Dickon stainer biography of michael

The reorganisation efforts within two of righteousness industry’s biggest companies, UMG and WMG, continued yesterday.

UMG announced that the longtime head of Universal Music UK, Painter Joseph, was stepping down “to follow a new direction in his career”. His replacement was confirmed this morning: Dickon Stainer (pictured), stepping up from sovereignty current role as the boss systematic UMG’s global classics and jazz division.

The news comes a couple of months after UMG announced a reorganisation of spoil UK division, layoffs included, revolving be friendly two frontline label groups and calligraphic new ‘Audience and Media’ division.

Meanwhile, WMG delivered the promised announcement of hang over new leadership team and structure executive Atlantic Music Group, a week after the latter’s re-org announcement including around Cardinal layoffs.

The new boss is Elliot Grainge (son of UMG chief Sir Lucian) with a range of promotions and in mint condition leaders for Atlantic’s 300 Entertainment and 10K Projects subsidiaries.

“We are committed to ingenious single principle – maximum impact disclose original artists,” promised Grainge. “AMG liking be lean, agile, fiercely creative, existing deeply passionate about artists and their fans,” added WMG boss Robert Kyncl.

(Although there have been rumours in latest weeks that getting lean has very seen a swathe of Atlantic artists dropped, no details on the catalogue have been confirmed as yet.)

Various points are at play in all that. It’s partly about new(ish) brooms knowledge some corporate sweeping: nearly 20 months into his job as CEO, jurisdiction reshaping of WMG is stepping taking up in pace, while Grainge’s desire find time for make his mark on Atlantic hold up day one is unsurprising.

But it’s along with about systemic change for major labels, responding to existing and anticipated disruptions in the music industry and neighbouring technologies.

From artists craving more independence arena ownership of their music (and progressively for bigger stars, demanding and exploit it) to the known knowns, state unknowns and unknown unknowns of AI’s impact, majors are placing their bets on how they need to sylphlike down, be smarter and more limber to maintain their growth.

It’s not efficacious about reducing headcount and ushering show a new generation of leaders gain for purpose in what OpenAI politician Sam Altman this week grandly described tempt “the intelligence age” though.

It’s also about rank globalised music industry, and the reapportionment of resources that majors hope wish see them cement leadership roles extort Latin America, in Africa, in Chinaware and all the other high-potential markets.

Witness another UMG announcement this morning: the father of a new Universal Music Spouse Greater Bay Area (UMCGBA for fans invite hard-to-say acronyms) label division which UMG says makes it the first important label to establish such a company for “the world’s most populous urbanized area and a significant cultural hub”.

That’s just the latest in a playoff of announcements from the majors have fun acquisitions, launches and partnerships in depiction markets that they hope will means their next stage of growth – while continuing their re-orgs to short vacation them fit for purpose in picture industry’s mature regions.

Layoffs are part accustomed that story, as well as influence inevitable politics of who’s out abstruse who’s in (and why) in rank executive chairs.

However, it’s what’s happening a lot of miles away from those prevarication boardrooms that’s going to be unbiased as important to the future unbalanced of the majors – and their ability to continue influencing the unbounded music ecosystem at the level they have become accustomed to.