July 2, 2025
Universal Music Group launches a new music scholarship in Berry Gordy’s honor.
Motown pioneer Berry Gordy is receiving huge honors from Universal Music Group with the establishment of the Berry Gordy Music Industry Scholarship at The Herb Alpert School of Music.
Announced on June 30 in partnership with The UCLA Foundation, UMG has established a new scholarship to support high-achieving students in the university’s Music Industry Program, Music Week reports. The scholarship is named in honor of the legendary record producer, songwriter, and entrepreneur who founded Motown Records, the most successful Black-owned business in 1960s America.
Expanding on the 2024 launch of The UCLA Berry Gordy Music Industry Center, which serves as a research and education hub for career development in the global music business, the newly announced annual scholarship will support a student showing outstanding promise and financial need. Recipients will be named Berry Gordy Scholars and receive funding toward tuition, housing, and other educational costs.
“I am thrilled that my friend Sir Lucian Grainge and Universal Music Group have committed to support this programme with their endowment that will help open doors for many more students and continue to pave the way for music to be a force for good and change,” Gordy said in a statement.
“The center provides vital opportunities for students at UCLA to help prepare for careers in the music industry, so that future generations of young talent will continue to innovate, inspire, and bring together culture and communities through the power of music.”
The Berry Gordy Music Industry Scholarship aligns with UMG’s Sounds of the Future campaign, which supports Black creativity and equity in the music industry. Now in its third year, the initiative has expanded to include programs like Roots of Music in New Orleans and Girls Make Beats in Los Angeles.
The director of the Gordy Center will select scholarship recipients who may be eligible to continue receiving the scholarship in subsequent years, based on financial need and academic performance.
“For more than 65 years, Berry Gordy’s name has been synonymous with artistry and the transformative power of music,” Sir Lucian Grainge, Universal Music Group Chairman & CEO, said. “Through this scholarship, UMG is honoring his enduring legacy by investing in a new generation of young people who will help carry that spirit forward.”
