CEO Of Universal Records Wants Exclusive Stream Deals To Stop

wwetvsports21
Aug 24, 2016
1 min read

UMG is against streaming exclusives.

The recording industry in 2016 saw a wave of exclusive album releases that have made it an industry staple now. The top artists in the world such as Future, Rihanna, Kanye West, Beyoncé, Drake, Chance the Rapper, and Frank Ocean all released albums via either Apple Music or TIDAL. Some industry folks believe this practice is effecting sales of albums and singles. Universal Music Group has ordered every label under its umbrella to stop signing exclusive streaming distribution deals as it seems the company did not do as well this year as in 2015 when they had seven of the 10 best-selling albums of 2015.

According to The Guardian, the order came from the top: UMG CEO Lucian Grainge, regarded as the most powerful man in the music industry. Grange announced the change in a company-wide email sent out Monday.

Bob Lefsetz was the first one to report on this. “There’s a conspiracy between Apple Music and the industry to change the game, to get everybody to pay for a subscription by putting hit content behind a paywall," he wrote on his blog over the weekend. “Most people don’t give a crap about the new Frank Ocean album. We’ve got an industry that promotes marginal products that appeal to few and makes them unavailable to most people? That’s hysterical!”