Larry Jackson

Lawrence Jackson (born September 28, 1980) is an American music executive who is the CEO and founder of gamma., a multimedia company. He was formerly global creative director of Apple Music, and is credited with helping to launch and expand the platform.

Biography

Early life and career Larry Jackson was born and raised in San Francisco, where he frequently listened and called in to the local radio station KMEL during his childhood. When he was 11, his father gave him a set of turntables and a microphone from RadioShack so that he could practice DJing. He started apprenticing at KMEL shortly after, and became an intern and board operator at the station at age 14. At age 16, he became one of the youngest music directors in the station's history. He later dropped out of high school because of the amount of time he spent at the station. During his time at KMEL, it was the highest rated station in its market. He eventually became an A&R executive at labels such as RCA Records, Arista Records, J Records and Sony Music Group. He produced several albums during this period, including Whitney Houston's final album I Look to You. He produced Hudson's self-titled 2009 album, which won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album.

Jackson left Sony in 2010. He described his departure from the company as "the gift of all gifts" as it allowed him to pursue his interests more creatively. The first artist Jackson signed at Interscope was singer Lana Del Rey. He also signed and promoted artists such as Chief Keef. While living in New York in 2010, Jackson noticed the growing popularity of smartphone use on the subway, and had the idea for Beats to produce audio systems for Beats-branded smartphones in addition to their business manufacturing headphones. This idea developed into a partnership with smartphone manufacturer HTC, which invested in Beats and produced phones which were branded "powered by Beats". Jackson and Iovine later created Beats Music,

Apple Music After Beats' acquisition by Apple Inc. in May 2014, Jackson, Iovine and Dr. Dre moved to Apple Music. Jackson has been described as helping to lead the launch and rebranding of Apple Music

Jackson wanted Apple Music to develop closer relationships with artists, more comparable to record labels than traditional music distributors.

Under Jackson, Apple signed an exclusive deal for early releases from Canadian artist Drake as part of a larger multimedia deal in 2015. Drake's 2016 album Views was promoted through Beats 1, OVO Sound radio and other Apple platforms, reaching over 1 billion streams as of September 2016. Drake's 2017 album More Life broke the record for highest number of streams within its first week after release. Jackson also co-wrote the accompanying short film ‘’Please Forgive Me’’ for Views.

As head of content at Apple Music, Jackson also oversaw the production of music videos, advertisements and documentaries. In 2016, he collaborated with Taylor Swift and director Anthony Mandler on an ad campaign showcasing music from different artists on the platform. Streams of "Jumpman" by Drake and Future increased by 431% after it was featured in a spot, and the ads were subsequently aired on networks such as CBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC and Fox.

Gamma

In March 2023, Jackson launched Gamma (stylized as gamma.) a company that produces and distributes multimedia content, with a special focus on Black music and culture. Jackson has stated his intention to promote diversity, equity and inclusion through Gamma and "to run Gamma with a closer focus on — and more sensitivity to — Black culture than the major labels, while structuring deals that help artists retain ownership of their work and build generational wealth."

Gamma competes with major music labels, and acquired the technology platform Vydia in 2022 to facilitate its distribution of music and other media.

The company has signed artists including Usher, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, Sexyy Red, French Montana, and Kanye West. Ross and Maybach Music Group announced a partnership with Gamma in 2023.

Other Jackson joined the board of the Hammer Museum at University of California, Los Angeles in 2019. Billboard included Jackson on its "40 under 40" list, and the "Power 100" list. He is a Cartier ambassador.

In popular culture Jackson is referenced in Drake's verse on the Lil Wayne song "Family Feud", in which he raps "Someone get Larry Jackson on the phone, I need some ownership if we pressin’ go." Grammy Award for Best R&B Album 2009