UMG Signs Contract Extensions With Monte & Avery Lipman
February 4, 2013
Avery & Monte Lipman
Universal Music Group has announced new long-term agreements with Republic Records founders Monte Lipman and Avery Lipman, naming Monte as Chairman/Chief Executive Officer and Avery as President/Chief Operating Officer of the company they started as an independent label in 1995. UMG Chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge and UMG Chairman & CEO of East Coast Labels Barry Weiss made the announcement this morning.
"Monte and Avery have established themselves as one of the industry’s most formidable creative teams," said Grainge. "They are truly world class music executives who have rewritten the rules for breaking new talent. We couldn’t be more delighted that they will continue building Republic as a home for truly inventive artists."
"Monte and Avery are two of the most entrepreneurial, effective, street smart, creative leaders in the music industry," Weiss commented. "Their track record is unparalleled. They constantly think out of the box and their results speak for themselves. This is great for them and for Universal Music Group, and is just the beginning of their next chapter."
"We work every day towards building a culture that supports the artist community and the entrepreneurial spirit that shapes our company," added Monte and Avery. "The unparalleled support of Lucian and Barry for Republic continues to inspire us to be competitive, while serving the needs of our extraordinary artists, venture partners, and dynamic executives."
Most recently, Republic Records scored chart-topping releases with Of Monsters and Men, The Weeknd(XO), and Grammy-nominated Florence + the Machine. The label is also responsible for Record of the Year nominee Gotye, and his multi-platinum record "Somebody That I Used to Know" [Featuring Kimbra], in addition to the worldwide phenomenon, "Gangnam Style" by the South Korean rapper, PSY (Schoolboy Records).
Republic also expanded into film and television with the smash NBC hit series The Voice and partnering with the network’sSaturday Night Livefor Andy Samberg’s The Lonely Island and AMC's The Walking Dead. Republic also boasts three of this year’s five Oscar-nominated Best Original Songs with “Suddenly” by Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables, Norah Jones' “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” in TED, and Scarlett Johansson and Joshua Bell “Before My Time” in Chasing Ice (Lava Records). In addition, they’ve already achieved success with Lions Gate’s The Hunger Games, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained (Loma Vista) and this year’s Oscar host, the multi-talented Grammy- nominated Seth MacFarlane.