2019 was a pretty dramatic year for Taylor Swift on the business side of things as she was embroiled with a pretty public spat with Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta over her music rights. However, it seems like 2020 is a time for new beginnings as Tay Tay has not only signed on with a new music label but she’ll be working with one of the most powerful women in music, Jody Gerson.
Speaking of Taylor Swift, the GOAT team take a look at the singer’s increasing presence in politics on It’s Been A Big Day For… below:
Taylor Swift announced her new deal by sharing a few photos on Instagram of herself signing her contract with Universal Music with Jody Gerson watching, and writing in the caption:
“I’m proud to extend my partnership with Lucian Grainge and the Universal Music family by signing with Universal Music Publishing Group, and for the opportunity to work with Jody Gerson, the first woman to run a major music publishing company. Jody is an advocate for women’s empowerment and one of the most-respected and accomplished industry leaders.”
There was also a big, fluffy cat in there somewhere, which is obviously a very important part of this story.
So Taylor Swift has a shiny new publishing deal with Universal and will be working with a new boss, which is a pretty cushy place to be if you’re her.
However, the bigger story here is Jody Gerson because she’s done some incredible things in the music industry during her time as Universal Music CEO.
Having worked with music publishing companies such as EMI and Sony for the first half of her career, Jody knows her stuff and had an eye for finding young talent, such as her signing Alica Keys in 1996 and Norah Jones in 2003.
But the big moment was when Jody joined Universal music in 2015 as its Chairman and CEO, making her the first woman to run a major music publishing company. You can probably start to see why Tay Tay signing with Jody is such a big deal.
From there, Jody has pushed Universal to new heights, pushing the company’s annual revenue over the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2018. But her biggest impact was how she helped empower and lift women throughout her journey.
Beyond making changes at Universal to be more inclusive, Jody has sought to invoke change beyond her own company.
As per Billboard, she’s part of the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative; co-founded the non-profit organisation ‘She Is the Music’ to promote women songwriters and engineers; pushed the Recording Academy to be more inclusive, diverse and transparent; and vowed not to sign songwriters who have committed violent crimes against others.
With all those achievements, it’s no wonder why she was named Billboard’s Executive Of The Year for 2019 and why Taylor is so excited to work with her.
So here’s to Taylor Swift for her new deal and her new working relationship with Jody Gerson. They’re going to make some beautiful music together, literally and figuratively.
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