As the highest-ranking female executive in the music industry, the first female chairman of a global music company and the first woman to be named CEO of a major music publisher, Universal Music Publishing Group’s Jody Gerson enjoys an unimpeachable pedigree. A music publisher for the entirety of her professional career, she presides over one of the world’s top publishing companies and has signed or works with a dazzling array of artists, including Adele, Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber, Lana Del Rey, Ariana Grande, Coldplay, Drake, Billie Eilish, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Kendrick Lamar, Post Malone, the Prince estate, Rosalia, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift, SZA, the Weeknd and many more.
On her watch, Taylor Swift joined UMPG (after Gerson lured her longtime publisher, Troy Tomlinson, into the fold) and Bob Dylan sold his publishing catalog to the company — in a deal reported to be between $300-$400 million — as did Neil Diamond and Sting.
Gerson leads a global company with 48 offices in 41 countries, with more than 850 employees; it owns and administers more than five million copyrights. She has tripled its revenue since she took the helm in 2015 — after increasingly successful roles at Warner Chappell, EMI and Sony Music Publishing — and her tenure has coincided with a sea change in the profile of the publishing industry, as more people and investors have realized the value of music and intellectual property.
