Universal Music Group's Doug Morris will step aside next year and international chief Lucian Grainge will assume the role of CEO, according to BusinessWeek. Morris, who is 71 this month, will remain as Chairman and reportedly has no plans to retire.

Doug Morris has seen Universal through some of the rockiest times in the history of the music industry retaining the company's position as the world's largest label group.  After making the same post-Napster missteps as others in the industry, he has pushed the company's moves into digital while at the same time remaining an outspoken critic of iTune's dominance.   A recent initiative under Morris' reign is the VEVO partnership which sees Universal joining with Sony to retain more control of and revenue from online music video.

image via Wired