LG tease #1

A CAPITOL IDEA: Lucian Grainge reveals myriad details of his plans for a combined Universal-EMI in his first in-depth interview since the approval of the merger. For example, the UMG chief reveals that Capitol will replace Parlophone as the other EMI U.K. label. “You heard it here first,” says Grainge. “The United States is about Capitol, and the U.K. and Europe are about EMI and Virgin. It is my ambition that we take advantage of the strengths that these identities have globally and geographically to where it can make the most difference. And I also see a great opportunity for us to really create an arc between Capitol Records in the United States and in the U.K. And that will be done with new artists, and we may even add resources that we have internally into Capitol to give it a leg up and to get it started. Capitol Records, West Coast music, that’s an important brand. It’s also a big part of West Coast American culture, and is a focus of my strategy and my investment choices.” Read all about it here. (11/5a)