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SIR LUCIAN SALUTES HIS BROTHER AT CANNES LIONS

Sir Lucian Grainge dedicated his Media Person of the Year 2017 Award at Cannes Lions to his late brother Nigel, as well as the artists, songwriters and "incredible" team at Universal Music.

"No talent scout, no artist, no band, no label, no CEO, no creative executive ever succeeds on their own, and today I'd like to humbly thank those who made it possible for me to stand before you, including obviously, all of our recording artists and our songwriters,” Grainge said to a crowd that included UMG’s Michele Anthony, Andrew Kronfeld, Olivier Robert-Murphy, Olivier Nusse and Mike Tunnicliffe, artists Lang Lang and Jamie N Commons, Glassnote’s Daniel Glass and iHeartMedia’s Bob Pittman.

"My incredible team at Universal Music including all our label heads, our A&R team, our CEOs and our broader Vivendi family, in particular Vincent Bolloré, whose support and belief for me and us and the entire team has enabled us to achieve the kind of success and what we are trying to achieve in the transformation of this business.”

In presenting the award, Cannes Lions CEO Philip Thomas said, "Sir Lucian is the first music executive to be honoured since this award was first introduced in 1999, which says much about the convergence of entertainment with marketing and advertising.

"A champion of new business models and fresh approaches, Sir Lucian is widely credited for laying the foundation that has led to the music industry's recent return to growth after nearly a decade of decline. … During his tenure at Universal Music Group he's transformed the company into a world leader in music based entertainment.

"Sir Lucian has been described as the great hope for the music business, has been widely praised for his risk taking and innovation, forging partnerships with a wide range of technology and media platforms including Apple, Spotify and Amazon."

After noting he was honored to be the first member of the music industry to receive the award, he explained how he approaches his job.

"While our labels seek out great new talent, today I scout for brands and digital platforms and new forms of technology as well as great people to collectively work on behalf of our artists.

"Bearing that in mind I am very proud to report that at Universal we're engaging a completely new generation of music lovers around the world on a scale that we've never seen. Our business, our connectivity, all that we do has to be about the music, and the quality of the music and the creativity is what connects all of us. That is our key focus.

"At Lions, I have been incredibly inspired by what I've seen and the people I've met, by the diverse talents, even the presentations and the awards that have been given so far this evening...fabulous. Everyone's innovation and enthusiasm...that excites me and I'm sure it excites all of us in terms of all the things we can do together, so I thank you for that.

"On one last note, I hope you don't mind. I lost someone in my family last week and this is a big award for me, my older brother Nigel, who was a great music executive, so I'd like to dedicate this award on my behalf to my brother."

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