Every year, incoming music industry students at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music gather for a common experience, the “music industry forum.” The class, which meets for an hour every Monday evening, typically welcomes guests from the professional world to speak with the professor of the class before an audience of first-year students.
On Monday, February 3, the Berry Gordy Music Industry Center, established at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music by a generous gift from Berry Gordy in 2024, sponsored a takeover of the forum to welcome three powerhouse executives from the legendary record label and hit-making enterprise Motown. Brenda Boyce, who worked her way from secretary in 1968 to director of creative services at Motown Records, was joined by Carol Perrin, the CEO of Berry Gordy Enterprises and a longtime advisor to Berry Gordy himself, and Suzanne de Passe, president of Motown Productions and a 2024 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“These are three extraordinary industry executives,” said Bob Fink, special associate senior academic dean and director of the Berry Gordy Music Industry Center. “They were changemakers and trendsetters who really helped shape history.”
The three executives had all worked closely with Berry Gordy, the visionary founder of Motown Records. At the music industry forum, they shared with students the stories of working at a label that became informally known as a “hit factory.”
“Berry Gordy’s family ethos was critical to his success,” said de Passe, who arrived as Gordy’s creative assistant in 1968 and went on to discover and develop acts like the Jackson 5, the Commodores and Rick James. “He came from a big family, and he brought that same feeling into the company. And he was always a teacher. He could recognize people’s individual talent and potential and then challenging them to achieve it. It’s very rare for a head of a company to be so aware of and so interested in every person in the organization.”
Perrin agreed, speaking roundly of Gordy’s discerning eye for talent. “It didn’t matter if you were a musician or a receptionist. If you had the ability or the desire, he would help you develop.”
Gordy also balanced care and nurturing with healthy competition. Artists and producers had a seat at the table when it was time to make decisions about what records to produce, and everyone was expected to be part of decision-making about what would get produced.
“That competition helped make everybody better,” added Boyce. “It made all the writers, producers and the executives produce not just something good, but the best possible record that they could.”
All three executives affirmed that Gordy’s focus on competition was born out of love and respect. It was not typical in the industry, for instance, for artists and executives to be at the same table, making decisions about which albums to produce. And while everyone had to be ready to intellectually defend their choices, they also had to rely on instinct. As de Passe reminded the students, “you can’t think a hit, you have to feel a hit.”
Gordy prided himself in being a mentor. Bringing his employees to their full potential was one of the reasons Motown, initially a small company facing deep-pocketed rivals in the field, could thrive. It was also an important part of Gordy’s life philosophy.
The panel ranged over a wide number of topics, including a long reflection of what life had been like for three female executives who rose up in the turbulent 1960s and 70s, a time when the music industry was notoriously dominated by men. A student asked what advice they might have for women entering the field today.
“Motown was a unicorn,” said Perrin. “Berry Gordy was way ahead of his time. If you look at Motown in the 1960s, there were a lot of women in executive positions. Being a woman was not a negative there.” For young women today, Perrin counseled confidence. “For any woman in the record industry, the legal industry or the business world, then you need to speak up and believe in what you are saying.”
“Believe in what you are saying, but know what you are saying too,” added Boyce. “Because Berry would call you out if you didn’t know what you were saying.” But being held to a high standard—and being held accountable—did not mean that the workplace was harsh. “If you did your job well, then there was never any real issue of being a man or a woman.”
Another student asked if it was possible for artists in this generation to have the same impact on their generation that Motown had on theirs. The panelists largely said no. Noting the incredible differences in the industry then and now—from recording to production to distribution—the factors that allowed a visionary Berry Gordy to dominate the cultural scene in the 1960s and 70s simply don’t exist anymore.
But new circumstances offer new opportunities.
“Berry Gordy faced something similar during the great time of Motown,” said de Passe. “He had a vision that the new media—television and film, which were the social media of the day—could make his artists even more popular than they already were. It was his vision that allowed me in particular [as president of Motown Productions] to bring Motown to a new audience.”
To learn about Suzanne de Passe’s journey from a New York booking agent to Motown Records to president of Motown Productions, watch her interview on CBS Sunday Morning.