Lucian Grainge Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

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.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music After weeks of rumors, it’s official: Elliot Grainge’s 10K Projects, home to releases by Trippie Redd, Ice Spice, Iann Dior and more, has launched a joint venture with Warner Music Group. According to the announcement, the label, which was founded by Grainge — son of Universal Music chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge — in 2016, will become a standalone label within the WMG ecosystem, bringing its roster and team into the WMG fold.

ABBA‘s Björn Ulvaeus, and Rosanne Cash, Johnny Cash‘s daughter, are set to work with YouTube and Universal Music on a new AI project.According to a statement regarding the project, Ulvaeus said: “While some may find my decision controversial, I’ve joined this group with an open mind and purely out of curiosity about how an AI model works and what it could be capable of in a creative process.”He continued: “I believe that the more I understand, the better equipped I’ll be to advocate for and to help protect the rights of my fellow human creators.”Other musicians that are attached to the project are One Republic‘s Ryan Tedder, composer Max Richter, record producer Louis Bell, Anitta, D4vd, American musician Don Was, Colombian musician Juanes, Rodney Jerkins,Yo Gotti and the estate of Frank Sinatra.Richter said: “Like every new technology, AI brings with it opportunities, but it also raises profound challenges for the creative community.

With artificial intelligence currently front and center across the creative community, YouTube has published a set of AI music principles and launched something it’s calling the YouTube Music AI Incubator with a group of artists, songwriters and producers from Universal Music Group.

Thania Garcia YouTube has published a set of AI music principles and launched a new AI initiative with co-signs from artists, songwriters, and producers from Universal Music Group. Dubbed the AI Music Incubator, artists such as Anitta, Björn Ulvaeus, Juanes, Max Richter, Rosanne Cash, Ryan Tedder, Yo Gotti, and the Estate of Frank Sinatra, have been tapped to give their input.

Alisa Finkelstein is a vice president and Clayton Durant is director of emerging media & platforms at MikeWorldWide. As you’ve probably read many times in recent months, Artificial Intelligence is creating a Napster-like moment in the recorded music business.

“Eras Tour” has attracted enough fans to help boost hotel and restaurant revenue in cities across the world, and even contribute to concert ticket inflation, a phenomenon that some economists have termed “Swiftflation.”“Recently, Taylor Swift became the very first woman in history to have four albums in the top 10 simultaneously, including this week’s number one,” the company’s chief executive, Lucian Grainge, told analysts on a conference call.Universal Music’s merchandising revenue grew 12% to 157 million euros ($173.77 million) in the April-June period, also fueled by a strong performance from Swift, the group said.This more than offset a decline in Universal Music Group’s touring revenue from the outsized growth recorded in 2022 as COVID-19 touring bans were lifted, it added.Total revenue was 2.7 billion euros in the quarter, while its margin on adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at 21.9%, the company reported.Universal Music expects recent price increases at Spotify to boost revenue starting from the fourth quarter and into 2024, its chief financial officer, Boyd Muir, said on the conference call.Spotify had on Monday raised prices for its premium plans across several countries including the US and Britain.Major labels like Universal Music grab the overwhelming majority of Spotify’s revenue and are the main beneficiaries of the streaming firm’s strong user growth.Apart from Swift, other top sellers in the second quarter were South Korean boy band Seventeen, King & Prince, Morgan Wallen, and Stray Kids, Universal Music said.

Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the talks.The goal is to reach a deal by the end of the year, the report said, noting the exact details are not yet worked out.While music sales have risen in recent years, artists and record labels say they are not getting paid enough. And now that music industry growth is slowing, even as fraud and piracy continue to siphon revenue from everyone in the business, the issue is even more complicated.Streaming giant Spotify, for instance, said earlier this year that it has paid out nearly $40 billion to music rights holders since its launch in 2006.

. That is, until she launched her TikTok account the same weekend as her star-studded wedding in the south of France to British music executive Elliot Grainge.Since then, her profile has exploded. All anyone can talk about on the platform is Richie: , her , her , the exact set of  she wore in one of her “get ready with me” videos, , barefoot, to Good Charlotte (her brother-in-law’s band) performing live at her wedding reception. “In all of the fame of my life, she was so famous that day," Lionel Richie, Sofia's singer-songwriter father, told  a couple days after the celebration.

LABELS & PUBLISHERSUniversal Music shareholders have agreed a new pay package for boss man Lucian Grainge, which will see his basic wage reduced by more than two thirds to $5 million. He will, however, be eligible for an annual performance bonus of $10 million, and is set to receive new stock options. So, you know, he’s not going to starve.

Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl has echoed comments by his Universal counterpart Lucian Grainge on the need to restructure the way streaming royalties are paid out. Speaking on the major label’s Q2 earning’s call yesterday, he said that “it can’t be that [an] Ed Sheeran stream is worth exactly the same thing than a stream of rain falling on the roof”.The former YouTube exec’s comments came as he announced disappointing results for the record label, with revenues showing almost no growth year-on-year.

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Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Driven by big releases from Morgan Wallen, Taylor Swift, Tomorrow X Together, Drake and others, Universal Music Group saw its revenues rise 11.5% year over year to $2.71 billion in the first quarter of 2023. But the company’s earnings call on Wednesday was just as newsworthy for the company doubling down on the strong remarks it has made about the fast-rising presence of — some would say threat from — AI in the music world, which hit UMG in the form of “Heart on My Sleeve,” a song using AI-generated soundalikes of two of the company’s biggest artists, Drake and the Weeknd.  “The recent explosive development in generative AI will, if left unchecked, both increase the flood of unwanted content hosted on platforms, and create rights issues with respect to existing copyright law, in the U.S. and other countries, as well as laws governing trademark, name and likeness, voice impersonation, and right of publicity,” chairman-CEO Lucian Grainge said on the call. 

Lionel Richie is one happy dad.

Lionel Richie couldn't be happier for his little girl and her new husband.The judge spoke with ET's Matt Cohen in Hollywood on Monday, after the season's first live show, and the legendary singer opened up about walking daughter Sofia Richie down the aisle this past weekend, in her wedding to Elliot Grainge.«This is [my] baby girl,» a beaming Lionel said of the deep significance of the event. «All I can say to you is, for every dad that's ever been this way or getting ready to experience it, it is a humbling time in your life. Because you're handing one of the loves of your life away.»«But really, I'll tell you a story, I've known Elliot since he was 9,» Lionel explained.

, 24, is a model and social media personality, and the daughter of 73-year-old R&B legend . The British-born Grainge, 29, is the founder of 10K Projects, an L.A.-based record label whose current artists Ice Spice, Between Friends, Internet Money, and Natalie Jane. Grainge is also the son of Sir Lucian Grainge, current chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group.