Sony’s Julie Swidler on 35 Years in the Music Industry, AI Deals & Mentor Clive Davis: ‘I Always Felt I Was Just Lucky to Be Here’
Categoria: Musica
Swidler, the outgoing executive vp of business affairs at Sony Music, already has her next step planned.
Por Billboard | 30/06/2026
When Julie Swidler , Sony Music’s executive vp of business affairs and general counsel, steps down today (June 30) after 18 years at the company, the record industry will lose one of its most accomplished, respected advocates — at least in her current capacity. Related Julie Swidler, Sony Music Exec VP of Business Affairs and General Counsel, to Leave End of June The Superstar Brokers are Connecting Global Music Rights to Institutional Capital Jack White's Wife Olivia Jean Files for Divorce After 4 Years of Marriage But even after her exit, Swidler, one of the highest-ranking women in the record business, will still be supporting the music community. In her next chapter, Swidler — who has regularly appeared on Billboard ’s Power 100 , Top Music Lawyers and Women in Music lists — is launching an advisory services company for creative-focused ventures. Swidler began her industry career at Polygram Records in the late 1980s, and has also held senior legal and business affairs positions at Mercury Records, Arista Records, J Records (helping launch the label with Clive Davis ), RCA Records and BMG. She also served as lead counsel for the 1994 Woodstock Festival. Throughout her career, Swidler has been in a front-row seat while the record industry has undergone massive shifts from relying on physical media to digital downloads to streaming, often navigating the legal challenges along the way. And now, as the industry faces a far bigger challenge in AI, she remembers successfully surviving other critical junctures. Despite all her success, Swidler, who Zara Larsson immortalized in 2017’s “Make that Money Girl” (“Julie Swidler / Run a buildin’ everyday”), cites another song when describing how she’s often looked at her career. “I always felt like I was a little bit of an outsider, because I was,” she tells Billboard in her final interview before exiting the Sony building. “When I started, there were very few women. No mothers. And I had three kids by the time I became head of business affairs at Mercury [in 1995]. I’m very big on lyrics. I never loved the show Wicked , but the first time I heard ‘Defying Gravity,’ I was like ‘That’s how I feel.’ I always felt like I was just lucky to be here, and that, somehow, I was defying gravity.” Swidler spoke to Billboard in early June in her New York office. She talked fondly about mentor Davis less than two weeks before his June 22 death , shared some of her favorite career memories and revisited major industry milestones. Related Julie Swidler, Jeff Harleston & Paul Robinson to Be Named 2026 Music Visionaries of the Year By UJA-Federation of New York Why is now the right time for you to go? I don’t know if you ever know when the right time is. It’s not like you wake up one day and you say, “It’s time!” I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and over the years in my career I’ve seen a number of people wait a little too long before leaving and I