Believe’s Denis Ladegaillerie: How It Started…
Denis Ladegaillerie’s route from corporate law into the music business began with Vivendi’s rapid expansion into internet companies around 2000. After the dot-com crash, he helped assess and later sell the group’s digital assets, including music-related businesses, gaining experience that led him to pursue a venture of his own.
His account traces a period of upheaval and excess in digital media, followed by Vivendi’s decision to sell its US businesses. Ladegaillerie says he sold the division’s assets within two years and became convinced that music and digital services belonged together. After leaving Vivendi in 2004 and returning to Paris, he met Arnaud Chiaramonti, who shared his interest in using the internet in music; the supplied article text ends before describing what they did next.
In short
- Vivendi’s digital expansion drew Ladegaillerie from law into music.
- He helped sell the group’s US digital assets after the dot-com crash.
- The experience led him towards building a music business of his own.
Explained simply
Denis Ladegaillerie trained as a corporate lawyer before moving into the music business. Around 2000, he worked at Vivendi, a French media and communications group that was expanding quickly into internet companies.
After the dot-com crash, Vivendi reviewed and sold digital businesses it had acquired, including some connected to music. Ladegaillerie says this work convinced him that music and online services could work together.
He left Vivendi in 2004 and returned to Paris, where he met Arnaud Chiaramonti, who shared his interest in the internet’s role in music. Their meeting came as the industry was adapting to digital technology and new ways of distributing music.
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