Ron Perry (music executive)

Ron Perry
OccupationCEO / Chairman
EmployerColumbia Records

Ron Perry is an American music executive. Since January 2018, Perry serves as the Chairman & CEO of Columbia Records.[1] Columbia is home to Adele, Beyoncé, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion, Daft Punk, Barbra Streisand, Billy Joel, AC/DC, Harry Styles, Pharrell, John Mayer, Tyler, the Creator and many of the world's most iconic artists.[2]

Under Perry's leadership, Columbia has signed Miley Cyrus, Lil Nas X, Rosalía, BTS (via Big Hit Entertainment), Halsey, Central Cee, The Kid LAROI, Baby Keem, Blink-182, Labrinth, Lil Peep, Polo G, Dominic Fike and many others.

Since 2019, Columbia artists have spent over 100 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The most by any record label during that time period.

In 2020, Perry was named Music Executive of the year by Variety. [3]

Career

[edit]

Prior to his role at Columbia Records, Perry served as the President & Partner of SONGS Music Publishing. SONGS was originally founded by Matt Pincus.[4][5]

During his tenure, Perry signed and championed the early careers of The Weeknd,[6] XXXTentacion,[7][8] Lorde,[9][10][11][12] DJ Mustard,[13] and Diplo,[14] among others.

He worked on the Diamond selling "Starboy" and the 7x Platinum "I Feel It Coming" for The Weeknd and Daft Punk, a collaboration introduced by Perry.

Perry is credited as A&R on Lorde's second album Melodrama, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 and received a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards.[15] This led to the company achieving 5% of the US publishing market share and was the #1 independent music publisher of its time.

In December 2017, SONGS was sold to Kobalt Music Publishing,[16] as Perry moved to his role at Columbia Records.

According to Variety, on May 28, 2020, two days into the demonstrations in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd, Columbia Records & Ron Perry were the first major music company & Chairman/CEO to post in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, stating: "We stand together with the Black community against all forms of racism, bigotry, and violence. Now, more than ever we must use our voices to speak up and challenge the injustices all around us."[17] Subsequently, other major record and publishing companies adopted the same course of action and aligned with the sentiment.

Live performances

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A fan of Nirvana, Perry played "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on guitar alongside Miley Cyrus, and separately, "Lithium" on stage with Post Malone at Coachella 2016.[18]

In 2019, Perry performed various 90s covers on guitar alongside John Mayer, at his 40th birthday celebration held at The Troubadour in Los Angeles.[19]

Awards

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  • 2022 Billboard Power List: No. 17[20]
  • 2021 Variety’s Label of the Year[21]
  • 2020 Variety's Hitmakers Executive of the Year[22]
  • 2020 Billboard's inaugural Breakthrough Award[23]
  • 2020 Billboard's Power 100[24]
  • 2019 Billboard's Power 100: No. 34[25]
  • 2018 Variety’s "New Power of New York" list[26]
  • 2018 Billboard’s Power 100: No. 28[27]
  • 2017 Variety's 2017 Hitmakers[28]
  • 2017 Billboard’s Power 100[29]
  • 2016 Billboard’s inaugural A&R Power Players list[30]
  • 2014-2016 Billboard’s 40 Under 40[31][32]
  • 2013 The Hollywood Reporter's Top 35 Hitmakers in Music list[33]
[edit]
Ron Perry in cartoon form as portrayed in South Park's Season 18

In 2014, Perry was depicted as himself in three episodes of South Park's 18th season ("The Cissy," "#Rehash," and "#HappyHolograms").

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Sony names new CEO of Columbia Records Anthony Noto bizjournals.com, January 2, 2018, Retrieved on January 2, 2018
  2. ^ "Columbia Records". Columbia Records. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  3. ^ Halperin, Shirley (December 3, 2020). "Executive of the Year Ron Perry Proves His Hitmaking Mettle at Columbia Records". Variety. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  4. ^ McIntyre, Hugh (October 2, 2012). "Ron Perry Named Songs Music Publishing President and Head of A&R". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  5. ^ "Meet the Banking Scion Who Helped Lorde Top the Music Charts". BloombergQuint. June 30, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  6. ^ "SONGS Music Publishing Signs Worldwide Co-Publishing Deal with The Weekend". Billboard. September 9, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  7. ^ Berry, Peter A. (April 25, 2018). "How John Cunningham Helped Craft XXXTentacion's Diverse '?' Album - XXL". XXL Mag. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  8. ^ "Xxxtentacion, Miike Snow's Andrew Wyatt Sign With SONGS Music Publishing". Billboard. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  9. ^ "Lorde Signs $2.5 Million Deal with Songs Music Publishing: Inside the Lengthy Bidding War | Billboard". Billboard. November 13, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  10. ^ "Lorde signs £1.56million publishing deal". NME. November 14, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  11. ^ "The New York Times". artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com. November 13, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  12. ^ "Lorde signs global publishing deal with SONGS | News | Music Week".
  13. ^ "DJ Mustard". Hits Daily Double. August 11, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  14. ^ Leight, Elias (August 15, 2016). "Diplo and Friends: Meet the Team Behind the Producer's Success". Billboard.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  15. ^ "See The Full List Of 60th GRAMMY Winners". GRAMMY.com. November 27, 2017. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  16. ^ "SONGS Music Publishing Sells Catalog To Kobalt: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  17. ^ Halperin, Shirley (May 29, 2020). "Music Industry Calls for Tuesday Blackout as Labels, Managers Show Solidarity With Black Community on Social Media". Variety. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
  18. ^ Halperin, Shirley (May 10, 2017). "Miley Cyrus Shreds Nirvana at Manager Adam Leber's 40th Birthday Party (Watch)". Variety. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  19. ^ "Variety".
  20. ^ Billboard Staff (January 26, 2022). "The 2022 Billboard Power List Revealed". Billboard. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  21. ^ Earl, William (November 19, 2021). "Jack Harlow, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X, Lana Del Rey and More to Be Honored at Variety's Hitmakers Event". Variety. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  22. ^ Halperin, Shirley (December 3, 2020). "Executive of the Year Ron Perry Proves His Hitmaking Mettle at Columbia Records". Variety. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  23. ^ "2020 Billboard Power Party". Billboard.
  24. ^ "2020 Billboard Power 100 List". Billboard.
  25. ^ "No. 34: Ron Perry & Jenifer Mallory | Power 100". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  26. ^ "The New Power of New York List 2018". Variety. October 2, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  27. ^ "No. 28: Ron Perry | Power 100". Billboard. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  28. ^ Bryant, Jacob (November 21, 2017). "Variety's 2017 Hitmakers". Variety. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  29. ^ "No. 92: Matt Pincus & Ron Perry | Power 100". Billboard. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  30. ^ "Billboard's 2016 A&R Power Players List Revealed". Billboard. November 22, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  31. ^ Christman, Ed (July 30, 2013). "40 Under 40: Ron Perry". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  32. ^ "40 Under 40: Music's Young Power Players". Billboard. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
  33. ^ Gopalan, Nisha (June 2, 2013). "THR Names Music's 35 Top Hitmakers: Ron Perry". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
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