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Time MagazineNew York will have to get used to
(Lucian) Grainge this summer when the 49-year-old takes over as head of Universal Music worldwide, the largest record company on the planet with a market share of nearly 29% and such acts in its stable as
U2, Lady Gaga, Eminem and
Amy Winehouse.
Grainge has been groomed for the role for several years and says his fingers will remain close to the light switch. "It will depend if they have any hits or not," he tells
TIME.
Paul McGuinness, the manager of
U2, probably Universal's biggest single act, has worked with
Grainge for decades. "Making it in the United States is the biggest challenge of all for any British talent in the music business. He will need all his intelligence and skill to pull it off," he says. At a time when many major acts are breaking away from Universal,
U2 has stayed loyal to the label, in part because
Grainge has earned the respect of the band. "
Lucian's advantage is that he has got a strong musical record of his own, so his opinion on a song, as well as business, is taken seriously,"
McGuinness says.
In 1986,
Grainge joined Polygram's songwriting division and gradually moved up the ranks at the company, which would later become Universal following a merger with MCA. Eventually, under the tutelage of
Doug Morris, the Universal chief executive he'll be replacing,
Grainge rose to run the company's U.K. headquarters and then its international operations. As EMI has faltered in recent years, he has become a key force behind helping British acts break into the U.S. market, most notably, the troubled
(Amy) Winehouse.
Grainge's plans for his new position remain somewhat of a mystery. His approach emphasizes artist relations at a time when other companies would rather talk about formulating an effective digital-distribution strategy to combat music piracy. It's not that
Grainge doesn't care about this issue — indeed, he wants the U.S. to become tougher on piracy. He says, however, that there is "no platinum-tipped magic bullet" to solve the problem. One thing that will help: forming a coalition of music, film and publishing companies to lobby both Congress and Internet service providers to enact tougher sanctions against music pirates. "English-speaking content has most to lose [from file-sharing]," he says.
Read the full article here:
Time Magazine - Will Universal Music's New Boss Keep the Hits Coming?
