New York, NY (Top40 Charts) As President and CEO of Global Classics, Stainer will be responsible for classical music throughout Universal Music. In particular he will oversee the strategic and creative direction of the company's market leading and iconic labels including Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and Mercury Classics as well as international classical music portal Sinfini Music.
For this new role, which is based in London, Stainer will report to Max Hole, while in his capacity as President of Decca Records Group in the UK, he will continue to report to
David Joseph, Chairman and CEO of Universal
Music UK & Ireland. Frank Briegmann, Universal Music's President of Central Europe, continues as Chairman of Deutsche Grammophon and Mark Wilkinson, President of Deutsche Grammophon, will report jointly to Briegmann and Stainer.
Working alongside Stainer in this new management team will be Graham Southern who has been named Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President Global Classics, reporting to Stainer, with responsibility for international classical marketing, digital, catalogue and commercial affairs. Southern was previously Vice President Commercial - Classical for Universal
Music Group International.
Stainer will chair Universal Music's new Global Classics Board which also includes Max Hole, Frank Briegmann, Graham Southern, Costa Pilavachi and
Elizabeth Sobol.
Lucian Grainge CBE, Chairman and CEO, Universal
Music Group said: "Over the past 15 years, I've had the great fortune to watch Dickon develop into a first-rate music executive with a unique ability to both manage artists and labels. In this new role he will be able to take advantage of the extraordinary opportunities the industry transformation offers to music's greatest collection of classical labels and artists."
Max Hole, Chairman and CEO, Universal
Music Group International said: "I have really enjoyed getting closely involved in the classical business and with our artists but as classical music transitions into the digital age we need to develop the business further and faster. Dickon will bring new energy and full time leadership to this commercially and culturally important part of Universal's business. He is a rare combination of musician, A&R man and executive who is uniquely qualified for this new role."
Dickon Stainer said: "It is a great privilege and responsibility to oversee the future and heritage of classical music at Universal Music. I look forward to working with our outstanding artists and my colleagues around the world to innovate and bring new audiences to this unique and diverse art form."
Stainer began his career in the classical music business at Universal Music/PolyGram in 1991 when he ran the marketing campaign for the video recording of
Luciano Pavarotti's seminal concert in London's Hyde Park. After a few years at Warner Classics, including marketing The Three Tenors, in 1997 he re-joined Universal Classics and Jazz and in 2002 was promoted to
Director of Marketing. During this time Universal Classics and Jazz grew into the unrivalled leader in the UK classical business and in 2009 it was renamed Decca Records Group with Stainer as its Managing Director. The following year he was promoted to President and in 2013 the company was named Label of the Year by Gramophone magazine, followed by the Record of the Year award in 2014.
A former head chorister at Ely Cathedral, instrumental scholar at Cambridge University and a member of the
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for four years, Stainer has helped many of today's most successful artists develop their careers in the UK and internationally including
Maxim Vengerov, Bryn Terfel, Andrea Bocelli, Cecilia Bartoli, Rolando Villazón, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Hélène Grimaud, Ludovico Einaudi, Henryk Górecki, André Rieu and
David Garrett. He has also helped launch and establish a new generation of star classical musicians and performers such as Nicola Benedetti, Miloš Karadaglic and Pumeza Matshikiza. Stainer has served as Chairman of the Classical Brit Awards on several occasions and under his leadership Decca was selected as the official label partner of high profile UK events such as the 2011 Royal Wedding, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012 and the London 2012 Olympics.
ABOUT UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP
Universal
Music Group is the global music leader, with wholly owned operations in 60 territories. Its businesses also include Universal
Music Publishing Group, one of the industry's premier music publishing operations worldwide.
Universal
Music Group's labels include A&M Records, Angel, Astralwerks, Blue Note Records, Capitol Christian
Music Group, Capitol Records, Capitol Records Nashville, Caroline, Decca, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, EMI Records Nashville, Fonovisa, Geffen Records, Harvest, Interscope Records, Island Records, Machete Music, Manhattan, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Motown Records, Polydor Records, Republic Records, Universal
Music Latino,
Verve Music Group, Virgin Records, Virgin EMI Records, as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal
Music Group owns the most extensive catalogue of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years of the world's most popular artists and their recordings. UMG's catalogue is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal
Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal
Music Group also includes Global
Digital Business, its new media and technologies division and Bravado, its merchandising company.
