Jody Gerson

Gerson was raised in a Jewish family[6][7] in the Philadelphia area, where her father owned several nightclubs including the Latin Casino[8] whose performers included artists like Frank Sinatra and Diana Ross.[9] She began her career in music publishing at Chappell Music shortly after graduating from Northwestern University,[10] where she started out making tape copies.[9] After six years at Chappell, she moved to EMI Music Publishing to run the company's east coast office[2] before shifting to head up the company's west coast publishing division in 1991. In January 2008, Gerson left EMI to become US Co-President of Sony/ATV Music Publishing.[10]

In 2015, Gerson joined Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) as Chairman and CEO. Under her leadership,[11] UMPG's annual revenue has more than doubled into 1.8 billion dollars in business.[12]

Gerson has led the signings and extensions of artists and songwriters including the Bee Gees,[13][14] Elton John,[15][14] Carly Simon,[16] Bruce Springsteen,[17] Prince,[18] Taylor Swift,[19] Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Steve Lacy, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd,[12] Billie Eilish,[20] Rosalía,[21] Alicia Keys,[22] Coldplay,[14] Justin Bieber,[14] Jack White,[23] SZA,[14] Quavo,[8] Ariana Grande, H.E.R.,[14] Harry Styles, Jeff Bhasker, Maren Morris,[24] Tierra Whack,[8] Halsey, Demi Lovato, Shawn Mendes, Tobias Jesso Jr., Travis Scott, Joe Jonas, Nick Jonas, Maroon 5, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Post Malone, and more.[9]

Gerson also led UMPG's acquisitions of the catalogs of Sting, Neil Diamond, Frank Zappa and others.[12] In 2016, she negotiated a deal for UMPG to be the exclusive worldwide publishing administrator for Prince's entire song catalog.[18]

In 2020, Gerson led UMPG's purchase of Bob Dylan's entire songwriting catalog, considered to be the biggest acquisition ever of a single act's publishing rights.[25]

Previous to UMPG,[26] Gerson has signed many successful songwriters throughout her career in music publishing, including Lady Gaga, Norah Jones, Odd Future, Jermaine Dupri, and a then 15-year-old Alicia Keys. Gerson has also played an instrumental role in the careers of Enrique Iglesias, Pharrell Williams, Mac Miller, Pitbull, RedOne, and Dallas Austin, among others.[2]

In addition to her work in music, Gerson produced the movies Drumline and ATL. Drumline is currently being adapted for Broadway. She is also executive producer of VH1's Drumline 2.[2] Gerson executive produced the Emmy-nominated documentary The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, as well as HBO's Music Box series. She is a board member of the National Music Publishers Association.[27]

Gerson co-founded the global nonprofit She Is The Music and serves on boards of directors of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and The National Music Publishers' Association, among others.[12]

On December 3, 2015, Gerson was named 'Executive of the Year' by Billboard Magazine in its Women in Music 2015 issue.[9] In 2016 she was named "Inspiring Woman of the Year" by the March of Dimes, and named to the Variety Power of Women L.A. list.[28][29] She has appeared on the Billboard Power 100 every year from 2016 to 2023.[30][31][32] In 2020, Gerson was named by Billboard as "Executive of the Year", becoming the first music publisher and first woman to receive this honor.[33] Gerson received the Abe Olman Publisher Award at the 51st annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Dinner.[34]

In May 2023, Gerson received the ICMP Ralph Peer II Award for Outstanding Contribution to Global Music Publishing.[35] Gerson has been named repeatedly on the Variety 500,[36] as well as listed on Rolling Stone's Future 25.[37]

Gerson is divorced from Seth Swirsky and has three children: Julian (1994), Luke (2002), and Daisy (2004).[9]