Why Sir Lucian Grainge got paid what he got paid in 2021... and why it's okay to be jealous (Talking Trends)

<p>Welcome to the latest episode of Talking Trends, the weekly podcast from <a href='https://musicbusinessworldwide.com/'>Music Business Worldwide</a> – where we go deep behind the headlines of news stories affecting the entertainment industry. Talking Trends is supported by <a href='http://www.volymusic.com/'>Voly Music.</a><br/><br/>This week on Talking Trends, <em>MBW</em> founder, Tim Ingham, discusses the stunning amount of money paid to Universal Music Group boss, Sir Lucian Grainge, in 2021.<br/><br/>Ingham (pictured) calculates that Grainge pulled in around $45 million in basic salary plus annual bonuses in 2021, in addition to a nine-figure one-time payment related to Universal&apos;s flotation on the Amsterdam stock exchange in September.<br/><br/>Grainge&apos;s astronomical payday in 2021 has agitated some sections of the music industry, but Ingham argues why – from a Universal shareholder perspective – the British exec was &quot;worth every penny&quot; of the huge one-time payout he received.<br/><br/>Much of this week&apos;s episode comments on <a href='https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/10/mps-and-music-industry-bodies-criticise-pay-of-universal-head-lucian-grainge'>this Guardian article</a> from November 2021, and why it&apos;s problematic  to compare the one-time payments of a public company CEO/Chairman to the annual cumulative royalties of UK songwriters in 2019.</p>