30.3.11

Bad results for UMG within Vivendi Group

Universal Music Group is a part of a powerful French company, VIVENDI. It takes 70% of the global turnover in the music industry in North America, where the company is particularly strong.
UMG promotes artists as U2, Amy Winehouse, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Jack Johnson, Eminem, Mylène Farmer and Roberto Alagna.
The company has the most important catalogue of registered music and you can find great artists as ABBA, Louis Armstrong, Alain Bashung, James Brown, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Frank Sinatra, Serge Gainsbourg, Bob Marley, Nirvana, Luciano Pavarotti, Édith Piaf, Michel Sardou, The Police, The Rolling Stones, Caetano Veloso and Herbert von Karajan.




Vivendi’s CEO announced at the beginning of March 2011 that the Group is forecasting a little growth of its benefits in 2011. UMG is the group which suffered the most compared to others Vivendi’s groups:
UMG had a turnover of € 4.4 billion in 2010, and a drop of 3.6% at a constant rate of exchange (http://www.musiqueinfo.com/news/bizness/exercice-fiscal-de-transition-pour-universal-music.html).
Wednesday 9th March has been Lucian Grainge appointed for the CEO position of Universal Music Group. According to the strategy line of Vivendi, Lucian Grainge intends to save € 100m until the end of 2011, through activities reorganization.

Quotation of Vivendi

(http://www.boursier.com/actions/graphiques/vivendi-FR0000127771,FR.html)

I’m a bit skeptic as I read this announcement  because usually, when a company says it wants to save money through activities reorganization it actually means that people will be fired.
Vivendi said savings will be made through “Optimization of the costs, a redeployment of the resources towards the priority activities and by a more world approach”… I’m still skeptic.


1 comment:

  1. You are right to be sceptical about 'management speak' - more euphemisms for sacking people are 'down-sizing', focusing on our core business and 'restructuring'. I once worked for a German company who went through a 'restructuing' but they made no bones about it - they called the process 'the carve out'. At least they were honest!

    ReplyDelete