On a sunny morning in October, Universal Music Publishing Group chairman/CEO Jody Gerson gathered her lieutenants around a table in her Santa Monica, Calif., office, Zooming in her overseas executives on a big screen, and proudly introduced what she described as evidence to inform the ongoing industry discussion on “whether AI will replace human artistry.”
“I’m going to show you why it will not,” Gerson said, clad in a black leather jacket and her signature rose-tinted aviator glasses, cueing the dazzlingly original video for the operatic track “Berghain” that had just been released by Rosalía, whom Gerson signed in 2019 and has worked with closely ever since. “The reaction that this video’s getting just gives me hope that real artists will prevail.”
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Throughout the rest of the meeting, as each team member gave their updates, Gerson interjected frequently to offer support, asking if there was “anything else we could do to help” a certain songwriter and acknowledging one leader for working through his entire vacation to ensure that a critical deal struck the right “balance of what’s good for songwriters and what’s good for the company on a global basis.”
“I want to commend you for fighting the fight and making sure songwriters are paid fairly. We should all be comforted knowing we have this dream team fighting for value,” Gerson gushed.
It’s been a decade since Gerson took the helm of the publishing business at the world’s biggest record company. Since then, she’s reigned not just as the most powerful woman in the music industry but as one of the most influential executives in entertainment, approximately tripling her company’s publishing revenue and championing songwriters and the value of music at every opportunity — and waking up before dawn each morning to feed her three dogs and practice Pilates before arriving at the office “excited, hoping that I’m going to hear something that I love and that I can contribute in some way to someone’s life. I still have the responsibility of that.”
In the process, Gerson has showed the business how to be a leader at a global music giant with grace, integrity, selflessness and the utmost respect for her songwriters as well as her staff, while still always speaking her mind and using her role as “a platform,” and building strategic bridges with influential leaders beyond the music industry who can affect music’s value.
“No matter whether you’re in retail or film or artificial intelligence, everybody wants a connection to music,” says Gerson, who was appointed to Gap’s board of directors last year. For Billboard‘s Power 100 Executive of the Decade spanning 2015 to 2025 — a co-founder of She Is the Music and board member for mental health organization Project Healthy Minds and Ancestry.com — it was only the latest example of her growing cross-cultural influence and evolution as a leader. “I might as well be that connection,” Gerson says, “and then use those connections to serve my company, my writers and my employees.”
Sami DrasinYou started this job 10 years ago — what was your vision for the company at the time?
I took this job because the door shut at my other job. [Gerson previously was co-president at what is now Sony Music Publishing under former chairman/CEO Martin Bandier, who retired in 2019.] It’d be easy to rewrite history and say, “Oh, I went for it,” but that’s just not an authentic way to tell this story. The way to tell the story is that I realized I wanted something that I didn’t get at Sony. I very quickly pivoted — if I’m not going to get it at Sony, let me see what’s available.
But I didn’t go to [Universal Music Group chairman/CEO] Lucian [Grainge] with the idea that he would offer me the chairman role of this global company. And I remember accepting it and being excited about it, but being really insecure about it. How do I run a company? I still had kids at home. And I still had bought into this whole thing that I had for my entire career: How does a woman do it? Trying to have babies, raising children, trying to maintain a healthy balance that men aren’t asked to do in the same way, or maybe they don’t put the pressure on themselves in the same way. Not having any role model who actually did it. I knew I always felt that I was as competent, if not more competent, than any other person who had gotten jobs like this, but for whatever reason, insecurity had held me back from that.
So I took the job thinking, “How am I going to do it?” Ten years later, I’m so deeply proud that I’ve taken this job as me and that I lead authentically as me. I run a company with tremendous integrity. I bet on artists, I bet on people, and I set people — artists, our employees, our leadership — up for success. And I’m so proud that I’ve overcome those insecurities.
Was there a turning point at which you overcame them?
I think there are turning points. I was conditioned to be a good girl, do good work and [to think that] you’re going to get the pat on the shoulder saying “you’re up,” and it doesn’t work that way. I got to the point where I determined my success. It wasn’t about making someone else proud of me. Yeah, of course I want to do a great job — but it’s more about doing a great job for me and for the people who work with me and not letting them down.
What are the hallmarks of your management style?
No. 1, it’s about hiring great people. When I say I took this job bringing some of my insecurity, thinking, “Oh, my God, how am I going to know about royalties in other countries or how to make these digital deals or how to think about technology and music’s role in technology in terms of value?” Well, what I did was surround myself with people with skill sets that I don’t have.
In terms of management style, it’s making sure that people feel respected, that they treat each other well. Mark [Cimino, UMPG’s COO] likes to say we have a “no a–hole” rule, and I think it’s a rule that we follow.
I’m also very adaptable. We’re at a time where innovation is happening so quickly. So how do we adapt to innovation? There may have been a time in my life where it was like, “Oh, no. I’m scared of that new technology. It’s going to ruin the business.” Now I go, “OK, how’s it going to enhance the business? How’s it going to enhance it, and what do we need to do to adapt?”
Ten years later, I come from a position of strength and a position where I want others to succeed. I think having power gives you the ability to empower others. That’s my style. I honestly just really care about people. And I think it comes through. I hope it comes through.
Sami DrasinHow do you talk to your songwriters about AI?
First and foremost, we always have to protect a songwriter, a song. We have to protect that song vigorously. As long as AI enhances the writing process, that’s a good thing. AI capability will make it easier for us to find copyright infringements, to claim, even to collect royalties. It will be fantastic in terms of search. It’ll make it so easy for music users to find the song that works for their film, their television show.
But we have to get training right. We have to get output right. We have to get the allocations right between the master and publishing. We have to be adaptable, but at the very core, as long as AI helps and supports human beings, human art, I think we’re going to be OK.
What scares me is the AI race. We have to make sure that it doesn’t eat our [intellectual property] — any of us — because if we allow it to, the libraries that film studios have, the libraries that music companies have, they’ll be meaningless. So we have to really protect human art while we’re advancing technology.
Practically, what does that look like?
This is the part I didn’t know would be in my job — fighting for value. It seemed obvious to me that music and songs have value, but it’s not so easy. Does it come naturally to these tech companies? Does it come naturally to technology and innovation? It’s our job to make sure.
The other thing I’ve thought about is that there are tremendous AI opportunities for artists. But what we can’t forget is that songwriters are not always the artists. So the artist gets to use their music and the success of their music to get a brand deal, a touring deal, a sponsorship. But songwriters only make money when their songs are used and when their songs are heard.
Sometimes the artists and the songwriter are the same, but sometimes they’re not. The people who wrote the underlying song — the only time they get paid is from that song. They don’t get the benefit of brand deals, sponsorships, any of that. I think that’s really important to distinguish when we’re talking about value.
What do you still want to accomplish in this role?
The big thing for me is that there be more women in my position. Until women get the message that community and sisterhood is going to take us where we need to go, nothing will change. We’ve hosted these dinner parties for She Is the Music — I did one at my house. We decided to do an event called Sharing the Spotlight. The idea was you invite 50 women with experience who should be acknowledged, and the ask is that they invite a rising star. Part of these dinner parties has to be an opportunity for someone to say, “This is what I need,” and for someone else to say, “I got you.” “I’m applying for that job. Can you put in a call for me?” “Yes, I got you.” “I want to meet so-and-so. Can you make the introduction?” “Yes, I got you.” That’s how I believe things will change.
There’s a thirst for community. We, as women, came to the corporate world late. Men have been in it so much longer. Men have played on sports teams way longer than we have. Many of us didn’t have moms who worked. I didn’t have a mom who worked until very much later in her life. So we didn’t have role models.
This idea that together we’re better — if I accomplished that message, that will be part of my legacy, but I want to share that legacy with others.
Sami DrasinHow have the power dynamics of the music business changed since you stepped into this role?
We’re like the hot business now. Everybody else’s business is starting to look just like my business. When I came into the music business, publishing was like, “Huh, what is it?” And now it’s a big business people are paying attention to. When private equity looks at it, they see the value in it. Wall Street sees the value in it. People understand what it is as an asset class. I think that’s a good thing. We as publishers have a seat at the table.
Artists have a lot more power than they ever did. I used to sign an artist who was just talented and we could do the rest. Now the artist has all of the power and such a heavy lift. There are so many things we ask of them. You have to show up at a Billboard event, you have to make a special version for Spotify, you have to do Zane Lowe’s show, you have to do however many TikTok videos, you have to communicate directly with your fans. All of that means that they have great power.
The job has really turned into a supportive role of, “OK, artist, what’s the vision? We are going to support your vision. We’re going to protect you from making mistakes, but we’re going to believe in you. And I’m going to help you get there.”
What’s the part of your job you feel most challenged or frustrated by?
I still have to explain to people that music has value. How could people not know that? Every day, as we negotiate these deals, we have to defend value. Songwriters deserve to make a living. That’s the hard part. Whether you’re in film and in order to get greenlit you cut the music budget, or you’re a digital platform that goes, “Oh, my margins are bad because of what I have to pay for music,” music still means something and music is still the big thing that drives culture.
That’s frustrating to me, that I still am fighting that fight. But I will say that I think we’ve educated a lot of platforms, a lot of brands, a lot of music users that music has value. So I feel good about that.
This story appears in the Jan. 24, 2026, issue of Billboard.
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