Universal boss Lucian Grainge will be amongst recipients of an honorary doctor of music degree in Boston next month.
Alongside the likes of Rita Moreno, Ronald & Ernie Isley and Milton Nascimento, Grainge will be presented with the doctorate at the 7,000-seat Agganis Arena at Boston University on Saturday, May 7.
The achievement is part of the commencement ceremony of Berklee, whose students will pay tribute to the honorees the day before (May 6) by performing music associated with their careers at a private show.
Interestingly, Berklee were behind a controversial Rethink Music report last year, part-funded by Kobalt, which was not particularly kind to the major labels.
An investigation into the digital music copyright economy, the report asserted that “Major labels and publishers often receive advance payments from streaming services, and it is unclear what happens to any advance monies that are not earned out via streams during the advance period.”
However, some major label execs have told us they thought the report was flawed, and notably non-aggressive in its treatment of YouTube and Google.
Judge for yourself: you can read it here.
Lucian Grainge CBE is chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group.
Over the course of his career, Grainge has signed and worked with the likes of ABBA, Elton John, Jay-Z, Katy Perry, Queen, Rihanna, the Rolling Stones, Sam Smith, U2, and Amy Winehouse, among others.
In 2013, 2015, and 2016, he topped Billboard’s Power 100 as the most powerful executive in the music business.Music Business Worldwide
