Vivendi

About

Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world’s No. 1 music company with global businesses in recorded music, music publishing, artist services and merchandising. UMG leads the way in the digital distribution market by offering customers the world’s largest digital music catalog as well as a wide range of innovative services.

Recorded music

World ’s No. 1 in recorded music

Present in 77 territories, UMG is the world leader in recorded music. UMG buys, markets and distributes recorded music all over the world. It has particularly strong positions in the North American and European markets, which account for nearly three-quarters of global sales.

With the diversity of its labels, which include pop, classical and jazz, UMG has the resources to discover, develop, market and distribute some of the world’s most popular artists from a range of musical genres.

Each year, catalog releases account for a significant and stable part of UMG’s recorded music revenues. UMG’s recorded music catalog, the largest in the world, features some of the most popular and influential artists of our time, including ABBA, Louis Armstrong, Alain Bashung, James Brown, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits, Serge Gainsbourg, Bob Marley, Nirvana, Luciano Pavarotti, Edith Piaf, Michel Sardou, The Police...

Artists include U2, Amy Winehouse, Rihanna, Lil Wayne, Jack Johnson, Eminem, Roberto Alagna, Pussycat Dolls and Dr Dre.

UMG continues to play a leading role in the expansion of the digital music market place and actively participates in the development of new business models. In 2008, digital sales grew strongly with significant increases in full track downloads both over the Internet and on mobile phones. Further growth came from new business lines such as ad-supported music and video streaming, including UMG’s industry leading video channel on You Tube, and the expansion of mobile applications such as ring-back tones. Several new business models were launched during the year including “MySpace Music”, a fully integrated global music solution from MySpace, one of the world’s biggest social networks, and “Comes With Music” (CWM), a service from Nokia that bundles a 12 month, unlimited music subscription into the price of certain phones.

Strong growth across the digital sector is anticipated for 2009. In addition to growth in the core digital market place, UMG expects to grow up in new revenues streams, sign new strategic partnerships and further capture digital growth by increasing direct to consumer business.

Music publishing

World ’s No. 1 music publishing company

Through Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), UMG is the world leader in music publishing. UMPG owns and acquires rights to musical compositions (as opposed to recordings) in order to license them for use in recordings, films, videos, commercials and public performances.

UMPG’s catalog contains seminal recordings like "Copacabana," "Strangers in the Night" and "R.E.S.P.E.C.T." UMPG also represents the works of the most prominent artists, songwriters and performers of our time, including Justin Timberlake, U2, Elton John, Mariah Carey and The Beach Boys. In 2008, UMG acquired new publishing contracts, including with Adele, Salif Keita, Missy Elliott, Black Kids and Snow Patrol.

Artist services and merchandising

The Artist Services and Merchandising division was established in 2007 providing the foundation for UMG’s participation in a broader range of music related revenue streams.

The Artist Services division is comprised of artist management and events management units. The artist management group contains renowned companies such as Twenty First Artists and Trinifold and represents artists including The Who, Elton John, Robert Plant, James Blunt, Mick Fleetwood, ZZ Top and David Bisbal. In 2008, UMG established Universal Classical Management and Productions leveraging UMG’s leading position in the classical music sector. Artists represented include Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon. UMG also has established artist management units in several major music markets outside of the US and UK focusing on local repertoire.

UMG’s new merchandising division, Bravado, is the only global, 360° full service merchandise company which develops and markets high-quality licensed merchandise to a world-wide audience. The company works closely with new & established clients, creating innovative products carefully tailored to each artist or brand. Products are sold on live tours, via selected retail outlets and through web-based stores.

Bravado also licenses rights to an extensive network of third party licensees around the world. The company maintains offices in London, Los Angeles, New York, and sister companies in Berlin, Paris, Tokyo, and Sydney. Now under the Universal Music Group umbrella, Bravado is able to leverage a global sales and distribution network from the world’s largest record company, as well as the group’s significant marketing strength. Bravado artists include Kanye West, Nickelback, Beyonce, Elton John, Guns N’Roses, Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Pink, Iron Maiden, Alicia Keys, Nine Inch Nails and The Killers, among many others.

UMG labels

UMG labels include:

Island Def Jam Music Group
Interscope Geffen A&M Records
Lost Highway Records
MCA Nashville
Universal Records South
Mercury Records
Polydor
Universal Motown Republic Group
Decca
Deutsche Grammophon and Philips
Verve
Impulse!

Management

Doug Morris
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Universal Music Group

Zach Horowitz
President & Chief Operating Officer, Universal Music Group

Lucian Grainge
Chief Executive Officer, Universal Music Group

Nick Henny
Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, Universal Music Group