14 JODY GERSON

CHAIRMAN/CEO UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP

As UMPG’s CEO, a National Music Publishers’ Association board member and co-founder of She Is the Music, an organization committed to empowering female creators, Gerson is one of the most trusted voices in music publishing. Since taking the helm of UMPG in 2015, she has transformed, as she puts it, from “slow and steady” publisher that was a “small piece” of UMG’s multifaceted music business into the “valuable asset it is to the overall UMG pie.” From 2013 to 2023, UMPG’s U.S. revenue grew from $900 million to more than $1.9 billion. And with new signees like Jack Antonoff and Lana Del Rey bolstering the publisher’s roster, Gerson says her goal in 2024 is to be “the undisputed market-share leader — I’m going for it.”

It’s not a pipe dream: From 2013 to 2023, UMPG has narrowed the revenue gap between it and market leader Sony Music Publishing from $400 million to $188.5 million. As for catalog acquisitions, she says UMPG’s strategy remains the same: “It is about buying Picassos — and [situations] where the songwriter has a majority percentage of the song. And because we are a global music company, and I’m probably one of very few chairmen of a music company with a global remit, I’m able to have my managing directors in other countries help us acquire Picassos in virtually every major territory.”

Gerson says she’s also confident that in a world where anyone can upload a song to streaming services, the need for music publishers hasn’t diminished. “My experience is that people currently hold out on [signing] record deals, but they want to do publishing deals,” she says. “Right now, there are no barriers to entry for an artist to get their song up on a platform, but to be able to collect publishing revenue is awfully complicated. If you signed to UMPG, you don’t have to worry about any money that’s collected,” she continues. “We can collect all your percentages of pennies around the world, and you have access to our royalty portal.”