UMG Update

MEANWHILE, BACK AT UMG: UMG’s 13.4% year-over-year revenue drop has industry observers asking whether the increased corporate anxiety level will cause heir apparent Lucian Grainge to begin making moves faster than had been expected, leading to questions about the nature of his agenda. As noted three months ago in Time magazine, Grainge possesses a confrontational style, having once begun a staff meeting in London by turning out the lights and stating, “This is what it’s like when you don’t have any hit records.” Meanwhile, there’s plenty of chatter about Grainge’s history with UMG President/COO Zach Horowitz, who replaced the English executive as the head of MCA’s U.K. publishing division back in the ‘80s. (5/27p)