UMG is smartly grabbing the long tail of classical and jazz. These divisions are like step children at major labels. But while the big boys thrive on hits, they survive on catalog, particularly as ongoing payments from streaming becomes recorded music’s biggest revenue source.
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Universal Music Group has named Graham Parker as President of its classical music labels, part of the Verve Label Group.
In this new role, Parker will oversee UMG’s U.S. classical music labels including Deutsche Grammophon, Decca Records, Decca Classics, Mercury Classics, and distributed label ECM. Parker will be based in New York and report jointly to Dickon Stainer, President and CEO of Global Classics for Universal Music Group, and Danny Bennett, recently appointed President & CEO of Verve Label Group.
Parker is no stranger to the world of classical music and most recently served as , General Manager of WQXR, the most-listened to classical music radio station in the U.S. and won a Peabody Award this year for the station’s Q2Music podcast.
“I’ve devoted my life to classical music and bringing this incredible genre to as wide an audience as possible,” said Parker. “The opportunity to not only join the legendary catalog of Deutsche Grammophon and Decca, but to also be on the forefront of identifying the classical superstars of tomorrow, was too incredible to pass up. I’m humbled by this opportunity and I’m looking forward to working with Danny, Dickon, Michele Anthony and the entire UMG team.”