LONDON — “I still feel like that little girl who started out in music publishing,” said Universal Music Publishing Group chairman and CEO Jody Gerson as she accepted the Ralph Peer II Award for Outstanding Contribution to Global Music Publishing. It was presented by the award’s namesake at the July 10 annual meeting of the International Confederation of Music Publishers, or ICMP, held at Abbey Road Studios in London.  

Gerson was, of course, being modest: She’s one of the most accomplished publishing executives in the world. But in front of dozens of European publishing and collective management executives, she shared the story of how she got started in the business.  

The Pennsylvania native grew up in a music family that owned nightclubs in Philadelphia, and she had always been interested in getting into the music business. But when she first applied for label jobs, she didn’t have much luck. Eventually, she scored an interview with Chappell Music (later Warner Chappell) and her first job there was as the archivist, where she ran the tape library and became interested in the demos submitted by songwriters.  

“I started thinking about marching songs with artists,” she remembered. 

At the time, she pointed out, the music publishing business was much smaller, both in absolute terms and in comparison with recorded music, which dwarfed it in terms of both revenue and, it seemed to many at the time, wow factor. Now publishing is thriving, and a series of big song catalog purchases are generating plenty of excitement and attention. 

The award was presented by Ralph Peer II, executive chair of peermusic and the initial recipient of the ICMP award that’s now named after him. “This wasn’t my idea,” he joked about the name of the prize. “It was foisted on me.” But he praised Gerson’s dedication to the publishing business. “On an everyday level she helps make the industry better,” he said. “She has acumen in business and music that’s very deep.” 

Gerson was introduced by Mumford & Sons singer-songwriter Marcus Mumford, who praised her as well as the publishing business at large. “I don’t think artists are the best at protecting their songs, and managers aren’t always much better,” he joked. “We need publishers!” 

The ICMP meeting itself, held at Abbey Road before the awards dinner, was more about business — royalties, metadata and the other details that make sure publishers and songwriters get paid as fast and accurately as possible. Trombonist Eric Crees, who plays at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden spoke about making film soundtracks, as did composer Stephen Warbeck.