Good morning! Female OpenAI employees are concerned about the company’s gender disparity, Gwynne Shotwell says competition is good for SpaceX, and Fortune’s Ellie Austin shares why a major music publisher doesn’t want to be the only woman at the top—and what she learned from Taylor Swift.
– Charting progress. When she joined Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) in 2015, Jody Gerson became the first woman to serve as CEO of a major music publisher.
Although her appointment marked progress in a historically male-dominated industry, Gerson, who previously held senior roles at Sony, Polygram and EMI, was not complacent. “When I came into this job, I said publicly that I wouldn’t be satisfied if, when I left this job, I was still the only woman,” she says. “I could be the first. I didn’t want to be the only.”
The global publishing arm of Universal Music Group, UMPG represents songwriters such as Adele, Taylor Swift, SZA, and Elton John. It also manages the catalogs of Queen, the Bee Gees, ABBA, and Bob Dylan, whose more than 600 songs it purchased in a blockbuster 2020 deal estimated to be worth over $300 million. Under Gerson’s leadership, the company’s annual revenue has more than doubled to $2 billion and she has also played a pivotal role in securing rights and royalties for artists as the industry evolves. Earlier this year, UMG pulled its music from TikTok until the platform agreed to better payment terms and AI protections for its artists, in a deal that set a new precedent for the treatment of creators in the digital age.
“My job is to make sure songwriters can earn a living,” says Gerson. “I love every platform that wants to utilize music but you have to be able to contribute to the value of that music.” In addition to being CEO, Gerson is chairperson of UMPG and also oversees Polygram Entertainment, Universal’s film and TV division.
While the industry embraces new technologies, its progress with gender parity is slower. Gerson now has a handful of female peers, including Sylvia Rhone, CEO and chairperson, Epic Records, and Desiree Perez, CEO of Roc Nation, but the business is still largely run by men. (Julie Greenwald, the former CEO and chairperson of Atlantic Music Group, recently stepped down and will leave the company in January.) “There are not many C-suite women right now. We have to come together to change that,” Gerson says.
For her part, in 2018, Gerson cofounded She Is The Music, a global nonprofit that campaigns for more women at all levels of the industry. She also advocates for women to be “uber sensitive” about putting themselves—and each other—forward for opportunities. Gerson recalls “playing the nice girl” to get ahead earlier in her career but today, she advises other women to emulate the ambition and self-assurance of Taylor Swift, Charli XCX, Billie Eilish, and the other female artists dominating the charts and zeitgeist.
“I always say that Taylor Swift has taught me more about my own power than anyone else,” she says. (Universal stepped in as Swift’s recorded music partner following her departure from Big Machine Records and the dispute over ownership of her masters that preceded her re-recordings of her own albums.) “I grew up making myself small to make men feel bigger. Taylor Swift is unapologetic in her ambition. She stands strong. This generation [of women] can learn a lot from her.”
Ellie Austin
[email protected]
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
– Company concerns. Following the departures of CTO Mira Murati and safety systems chief Lilian Weng, female OpenAI employees are concerned about gender disparity at the company. A written memo explains one female employee’s concerns regarding retention and promotion of female staff, calling the situation “an emergency.” The Information
– Healthy competition. SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell encouraged competition in the space industry, saying, “It’s going to be hard to catch us, but I certainly hope people try.” The company backed by Elon Musk dominates the global launch industry, and Starlink is approaching 5 million customers. CNBC
– Supporting soccer. Michele Kang, founder of tech company Cognosante and owner of the Washington Spirit, is investing $30 million over the next five years to the U.S. Soccer Federation in support of women’s and girls’ soccer. This is the largest philanthropic gift made in support of these programs, as well as the largest gift made by a woman to the federation. Washington Post
– Big at the box office. The Substance is on track to bring in more than $70 million at the global box office. The film, written and directed by Coralie Fargeat and starring Demi Moore, is a body-horror genre film about the pressures on women to stay young. Deadline
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Clara Shih, who left her role as CEO of Salesforce AI, will lead a new business AI group for Meta.
LUUM, an AI- and robotics-powered lash extension service provider, named Jo Lawson CEO. She was previously the company’s president.
The Hollywood Reporter named Shirley Halperin coeditor in chief, replacing Nekesa Mumbi Moody. Most recently, Halperin was editor of Los Angeles Magazine.
Labcorp, a laboratory services provider, named Julia Wang executive vice president and CFO. Most recently, she was CFO at BeiGene.
Canva named Kelly Steckelberg CFO. She previously served as Zoom’s CFO.
Greywolf Therapeutics, an antigen modulation technology developer, Darlene Deptula-Hicks as CFO. Most recently, she was CFO at F-star Therapeutics.
Stax, a management consulting firm, named Amy Schoeman global head of HR. Previously, she was global head of HR at K2 Integrity.
Congruex, a digital network services provider, appointed Kathryn Ford as general counsel. Most recently, she was of counsel at Armstrong Teasdale.
ON MY RADAR
‘Running fixes things’: At the first Every Woman’s Marathon, we asked women why they run Essence
How Vera Bradley rode nostalgia to a comeback Elle
Cassie told her story—and launched music’s #MeToo reckoning Washington Post
PARTING WORDS
“You just have to let go and move on. And I think you come to a point where you have to stop blaming you.”
—Michelle Yeoh on her journey of acceptance of not having children
