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No. 36
Monte Lipman

President/CEO
Universal Republic
Twitter: @RepublicRecords
From Brash Startup To Global Success...

It's telling that early in Universal Music Group's restructuring process, chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge (see No. 3) signed Universal Republic president/CEO Monte Lipman and co-president/COO Avery Lipman to new long-term contracts. When the news was reported in Billboard in January 2011, Grainge called the pair "the most innovative executives in the business today," citing their "creative leadership [and] passion and savvy for discovering and nurturing new talent." Republic Records, paced by Monte's musical vision, has definitely come a long way. The brash 1995 startup-launching with Godsmack and 3 Doors Down-is now a global, multigenre major. Insightful signings (Amy Winehouse, Florence & the Machine, Enrique Iglesias, Jack Johnson), strategic alliances (Big Machine, home to Taylor Swift and the Band Perry; Cash Money, home to Lil Wayne and Drake) and judicious joint ventures (including Lava, Downtown, Indie-Pop Records and Tuff Gong Records) ch-chinged the label to a 6.3% market share in 2011, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Look for more new talent to come from Universal Republic in 2012: The label signed on as the recording partner for NBC's reality singing competition "The Voice."

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