Lucian Grainge
Karan Singh for BI; Rainer Hosch/UMG
Tech

Lucian Grainge

Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group
Lucian Grainge
Karan Singh for BI; Rainer Hosch/UMG
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Grainge, the CEO of Universal Music Group, is going on offense when preparing the major label for an AI wave in music. The head of one of the world's biggest record labels and publishers doesn't shy away from the tech. For example, he's working with YouTube on its "music AI incubator," a program that brings together talent from Universal to gather insights for YouTube's generative AI research. He's setting up AI deals with Endel, SoundLabs, and BandLab. He's partnering with the AI attribution tool ProRata.ai to lay the groundwork to pay content owners for AI-generated materials. The executive also isn't afraid to go to battle over unauthorized generative AI, suing Anthropic and AI music platforms like Suno and Udio around training data, as well as publicly fighting for AI protections in licensing contracts with distributors like TikTok and Meta.

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Dan Whateley
Dan Whateley
Dan is a correspondent at Business Insider covering TikTok, YouTube, and the business of social media.He writes about how creators earn a living from social apps, the inner workings of companies like TikTok, and the many ways that social media is impacting Hollywood and other industries like e-commerce, sports, music, and news.He previously wrote about marketing and entrepreneurship at Ad Age and Inc. Magazine. He was a McGraw Scholar in business journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY and a graduate of Middlebury College. Disclosure: Dan previously worked at the ad tech company, The Trade Desk, where he was granted stock as part of his compensation.