A TASTE OF RAINMAKERS:
BRUCE RESNIKOFF
Bruce Resnikoff, who grew up in Philadelphia in the late ’60s and ’70s, did not dream of becoming a fireman or an astronaut or a pro ball player like many boys his age; no, young Bruce longed to be… a lawyer.
An improbable turn as a T-shirt bootlegger ignited his passion for the music business and financed an education that did indeed include law school.
He later served in business affairs at MCA Records under Irving Azoff before pivoting to licensing and eventually down the path to creating what is now Universal Music Enterprises (UMe), where he serves as president and CEO.
How did you make the leap from being a young lawyer in business affairs to the head of a new division, one that ultimately became UMe?
In 1985 the company asked if I’d start a special-markets division to monetize our recordings through ancillary means. Nobody was focusing on things like “How do we monetize through licensing and other areas beyond selling records and CDs?” I initially said no, but then they offered me a raise that at the time was life-changing. It gave me a sense of opportunity and a sense that they felt this was an important area.
In those early days, what did licensing deals looks like?
A lot of them were small, $1,000. I don’t think we even did a million dollars in total business the first year. But it grew from there, and we found different ways to make money. Later on, under Doug Morris, that led to the formation of a compilation label called Hip-O Records, which I started.
Looking back, did you have an “Aha!” moment that turned out to be prescient?
One of my “aha” moments was when I saw the boom in the telemarketing direct-response area. I’m not talking about K-tel, which aired commercials and then sold records at retail; I’m talking about putting the artists in the commercials and selling records purely through direct response. It showed me there were a lot of untapped ways to market music if you were willing to be creative and take chances.
Was there anything early on that exemplified that?
Yes, though what put Hip-O on the map was not a compilation but a Pat Boone heavy-metal record [1997’s In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy]. This is one of those moments where I learned the value of marketing. We hired 50 guys from a motorcycle club to escort Pat—whom we dressed completely in leather—down Sunset Boulevard on Harleys to Tower Records. We got so much coverage out of that event, including Leno. The record even entered the charts.
What was the path from Hip-O to UMe?
In 1998, when Universal bought PolyGram, Doug Morris and Zach Horowitz came to me and said, “We have such a big catalog. We need someone focused on it the way a label manages its roster.” So I was asked to run this new entity where we managed the catalog with a frontline mentality. Over the years, UMe essentially created the model that has since become standard in the industry.
Tell me something about marketing catalog that might surprise our readers?
I’m not sure people realize that what we do is much more complicated than marketing a frontline artist because you don’t have the usual tools. A lot of things I do with artists don’t involve a new release. You typically don’t have a radio single and you don’t always have a tour. For instance, when we celebrated Bob Marley’s 75th birthday, we did an entire year of the biggest business we’d ever done with Marley—without a new record.
What I think surprises people is how important the engagement of the artist’s camp is. I’ve found that the better the relationship with the artist and their camp, the better our marketing is when we work their product. Artists’ instincts are incredibly important. For example, I’ve been a fan of Elton John since the early ’70s and I’ve worked with him for more than 20 years. I listen to him because he, David Furnish and their team understand who he is and what he needs much better than me or anybody on my team. The Diamonds record concept came from Elton John and his camp. The album has been on the charts since the day it was released and will be forever.
Another thing that might surprise people is that not only is the commerce function still an important part of what we do, but so is the A&R department. I have a complete A&R department, a complete marketing department. We have people who are just dedicated to TikTok. Anything you’d see at a forward-thinking label, you’ll see with us.
In terms of the evolution of the catalog business and UMe, what kinds of changes have you seen?
The biggest change was when Lucian Grainge came into the company and added the most important elements in my world: free rein and the ability to take chances. The catalog business was historically a risk-free business. The margins were great. It turns out, though, that if you think creatively and do take some risks, you can go even bigger. I ended up working for somebody who freed me completely to do nontraditional deals and think big. He really showed me how to win.
Can you give me an example of how that approach has paid off?
Pitch Perfect. Universal was shopping the film but couldn’t get anybody to take the soundtrack. Talk about fate; I’m at a movie with my teen daughter and a trailer comes on for Pitch Perfect. My daughter says, “Dad, that’s going to be huge.” The next day, we made the deal for a very small amount. It sold 2 million records and was so big we had to get Republic to handle radio for it because we had such a big hit with “Cups.”
