Early life and career Born to
Jewish parents, Morris grew up in
Woodmere, Long Island, in the
state of New York.
Career at Universal Music Group Morris began working with
MCA Records in July 1995 by forming a joint venture record label, which became
Universal Records when Morris was appointed chairman and CEO of MCA Music Entertainment Group in November 1995. The company was renamed Universal Music Group the following year. He was honored with a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame; his ceremony was held on January 26, 2010, at the corner of Hollywood and Vine. Morris was heavily criticized by music journalists for his approach to streaming services, especially the infamous
PressPlay.
Lucian Grainge replaced Morris as CEO on January 1, 2011, and later replaced him as chairman on March 9, 2011.
Sony Music Entertainment chairman and CEO Morris became chairman and CEO of
Sony Music Entertainment on July 1, 2011. After Morris' arrival, Sony Music restructured two of its label groups. The
RCA/Jive Label Group had been split in half, being separated from the Jive Label Group.
Peter Edge was promoted to CEO of the RCA Music Group.
L.A. Reid became the chairman and CEO of Epic Records shortly after Morris' arrival. Some Jive artists have been moved to Epic while others have been moved to the RCA. In addition to splitting the RCA/Jive Label Group, the
Columbia/Epic Label Group was also split. In October 2011 Morris announced that
Mel Lewinter had been appointed executive vice president of Label Strategy at Sony Music. On April 1, 2017, he was replaced as CEO of Sony Music Entertainment by Rob Stringer, who was the CEO of Columbia Records.
12Tone Music Group In 2018, Morris founded the label 12Tone Music Group. His first signing to the label was American rapper
Anderson .Paak. The label's assets were acquired by
Warner Music Group in 2021.
Founder of VEVO Morris's progressive digital strategies led him to become the first media executive to monetize online music videos, essentially helping to create the music video-on-demand market online. As the founder (and former chairman) of
VEVO, Morris partnered with Google chairman
Eric Schmidt to launch the new premium music video and entertainment service in late 2009. Within its first month of launch,
VEVO amassed an unprecedented 35 million unique viewers in the U.S., instantly making it the #1 music entertainment destination on the Web, according to
comScore.
Motown: The Musical In 2013, Morris was co-producer and lead financier of the Broadway musical
Motown: The Musical. Based on the life story of
Motown founder
Berry Gordy, and featuring classic songs from the Motown catalog,
Motown: The Musical was nominated for four
Tony Awards and was the top-selling new musical of the 2012–13 season.
Awards and leadership Morris is on the board of directors of CBS Corporation, The
Robin Hood Foundation, The
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and The
Rock -N- Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. In 2003, the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) awarded Morris with the President's Merit Award, honoring his consistent creative commitment to artistic and entrepreneurial excellence and longstanding support for the music and world communities. In 2008, Morris was honored with City of Hope's Spirit of Life award, and in 2009, he received the NARAS Icons award as well as a star on the world-famous
Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2014, Morris was honored by the
Songwriters Hall of Fame with the Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award in recognition of being a star maker in the music industry who has been responsible for a substantial number of hit songs. In 2015, he received an honorary doctorate from the
Berklee College of Music in recognition of his achievements and influence in music, and for his enduring contributions to American and international culture. ==References==