Justin Bieber's Manager Scooter Braun Talks Schoolboy-Universal Deal

As Justin Bieber’s manager and professional guiding force, Scooter Braun has become one of the music industry’s most sought-after entrepreneurs. Now, the 30-year-old seeks to take his very own Schoolboy Records, a catalog that includes Bieber, Canadian pop singer Carly Rae Jepsen, and Def Jam signee Asher Roth, to the next level by announcing a label and distribution deal with Universal Music Group. After receiving the SoundWAV Award at the Third Annual FlashFWD Awards last Tuesday (May 15), the Atlanta native spoke to Billboard about his new partnership with UMG chairman Lucian Grainge and how it marks the next step of expanding his multifaceted business.

“My business is a lot of different places – we have a television development company, we have a film development company, we’re investing in tech. But Lucian is an incredibly forward-thinking individual who happens to be the chairman of the most powerful music company in the world,” says Braun. “And he wants to embrace young people. One of the things he does that I love is, once a month, he tries to bring in interns, temps, anyone from all over the company, and have a lunch with them. Just let them talk about what works, what doesn’t work, and… absorb it. He understands that he doesn’t want to embrace the old business.”

He feels that linking with Grainge will effect a global appeal for the artists.

“If you want to take it to that level where your goal is to make the biggest artists on the planet, you need partners who are going to be in every single marketplace,” says Braun. “I knew that when I was a party promoter — I never threw a party in a marketplace that I didn’t know without a partner in that marketplace. You need someone who knows their own backyard.”

Big moves in the making.