universal music group
Michelle Jubelirer Named First Female CEO In 80-Year History of Capitol Music Group
Music industry executive and power player Michelle Jubelirer has been promoted to Chair and CEO of Capitol Music Group, the first woman to do so in the company’s 80-year history. She will succeed Jeff Vaughn and report to Sir Lucian Grainge, Music Business Worldwide reports. Jubelirer joined Capitol Records as Executive Vice President in May 2013. She was promoted to COO in May 2015 and then president in 2020. She graduated from Fordham University School of Law with her Juris Doctorate in 1999, according to her LinkedIn profile. Prior to Jubelirer joining Capitol Records in May 2013, she was a partner at music business law firm King, Holmes, Paterno and Berliner where she represented electronic music superstars like Avicii, Grimes, and Swedish House Mafia alongside ma...
Matt Young Named President of UMG’s Bravado Merch Company
In his work at WMG, Young was a leading force in developing consumer engagement, marketing execution and revenue generation for the company’s artists. He brings over 20 years of industry experience in brand-building and artist services to UMG, with a focus on merchandising, e-commerce, retail, consumer product licensing, ticketing and customer relationship management. Prior to WMG Young worked at Bandmerch, where he served as GM of the New York office and as head of retail and A&R. Before that, he served in roles at Blue Grape Merchandising and indie labels Bush League Records and Earache Records. “I’m stoked to lead Bravado at this pivotal time and to build on the company’s reputation as the leader in our industry,” said Young in a statement. “Bravado is known for creating innovative ...
Beatles Royalties & Family Conflicts: We Read UMG’s 300-Page Prospectus. Here’s What We Found
In order to become a publicly traded, stand-alone company, Vivendi had to do an internal reorganization in 2020 to align the parameters of what would become Universal Music Group. As part of that, some of the liabilities directly assumed by Vivendi had to be transferred to UMG for the latter company to have control of all the music assets. It also had to assume the obligations and liabilities that came with them. One such Vivendi obligation that UMG had to take on was to provide security for royalty payments capped at $100 million euros to the Beatles, Yoko Ono and certain Apple entities. But that’s not surprising considering that the ownership of EMI, acquired in 2012, was directly under Vivendi, not UMG, so they had to do some internal asset a...
UMG and MedRhythms Partner to Treat Neurological Disorders With “Prescription Music”
Digital therapeutics company MedRhythms has been building state-of-the-art technology that uses sensors, software, and music to help restore brain function to patients who have lost it through neurological disease and illnesses. The cutting-edge company has now partnered with Universal Music Group (UMG), giving it access to perhaps the richest and most diverse musical catalog in existence to further this treatment. MedRhythms believes that music can profoundly impact and heal the brain by targeting specific neural pathways that help boost the brain’s plasticity, or ability to adapt. With UMG in the fold, the company will now have access to a plethora of music across many genres and cultures, from Bob Marley to Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande to Andrea Bocelli, and beyond. By way of th...
Why UMG’s Public Debut Boosted Warner & Other Music Stocks Too
Demand for UMG shares may have helped two more music companies: the share prices of French music distributor Believe SA and U.S. music rights company Reservoir Media increased 3.1% and 11.6%, respectively, on Tuesday. Investors also appeared hungry enough for UMG to purchase shares of Pershing Square Holdings, which has a 10% stake in UMG, and drive its share price up 5%. Sensing an opportunity, WMG’s owner, Access Industries, sold 2.34 million shares to Morgan Stanley & Co. on Tuesday for an unspecified amount. WMG could benefit from the added liquidity to the market. Although the shares represent less than 0.5% of WMG’s outstanding shares, WMG’s float – shares available for trading – represent about 19% of its shares, according to multiple financial sources. (UMG says its float is 42...
Universal Music’s Going Public: Here Are Your Options for Buying a Share
But U.S. investors won’t have easy access to UMG shares because they’re trading on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange, not a U.S. exchange such as the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. So, besides Tuesday’s listing starting at 3 a.m. EST, U.S.-based investors will have other complications getting in on the action. Some brokerage accounts that cater to international trading, such as Interactive Brokers and Charles Schwab, provide access to exchanges in dozens of countries. However, these accounts are good for frequent, serious investors, not casual investors who might be burdened by tax issues, fees and currency fluctuations. Alternatively, a U.S. individual can eventually buy shares of a mutual fund that owns shares of UMG, or an exchange traded fund that includes UMG. The benefit is a...
Helene Fischer Renews Deal With Universal Music Germany
Fischer has sold 16.3 million albums, counting equivalent streams and downloads, many of them as CDs, which still sell well in Germany. As of 2018, she had scored the top-selling album in the market for five of the previous six years. To get a better sense of how popular she is, though, remember that Germany has a population of 83 million – about a quarter that of the U.S. – and the German-speaking market is roughly 100 million. Fischer also hosts in “Die Helene Fischer Show,” an annual Christmas program on the German public television network ZDF. Fischer’s new album, Rausch, is due out Oct. 15, and the first single, “Vamos a Marte” – Spanish for “let’s go to Mars” – is a duet with the Puerto Rican star Luis Fonsi, who is signed to Universal...
Tomorrowland and Universal Music Group Announce New Bespoke Record Label
A goliath partnership has emerged between Tomorrowland and Universal Music Group, who have joined forces to launch their collaborative label Tomorrowland Music. Specifically, Tomorrowland will be working with UMG’s subdivision Universal Music Germany. Virgin Music Label & Artist Services will serve as their distributor and Astralwerks will work in partnership with the emerging label on U.S.-based releases. Through their combined influence, Tomorrowland and UMG look to curate a strong lineup of releases in the years to come. Afrojack‘s new collaborative project Never Sleeps will be the first to release on the label with their song “You Got The Love.” Never Sleeps will serve as a collective, with various artists releasing under the project in the futur...
Aerosmith to Unveil Previously Unreleased Recordings Under New Deal with Universal Music
Aerosmith have inked a new deal with Universal Music Group, bringing the legendary band’s entire recorded output and personal archives under the umbrella of one label. UMG announced the news today (August 23rd), offering details on the massive licensing deal. Universal is now the home of the band’s complete catalog. The label will also spearhead all future audio-visual projects and merchandising. Perhaps most importantly for fans, the deal gives UMG access to the band’s “Vindaloo Vaults” — the personal archives of Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer and Brad Whitford. They will each help curate their own collections, and the archival material will be used in future releases to offer up previously unreleased music, rare photos, video footage, artwork, journals, setlists, and ...
Pershing Square Acquires 7.1% of Universal Music Group at Bargain Valuation
Pershing Square Holdings fulfilled its plans on Tuesday (Aug. 10) to acquire a stake in Universal Music Group ahead of Vivendi’s spin off on Sept. 21. The high-profile hedge fund led by Bill Ackman paid about $21.78 per share and $2.8 billion in total for 7.1% of UMG’s equity. The deal values UMG at 33 billion euros ($38.7 billion). PSH and its affiliates have the right to acquire another 2.9% of UMG’s ordinary shares by Sept. 9. Tuesday’s announcement came three weeks after Pershing Square’s special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Pershing Square Tontine Holdings, dropped its plans to buy a 10% stake in UMG in a complicated deal at a 35 billion euros ($41 billion) valuation. After PSTH investors lost interest, driving down the share price, and the Securities and Exchange Commission ob...
Major Labels Hit Charter Communications With Second Copyright Suit
“Charter has insisted on doing nothing — despite receiving thousands of notices that detailed the illegal activity of its subscribers, despite its clear legal obligation to address the widespread, illegal downloading of copyrighted works on its Internet services, and despite being sued previously by Plaintiffs for similar conduct,” the complaint maintains. The new lawsuit says the labels continued to “monitor and detect infringement” occurring on Charter’s network during the current claim period and sent over 150,000 additional notices identifying the illegal download, copying and distribution of their copyrighted music through BitTorrent and other digital file-sharing services. The notices allegedly flagged the unique IP addresses of what the labels claim are “tens of thousands” of ...
Virgin Music Forges Label Services Pact in Brazil With WorkShow
Under the new partnership, Universal says WorkShow has signed sertanejo duo Henrique & Juliano, which is bringing their entire catalog spanning their nine-year career. The act, which has 13.2 million subscribers on YouTube had the top streaming track in Brazil in 2020, “Liberdade Provisória,” according to IFPI. The act was already a WorkShow management client and was signed to Som Livre. The deal underscores the interest that sertanejo, Brazil’s pop-country genre, has continued to generate among the majors. With artists like Jorge & Mateus dominating streaming charts in Brazil, in April Sony Music Entertainment spent about $255 million to acquire Som Livre, the country’s third-largest label and leading sertanejo imprint, from Grupo Globo. The deal, which followed an intense bidding...
