric Astor was elected to the Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association‘s board of directors. VRMA works to advance the record manufacturing sector — in which Astor has been deeply invested since FRP’s 1996 founding. He recently transitioned to an advisor role at the Metallica-backed Virginia plant, with Ali Miller taking over as CEO in March … OpenAI (ChatGPT) appointed Paul M. Nakasone, the former head of the National Security Agency (NSA), to its board of directors.
BMG appointed Alexandra Behrens as senior vp of global people excellence, a most excellent way of saying she’ll oversee HR services and operations across the company. Behrens is sliding over from Bertelsmann sister company Gruner + Jahr (G+J), where she led the people management & services team during a 15-year run at the print publishing giant. “Alexandra’s leadership will be instrumental in driving our global HR initiatives and fostering a culture of excellence across all of our locations,” said BMG CHRO Nikola Holle-Spiegel, to whom she’ll report. BMG recently announced a fine-tuning of its frontline recordings business under Jon Loba.
Digital Media Association (DiMA) promoted Sally Rose Larson to senior vp of government and external affairs. Prior to joining DiMA in 2019 as the audio streaming trade group’s vp of government relations, the Georgia native served as legislative director and later deputy chief of staff to Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), and was chief copyright advisor to House Judiciary Committee GOPers.
Reed Smith welcomed Jackson Abbeduto as counsel in its global entertainment and media industry group. Based in the lauded law firm‘s Century City, Calif. office, Abbeduto arrives following a year as counsel at Granderson Des Rochers. Prior to that, he spent nearly a decade at Universal Music Publishing Group and three years at YouTube as an executive. “Music is very important to our overall practice strategy, and considering our partner Gregor Pryor is the leading digital music lawyer in Europe, Jackson will have all the resources necessary to help us be on the forefront of advising clients in the US on all cutting-edge digital issues,” said Stephen Sessa, the co-chair of Reed Smith’s global entertainment and media industry group.
RADIO, RADIO: Cumulus Media promoted Kriston Aitken to chief human resources officer, taking over for a retiring Todd McCarty, who held the role for nine years. The HR veteran joined Cumulus in 2016 and was elevated to vp of Human Resources two years ago … Jose George and Olivia Morley joined advertising consulting firm Madison and Wall as senior analysts, according to Radio Ink … Samantha Melbourneweaver is joining NPR as managing editor/digital audience growth & engagement. She was previously the assistant managing editor of audience at the Los Angeles Times.
CAA promoted 15 employees, including Shayna Ehrlich to music marketing executive in the agency’s music touring department. She joined the firm in March 2019 as a music and comedy tour marketing assistant and later shed the laughs part of her workload. Prior to joining CAA, the NYC-based Ehrlich was in media strategy at iHeartMedia. THR has more details on the moves.
Hollywood-based publicist and former TV programmer Kiki Ayers launched My Best Kid Life, a new “daily guide on how parents and kids can live their best life” that will focus on wellness, nutrition, co-parenting and more, plus feature exclusive interviews with celebs discussing parenthood. Unique to MBKL is that all images used for the company are in the style of comic book, cartoon or anime. Pryor to this new venture, Ayers ran her PR firm Ayers Publicity and worked as an entertainment reporter. Earlier in her career, Ayers was a music programming manager at REVOLT and was in production at both MTV2 and The Jerry Springer Show.
ICYMI:
Richard Burgess
A2IM president and CEO Richard James Burgess telegraphed his exit from the indie label trade group … UTA hired ex-Ingrooves chief Bob Roback as COO … Downtown named Molly Neuman as president of its CD Baby arm … Jennifer Koester was promoted to president and COO of Sphere Entertainment … UnitedMasters hired Def Jam vet LaTrice Burnette as evp and head of music … and COLTURE‘s Ty Baisden was named executive of the year in Billboard‘s Indie Power Players list.
Last Week’s Turntable: TikTok Lawyers Up
Universal Music Group (UMG) shareholders approved CEO Lucian Grainge‘s 138.8 million euros ($128 million) compensation package from 2023 in a nonbinding advisory vote at the company’s annual general meeting in The Netherlands on Thursday (May 16).
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
A majority of investors voted to approve all proposals up for a vote this year, including the reappointment of billionaire Bill Ackman, Cyrille Bollore and others as non-executive directors despite criticism from shareholder advisory groups Glass Lewis, who last month called UMG’s pay practices excessive and said the board lacked independence.
Advisory shareholder votes like these are only advisory and not enforceable, but they are closely watched as indicators of investors’ feelings on a company’s pay policies and the people who make up their boards. Anytime a significant percentage of investors expresses disapproval, which Glass Lewis defines as 20% or more, directors consult with shareholders about how to make internal changes to address their concerns.
Trending on Billboard
Investors in Live Nation and Cumulus Media used recent shareholder meetings to vote their disapproval of those companies’ CEO pay packages.
UMG did not immediately disclose the percentage of votes cast in support of the proposals at this year’s annual meeting, which was livestreamed only to registered shareholders. Last year, a slim majority of UMG investors representing roughly 59% of shares voted in approval of UMG’s remuneration policy, which details the 2023 compensation packages paid out to Grainge and deputy CEO Vincent Vallejo.
About 58% of UMG’s voting shares are collectively held by Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, Tencent, Bollore and Vivendi. Last year, all four shareholders voted to approve UMG’s remuneration policy.
Grainge’s total 2023 compensation is 138,814,000 euros, or $128,264,000 based on a monthly average foreign exchange rate of 0.924. In 2022, he was the third highest-paid music executive, having made total compensation of 47.3 million euros ($49.7 million) thanks to a 28.8 million euros ($30.3 million) performance bonus in addition to a base salary of 15.4 million euros ($16.2 million).
In 2023, Grainge had a base salary of 7.5 million euros (just over $8 million) and bonus of 15.16 million euros (nearly $16.3 million), and a one-time transition equity award worth 92,406,852 euros (roughly $100 million). That award was paid out in half in restricted stock units and half in performance stock options. The performance stock options vest over the coming five years and can only be excised once UMG’s stock hits certain thresholds.
Glenn Peoples contributed reporting.
Influential shareholder advisory groups Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis advised Universal Music Group (UMG) investors to vote their disapproval of a UMG compensation report that details CEO Lucian Grainge‘s 2023 pay package, which included a one-time $100 million stock and options award, when it’s put to an advisory vote at UMG’s annual meeting on May 16.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
It’s the second year in a row that ISS and Glass Lewis have criticized Grainge’s compensation package –with ISS calling it “excessive” and Glass Lewis saying it has “severe reservations” about UMG’s remuneration report – and it could stir opposition among investors, many of whom expressed reservations about payouts at last year’s annual meeting.
UMG did not respond to a request for comment.
Trending on Billboard
While investor advisory votes are non-binding and Grainge and other UMG executives are expected to keep their compensation regardless of the outcome, they are considered a measure of investor sentiment, which has hardened in recent years.
Last year, a slim majority of UMG investors – roughly 59% of shares – voted in favor of the executive pay packages for Grainge, who has been CEO of UMG since 2010, and his deputy CEO Vincent Vallejo, at the company’s annual meeting.
Other media and entertainment companies have fared worse. Investors in Cumulus Media overwhelmingly rejected CEO Mary Berner‘s $4.5 million 2023 compensation earlier this month. Last June, 53% of Live Nation shares were voted against CEO Michael Rapino‘s nearly $139 million 2022 compensation package.
Rapino and Live Nation’s president/CFO Joe Berchtold, who earned $52.4 million in 2022, were the best paid music executives of that year, and the board of the world’s largest concert promotion and ticketing company said that pay reflected “strong leadership decisions” made during the pandemic that contributed to a record-breaking $16.7 billion in Live Nation revenue in 2022.
Grainge, 64, was the third highest paid music executive of 2022, having made a total compensation of 47.3 million euros ($49.7 million) thanks to a 28.8 million euros ($30.3 million) performance bonus in addition to a base salary of 15.4 million euros ($16.2 million).
For 2023, Grainge’s base salary and cash bonus were reduced by half to 7.5 million euros (just over $8 million) and 15.16 million euros (nearly $16.3 million), respectively. The significant boost to his total compensation is owed to a one-time transition equity award worth 92,406,852 euros (roughly $100 million) that is comprised of 50% restricted stock units and 50% performance stock options. The performance stock options vest over the coming five years and can only be excised once UMG’s stock hits certain thresholds. UMG’s stock last traded at 29.23 euros ($31.44).
Taking into account other short-term and long-term incentives and benefits, Grainge’s total 2023 compensation is 138,814,000 euros or $128,264,000 based on a monthly average foreign exchange rate of 0.924.
The shareholder advisory firms were aligned in their concerns over how UMG’s pay practices compared to similar companies and argued the one-time transition award was not sufficiently linked to the company’s stock performance.
ISS said Grainge’s pay was more than 25 times higher than the median pay of CEOs from a peer group that included companies like Spotify and Vivendi.
In its report, Glass Lewis cited an alert published by Eumedion, the Dutch Corporate Governance Forum for institutional investors, which said it was “unclear if the company can count on societal support for the CEO’s total remuneration … in addition to the dissent shareholders expressed at the company’s 2023 general meeting.”
UMG said in its annual report that “the increase in remuneration year-over-year is primarily driven by the transition to a more performance-based and share-based remuneration package.”
UMG’s stock rose 17% in 2023, “which it believes is indicative of the success of its recent remuneration practices in incentivizing the creation of value,” according to the Glass Lewis report.
ISS also recommended investors vote against the election of Bill Ackman, the billionaire investor whose Pershing Square Capital Management owns 10.25% of UMG, and also against Cyrille Bollore, Manning Doherty, Catherine Lawson-Hall, James Mitchell and Vincent Vallejo, because the board “lacks sufficient independence among its members.”
Universal Music Group is betting big on French-speaking Africa, announcing a new partnership on Wednesday with Wèrè Wèrè Music founder Binetou Sylla to lead Def Jam Africa‘s efforts in the rapidly growing music market. Working with Universal Music France and Capitol France, Sylla and her team will focus on discovering and producing French-speaking artists in […]
When licensing negotiations between TikTok and the Universal Music Group collapsed at the end of January, many official recordings from UMG artists vanished from the platform. UMG chief digital officer/executive vp Michael Nash told financial analysts in February that the company had been “providing notices to effectuate the muting of millions of videos every day for the last two weeks.” Yet a number of songs connected to UMG — or its publishing wing, Universal Music Publishing Group — remain available on TikTok anyway.
Some are user uploads, which might theoretically be harder to find and take down or mute. Others are official tracks, including recent releases from prominent stars and fast-moving viral hits. And much of Taylor Swift’s catalog returned to TikTok on Thursday (April 11), raising the question of how other artists may be able to find workarounds while the licensing dispute continues.
Trending on Billboard
One possible reason that some songs are staying on TikTok: Several artist lawyers tell Billboard they are devising contractual carve-outs to allow their clients to keep their music on the platform. Others note that even though they haven’t added these clauses to recording agreements yet, it has become a topic of conversation with their clients.
“Some labels are allowing some of their artists to exclude newly created music from the grant of rights until the label has a deal in place” with TikTok, says David Fritz, founding partner at Boyarski Fritz. “Because the issue is so new, we are developing on the fly to meet the needs of talent — songwriters and artists — that want their music on TikTok. This is an issue, and workaround, that came about solely as a result of UMG taking down its catalog from TikTok.”
Reps for UMG and TikTok declined to comment.
Some artists have invested years of their life building a following on TikTok. (Predecessor Musical.ly was acquired by Bytedance in 2017 and then relaunched in the United States as TikTok the year after.) For more than two months now, they’ve been unable to share official recordings with those fans on the platform — the same fans who may have earned them their major-label deal in the first place.
“Some artists are concerned about this,” says Josh Binder, founding partner at Rothenberg Mohr & Binder. “They don’t want to be uncompetitive, unable to use TikTok to muster up an audience.”
“TikTok is mostly used as a new-music discovery tool — discover a clip on TikTok, listen to it on a DSP,” Fritz adds. “So those who are trying to get their music discovered are the most concerned” about being unable to promote new songs on the app.
In 2022, MIDiA Research found that TikTok was the second-biggest driver of music discovery for Gen Z, after YouTube. In recent months, TikTok popularity has helped little-known acts like Dasha, Good Neighbours and the Red Clay Strays explode at streaming services — leading to major-label deals — and contributed to breakout hits for Djo, Flo Milli and Benson Boone, among others.
UMG pushed back against the idea that TikTok has a lock on discovery during its most recent earnings call. Chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge told financial analysts that TikTok was “not a material part of the multidisciplinary jigsaw where we promote and market our music globally.” And UMG CFO/executive vp Boyd Muir said that UMG would “focus on accelerating [its] partnerships” with other social media platforms, including Meta, Snap and YouTube, to provide alternative promotional avenues for its artists.
But the job of an artist lawyer — a good one, at least — is to help their client get what they want. Labels typically aim to control as many rights as they can for as long as they can. In the modern music business, artists have more ability to push back; because they can generate momentum on their own, without a record company’s help, more aspects of a record deal are negotiable. “You can cherry-pick what you want to be in your contract to some degree,” Scott Booker, the longtime manager of The Flaming Lips, recently told Billboard.
As with any negotiation, artists’ ability to get their preferred terms comes down to their leverage — for stars especially, there are few rules that can’t be bent — and the skill of the lawyers involved. “If you successfully reserve the right to license to TikTok directly in your contract with UMG, you would be able to do so directly or via a third-party service,” says Leon Morabia, a partner at Mark Music & Media Law. “It would be a difficult point to win in a deal, but it is contractually feasible.”
Josh Love, partner at Reed Smith, says he has been able to get “a carve-out” in the past that allowed an artist “to do a direct license with a DSP” — a digital service provider like TikTok or another social media or streaming service — “if the label or distributor is ever not licensed with that DSP and [the artist] wants to remain on the platform.” This is meant to act as interim coverage for an artist; if the label or distributor were to form a new licensing agreement, that would likely supersede that deal made between the artist and the DSP in the meantime.
Some clauses that are already in record deals could also be expanded by artist attorneys to ensure their clients’ music remains available on TikTok. “Release commitments,” for example, are put in place to “force the label to guarantee that a record will be released within certain months after delivery so that the artist’s record doesn’t get ’shelved,’ with the artist stuck in the deal,” says Gandhar Savur, a music attorney.
These clauses have become increasingly comprehensive, stretching “to cover commitments by the label over more specific aspects of the release — the exact countries in which the album will be distributed, formats that the album will be released in such as vinyl and digital, and even including specific major DSPs by name like Spotify and Apple Music.” After negotiations between UMG and TikTok unraveled, Savur continues, “it would be a natural response that artist attorneys will gradually start to require release commitments to cover all platforms generally so that if a label is not licensed with a particular platform for any reason, the artist can deal with that platform directly.”
Savur believes that artists who are signed to labels that are distributed by UMG, rather than signed directly, probably have more latitude to try to deal with platforms like TikTok on their own. “Although I believe that what Universal is doing overall is a good thing for the industry, Universal-distributed labels might be more sympathetic to their artists’ desire to stay on TikTok because the increased streaming and ticket sales [that] result from any tracks going viral on the platform can be a big win for the artist and label alike,” Savur says.
If the UMG-TikTok deadlock rolls on, Fritz says, “smart lawyers” with leverage will find “a workaround that enables their clients to continue to use the most popular discovery tool while the large-scale license gets worked out.”