How Jodi Gerson transformed Universal Music Publishing Group and worked to make the music industry more inclusive of women.
Music is always present in our lives, from our morning exercises to bed. And we all have a ‘soundtrack of life’ of songs that transport us to a moment or an era – one note and you’re there. Music is also a billion dollar business… But who runs this business? Even though so many of the biggest artists are women – Taylor Swift, Alicia Keys, Billie Eilish and Lana Del Rey to name a few – the industry itself has long suffered from a lack of women and diversity – not only on the talent side, but and on the executive side.
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One of the most powerful longtime players in this business is Jody Gerson, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group. She is the first woman ever to hold a position at a major music publisher. From joining UMPG in 2015, she also transformed the company, which now exceeds $2 billion in revenue.
Gerson fell in love with music at an early age, at her father’s nightclub in New Jersey.
“I saw the greatest acts of the time from Frank Sinatra to Diana Ross and the Supremes to The Temptations to Ray Charles,” says Gerson. “I also have to say that I was somewhat precocious and watched the artist backstage as they prepared to go on stage. Some people threw up because they were so nervous. Some people practice their chords. So from a young age I began to understand how artists feel, how artists think and the anxiety of an artist. And I really feel like that prepared me for this job.
After college, Jody Gerson moved to New York City knowing she wanted to work in the music business. She eventually found a job at Chappell Music as an archivist, and it was there, among the lyric sheets of old New York songwriters, that she learned to recognize a hit song.
“I think we all feel it in some way. What was it about the song that made you fall in love with your partner? What was the big high school prom song? Simply, it’s about hearing a song and remembering it,” says Gerson. She also says the key is to hear the melody first. If you can hum the melody and combine it with deep lyrics, that’s what makes a song a hit.
Now like She is the chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group works to make the industry more inclusive for women. In 2019, she is a co-founder global non-profit She Is The Music with Alicia Keys. The organization hosts songwriting camps and offers mentoring programs to increase opportunities for all women in the industry.
“Women who want to be in the music business have tolerated a lot of bad behavior for many years. I believe women will not have the success we want in business unless we support each other,” says Gerson. “So our solution is to create communities of women who support each other and who push each other into position. And when they feel like, “Oh my God, can I do this job?” We come together and say, “You absolutely can do this job, and this is how you’re going to do it, because we’re going to help you.”
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