You’ve expanded what a music com-
pany can be, aggressively building
Universal’s merchandise business and
producing films and TV shows.
I’ve never taken the view that we’re
just a distribution company. Everything
starts with the song and the artist, and
that gives us a way into many businesses.
So David Joseph in the U.K. came to
me years ago with an idea to produce a
documentary about Amy Winehouse,
and we’ve done documentaries with
Pavarotti (Pavarotti), The Beatles (Eight
Days a Week—The Touring Years) and
others. We’ve invested in short-form
video. We were the first company to
really see music merchandise as a
potential e-commerce opportunity, and
I believe we’ve taken that from being
a black T-shirt business based around
touring into one based around brands.
We have to be — I need us to be — best in
class wherever we can be.
You’ve also led in investing in local
markets, particularly in local-
language music in Latin America
and Africa. What has that allowed you
to do?
You’ve got to have balls to do it, but it has
allowed us to have deep-rooted creative
relationships in these markets. I was
optimistic about the importance of music
to local culture, and I just always had a
hunch that when those markets came
back, we would be in a terrific position
to capture the momentum. You look at
Latin America — the things we’ve been
doing in the region with our artists have
ended up being two of the biggest songs,
“Mi Gente” and “Despacito.” You look
at the impact of Luis Fonsi, just in terms
of audiovisual, it’s fantastic. And if we
hadn’t been there investing over the past
15 years, we would never be in the posi-
tion that we’re in. And we’ve been doing
that in many markets. We’re really trying
to create something imaginative, in India,
for example. When it really delivers —
whether that’s in a year or two or three
— we’re patient.
At the beginning of the decade,
UMG’s labels were very competitive
with one another. Over the past few
years, though, you’ve grown your
central team. How did that develop,
and why is it important for the com-
pany now?
It’s not really that big of a change. All
you’re seeing is the individual entrepre-
neurial structure of labels, led by brilliant
record guys, plus we’ve reacted to the
possibilities that technology has given
us in terms of raw data. So where we
can, we’ve created a team to support the
artists and labels on a global basis when
necessary. Internally, the environment is
competitive, but I don’t know anything
else — it’s where I came from. And I want
an organization of winners. One of our
greatest achievements in our culture here
is that we’re strong — and we’re strong
together. I want everybody to be com-
pletely individual, but also for there to
be a culture of stronger together. That’s
something I learned in the U.K. in my
formative years, and it stays with me now.
After everything you’ve accom-
plished, what continues to motivate
you?
Music. Music, artists and everything
new. New, new, new — what’s tomor-
row? What can we do to get better? Is it
a better album, is it a better song, is it a
better single, is it a better campaign, is it
an understanding of how we utilize all
the things we’ve learned with regards
to technology and entrepreneurship?
Everything is about tomorrow.
terms of what they liked and how they
behaved. The same applied to France
and Italy. And that encouraged me to be
open-minded. When you’re managing
so many countries, you’re meeting so
many distribution partners, entrepre-
neurs, telcos, distribution networks,
all at different phases of their own
development — and I had a helicopter
position above it, and that’s why digital
innovation excited me. Music is about
cultural shifts, and that doesn’t have
to apply just to the song — it can also
apply to the technology.
Was it difficult to change the struc-
ture of the company to accommodate
that?
I can be quite persuasive. (Laughs.)
When you started, you immediately
went against conventional wis-
dom: You bought a company when
music valuations were falling and
invested when most of the business
was cutting back. How did that set a
new tone at Universal?
Breaking down barriers is what leader-
ship is all about. That, and not being
scared. If you’re in a crazy business and
you’re constantly taking risks — and
you’re comfortable with risks — you
end up not being scared of anything.
I’ve always been around entrepre-
neurs — people like Chris Blackwell
and Richard Branson — and I always
appreciated, as a student of the music
business, how these companies were
created. I was always comfortable
around that. You can’t be around musi-
cians when they’re moving culture
without being comfortable with that.
And that’s something that I instituted
into the rest of the company. I like
change. I was criticized 20 years ago by
someone who said, “The trouble is, you
like mini revolutions all the time.” And
I said, “I don’t know why you’re telling
me this, but I like it already.” So there
you go.
UMG Power List Honorees
Boyd Muir
Executive vp/CFO/president of operations
Michele Anthony
Executive vp/member of the executive management board
Jeffrey Harleston
General counsel/executive vp business and legal affairs
Michael Nash
Executive vp digital strategy
Dave Rocco
Executive vp creative
Celine Joshua
GM of commercial, content and artist strategy
“If you’re in a crazy business and
you’re constantly taking risks — and
comfortable taking risks — you end
up not being scared of anything.”
—GRAINGE
Note: Profile subjects whose ages are not included declined to provide them. JANUARY 25, 2020 • WWW.BILLBOARD.COM 7 9