Alain Levy facts for kids
Alain Levy is an important leader in the entertainment world. He was born in Metz, France, on 19 December 1946.
Alain Levy studied engineering and business. He got his first degree in 1970 and an MBA (Master of Business Administration) in 1972. An MBA is a special degree for people who want to lead businesses.
Early Career in Music
Starting at CBS (1972-1984)
Alain Levy began his career at CBS Records International in 1972. He started as a helper to the president. Later, he moved to Paris to manage how music was made and sent out. He became a vice president in Europe and then took charge of CBS Italy. By 1979, he was promoted to the top job, CEO, of CBS France. This means he was in charge of all CBS music business in France.
Leading PolyGram France (1984-1988)
In 1984, Levy moved to another big music company called PolyGram. He became the CEO of their French operations. In just four years, he helped PolyGram become the largest music company in France. They had a huge share of the music market, meaning many people bought their music.
Growing PolyGram Worldwide (1988-1998)
In 1988, Alain Levy moved to London to work on PolyGram's music business all over the world. He was in charge of marketing pop music and managing music rights.
In 1990, he led PolyGram's efforts to buy two famous record labels: Island Records and A&M Records. This was a big deal because it brought popular artists like U2 and Sting to PolyGram. He helped combine these new labels into PolyGram's system. He also helped PolyGram start selling its shares on the stock market in Amsterdam and New York. This made PolyGram a very valuable company.
In 1991, Levy became the worldwide President and CEO of PolyGram. For the next seven years, he worked to turn PolyGram from a mostly European music company into a huge global entertainment company. Under his leadership, PolyGram sold one out of every five music albums worldwide. They also released successful movies like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Fargo.
Later Career and New Ventures
Expanding in Music and Film
In 1992, Levy helped PolyGram buy more famous music labels, including Motown and Def Jam. This helped PolyGram offer even more types of music. He focused on making PolyGram profitable and the number one music company in the world by the mid-1990s.
Around 1992, Levy noticed that music sales were slowing down. So, he led PolyGram to expand into making movies. They created PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (PFE). PFE made and distributed many popular films, such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Trainspotting, Bean, Fargo, and Dead Man Walking. PolyGram Filmed Entertainment became the biggest European-owned movie studio.
Moving On from PolyGram
From 1992 to 1998, Levy was also on the board of PHILIPS, a big electronics company. He helped them develop both entertainment content and the devices to play it. In 1998, Philips decided to focus only on electronics and sold PolyGram. After this, Levy left the company.
Investing in Digital (1999-2001)
After leaving PolyGram, Levy became an advisor and invested in new media companies, especially those involved with the internet.
Leading EMI Music (2001-2007)
From 2001 to 2007, Alain Levy was the chairman and CEO of EMI Music worldwide. EMI is another very famous music company.
When he started at EMI, he combined EMI and Virgin Group into one company. This helped save a lot of money. He then focused on changing EMI's strategy for the new digital age. He wanted EMI to focus more on what music fans wanted.
Levy invested a lot of money in new technology. EMI was one of the first music companies to make its music available digitally. They also started talks with Apple about launching its iTunes music store. EMI helped popularize artists like Norah Jones, Coldplay, and Keith Urban around the world.
In 2006, Levy famously said, "The CD as it is right now is dead." This showed his belief that digital music was the future. In early 2007, EMI was sold, and Levy left the company.
New Ventures (2008-Present)
In 2008 and 2009, Levy advised Banijay, a new company that bought TV production companies around the world.
In 2013, he became the Executive Chairman of Algean Group. This group of companies works in travel, property, and marketing, with a focus on new media and technology.
See Also
- List of record labels
- Music industry
