Lucian Grainge is at the top of Billboard Magazine’s 2015 Power 100 list. Kanye, Lana Del Rey and Grainge don the cover of Billboard's annual issue announcing the most powerful figures in the music industry.
“The execs who rule music now? Just follow the money, where new No. 1 Lucian Grainge keeps grabbing market share (while upending every business model), 31 first-timers break into the list and innovation -- not fear -- is now the force propelling these players forward,” The Twitter-verse has reacted positively to this year’s list: During the cover shoot, both Kanye and Lana were asked what music they would like to listen to while they work. Kanye answered with “silence,” while Lana wanted to listen to “Chet Baker,”Just Jared reported. Tell the truth, you’re surprised Kanye didn’t say himself, right? Grainge, 54, is Chairman/CEO of Universal Music Group. Obviously, he’s doing something right as last year he was number two on Billboard’s list! He is the first person to have appeared at number one on the Billboard ranking twice. His first appearance was in 2013, after Universal Music Group completed its acquisition of EMI, Wave News reported. "The industry broke five new artists in 2014, and we broke four of them" he told Billboard. Clearly, Grainge is at the top of the list for a reason. His refusal to allow the company to become complacent despite its incredible success is probably the reason Universal Music Group had more executives than any other company on Billboard's 2015 power ranking. UMG execs accounted for 13.7% of the list Wave News reported. Image courtesy of INF Photo