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Jody Gerson the chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group or UMPG has been selected as 2025 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons recipient at the Recording Academy with Clive Davis hosting the annual Pre-Grammy Gala on Saturday February 1 a day prior to the 67th Annual Grammy Awards. This gala will represent the 50th year milestone event.
Gerson becomes the third woman to attain the Grammy Salute following Debra L Lee a past chairman and CEO of BET Networks from 2017 as well as Julie Greenwald who held the position of Atlantic Music Group chairman and CEO back in 2023 in which she also accepted the award alongside Craig Kallman. Harvey Mason Jr CEO of the Recording Academy stated that Jody Gerson represents a revolutionary executive whose approach embraces integrity and inclusiveness to everyone she works with.
Clive Davis explained that Jody Gerson has been a pioneering presence in the music industry supporting song writers across all music genres showcasing advocacy diversity and equality demonstrating significant leadership in many musical organizations. Clive Davis founded this Pre Grammy event back in 1976 while celebrating Barry Manilow’s “Mandy” and recognizing the song was Arista Record’s first number one Billboard Hot 100 hit and its very first Grammy nomination for record of the year showing great potential of the platform he was creating.
Since Jody Gerson became part of UMPG in 2015 she transformed the company into a global powerhouse responsible for more than five million copyrights running with offices in over 40 countries employing 850 employees globally making history as the first female to chair a global music company and also becoming the very first woman CEO of a major music publisher. Jody Gerson has been included on Universal Music Group's UMG executive management board which allows her continued oversight of many major projects. Gerson secured the rank of number fourteen on Billboard’s 2024 Power 100 list further indicating her success as leader within a global music landscape and has the respect of others.
Senior writer of Billboard Publishing Kristin Robinson specifically stated that Jody Gerson remains a very trusted voice inside of the music publishing realm as she is CEO of UMPG a board member for the National Music Publishers Association and also the co founder of She Is the Music to support and empower all female creative. From 2013 till 2023 UMPG’s US revenue showed huge growth of from $900 million all the way to a revenue number above 1.9 billion dollars and also during this same period the revenue difference between UMPG and Sony Music Publishing narrowed from 400 million to an impressive 188.5 million showing the strength of Jody’s ability to secure major deals and continue growth in all segments of market share.
Jody Gerson got a Primetime Emmy nomination during 2021 for executive production on HBO’s The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart movie which showcased her ability to produce high-end non-fiction programs with strong music components. A year prior she also was part of video production on 2Pac’s Dear Mama a project which had achieved a Grammy nomination demonstrating her ability to work well in diverse video mediums. The executive work with many artists further demonstrates the impact she holds within diverse segments of creative industry.
Jody Gerson personally signed many major world known music stars including Adele Bee Gees Bad Bunny Justin Bieber Sabrina Carpenter Lana Del Rey Ariana Grande Coldplay Drake Billie Eilish H.E.R Elton John Alicia Keys Steve Lacy Kendrick Lamar Post Malone Maren Morris the Prince estate Rosalia Harry Styles Taylor Swift SZA plus The Weeknd further showing her strong ability to build partnerships. Gerson's oversight includes UMPG’s acquisitions of prominent music catalogs which includes music by Bob Dylan Neil Diamond and Sting. The management and catalog purchases demonstrate strong business acumenship while continuing UMPG’s growth in market place.
As strong advocate for women Jody Gerson co-founded She Is The Music along with serving on many other influential boards such as for the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame the National Music Publishers Association New Roads School plus Project Healthy Minds that shows the diversity of charitable work the creative executive performs while making major business impacts at the same time. Her personal and professional efforts shows a holistic focus with giving back to the larger world and encouraging progress in all the work she does.
Jody Gerson co-oversees Polygram Entertainment the movie and television arm of Universal Music Group which produces full length films as well as several music based series. In 2024 Gerson executively produced various programs which included Music Box: Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary The Beach Boys STAX: Soulsville U.S.A. plus Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It alongside other projects like The Bee Gees: How to Mend a Broken Heart movie series and the HBO series “Music Box” highlighting her ability to see large creative projects through with great detail and passion.. Jody Gerson is working on documentaries related to Bernie Taupin and Prince showing long reaching vision and continued involvement in major film and tv productions.
Jody Gerson became the very first female as well as first music executive publisher named by Billboard for its annual Power 100 executive of the year in January of 2020. She also was presented Billboard’s Power Players’ Choice Award plus Variety’s Hitmakers Executive of the Year as well as Billboard‘s 2015 Executive of the Year during the Women in Music showcase alongside Rolling Stone’s “Future 25”; Variety’s Power of Women in L.A. plus 2016 March of Dimes Inspiring Woman of the Year showing many major award acceptances from major brands and organisations recognizing the high quality of work produced.
The exclusive invitation Pre-Grammy Gala has a roster of major sponsors such as Hilton Mastercard and IBM highlighting high profile nature of the event and prestige associated with participating. Jon Platt who currently serves as the chairman and CEO of Sony Music Publishing received the Grammy Salute to Industry Icons in the past year in which many individuals who came before such as Ahmet Ertegun, Mo Ostin Herb Alpert with Jerry Moss Berry Gordy Clive Davis David Geffen Doug Morris Sir Richard Branson Antonio L A Reid Sir Lucian Grainge Martin Bandier Irving Azoff Debra L. Lee Shawn JAY Z Carter Clarence Avant Sean Diddy Combs Rob Stringer Julie Greenwald alongside Craig Kallman who won in 2023 along with John Platt in 2024 show a long tradition and major impact of recipients for the music focused award for professionals.