Lucian Grainge Tops Billboard's 2015 Power 100 List

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SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Music Group, the world's leading music company, announced that Billboard magazine named its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lucian Grainge as No. 1 on its list of the 100 most powerful people in the music industry.

Grainge is the first person to twice appear at No. 1 on the Billboard ranking. The first time was in 2013, after Universal Music Group completed its acquisition of EMI.

"It has been nothing less than a privilege to be able to spend my life working with and on behalf of great artists and the music they create," Grainge said. "For if power is to be found anywhere, that power is found, and exclusively resides, in the music of our artists. I'm so proud of our many executives who were recognized for their contributions."

Universal Music Group had more executives than any other company on Billboard's 2015 power ranking, accounting for 13.7% of the list.

During 2014, Universal Music distributed 7 of the top 10 albums, finishing the year with an industry-leading 38.7% share of the market, Billboard reported, citing Nielsen Music data. Additionally, Universal Music Group broke the only new global stars of the year with Sam Smith, Iggy Azalea, Ariana Grande and 5 Seconds of Summer.

About Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group is the global music leader, with wholly owned operations in 60 territories. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the industry's premier music publishing operations worldwide.

Universal Music Group's labels include A&M Records, Angel, Astralwerks, Blue Note Records, Capitol Christian Music Group, Capitol Records, Capitol Records Nashville, Caroline, Decca, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, EMI Records Nashville, Fonovisa, Geffen Records, Harvest, Interscope Records, Island Records, Machete Music, Manhattan, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Motown Records, Polydor Records, Republic Records, Universal Music Latino, Verve Music Group, Virgin Records, Virgin EMI Records, as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalogue of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years of the world's most popular artists and their recordings. UMG's catalogue is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes Global Digital Business, its new media and technologies division and Bravado, its merchandising company.

Universal Music Group is a fully owned subsidiary of Vivendi SA.

SOURCE Universal Music Publishing Group