Joshua Carl Gruss (born 14 March 1974), better known as Josh Gruss, is an entrepreneur, musician and songwriter based in

New York City, United States New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive wit ...

.Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnso
An EMBA journey: From Wall St to music boss
"Ft.com" ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' Oct. 21st, 2013 He is a co-founder of Round Hill Music, an American music publishing company and co-owner of

Quad Studios Nashville Quad Studios Nashville was a four-studio recording facility established as Quadrafonic Sound Studio in 1971 on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee, US. The studio was the location of numerous notable recording sessions, including Neil Young's ''Harv ...

, a recording facility located on

Music Row Music Row is a historic district located southwest of downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Widely considered the heart of Nashville's entertainment industry, Music Row has also become a metonymous nickname for the music industry as ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

.Nate Ra
Quad Studio owners keep Nashville's musical heritage alive
"Tennessean.com" ''

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, w ...

''Nov. 19th, 2015 He is also a

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and songwriter with the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

-based band Rubikon. Currently, Gruss serves as the chairman and CEO at Round Hill Music.Ed Christma
Round Hill’s Josh Gruss Talks Publishing Boom, Rock’s Steadiness & How James Brown Beats Drake
"Billboard.com" ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Oct. 25th, 2021

Early life

Gruss was born to Agneta Angel and Martin Gruss, in 1974, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. His grandfather, Joseph S. Gruss, was a financier and a businessman. Gruss completed his high school education from

Taft School The Taft School is a private coeducational school located in Watertown, Connecticut, United States. It enrolls approximately 600 students in grades 9–12. Overview History The school was founded in 1890 as Mr. Taft's School (renamed t ...

in 1992 and joined

Trinity College (Connecticut) Trinity College is a private liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut, United States. Founded as Washington College in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut. Coeducational since 1969, the college enrolls 2,2 ...

where he graduated with a B.A. degree in 1996. In 2010, Gruss earned

executive MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

degrees from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

as well as from

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degree, Master's degrees in management and finance, Master of B ...

. He also studied music business and guitar at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Career

Gruss began his career at

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, followed by work as an analyst at

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chas ...

, worked as a risk arbitrage analyst at his family's

family office A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50–100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer ...

, Gruss & Company. He was also in the

United States Coast Guard Reserve The United States Coast Guard Reserve is the reserve component of the United States Coast Guard. It is organized, trained, administered, and supplied under the direction of the Commandant of the Coast Guard through the Assistant Commandant for ...

for six years, including service after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

.
Spring 2011New York Times: "WEDDINGS/CELEBRATIONS; Shoshanna Lonstein, Joshua Gruss"
May 11, 2003 In 2010, Gruss founded the

music publishing A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers began to play a role in the management of the intellectua ...

company Round Hill Music with Richard Rowe and Neil Gillis. The company was established as the first private equity group dedicated to music royalty investments, that brought capital to artists such as

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

The Offspring The Offspring is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Garden Grove, California, in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Dexter Holland, Bryan "Dexter" Holland, ...

. In 2013, Gruss acquired the publishing rights to the song "

Land of a Thousand Dances "Land of a Thousand Dances" or "Land of 1000 Dances" is a song written and first recorded by the American rhythm and blues singer Chris Kenner in 1962. It later became a bigger hit in versions by Cannibal & the Headhunters and Wilson Pickett. ...

" by

Chris Kenner Christophe Kenner (December 25, 1929 – January 25, 1976) was an American, New Orleans–based R&B singer and songwriter, best known for two hit singles in the early 1960s, " I Like It Like That" and " Land of 1000 Dances", which became staple ...

which generated average royalties of $200,000 a year for the company. The next year, Gruss and the songwriter

Marti Frederiksen Martin Harold "Marti" Frederiksen (born July 1, 1962) is an American songwriter, record producer, and musician. He writes and produces music primarily in rock, country, and pop. He is best known for his work with many artists and bands incl ...

acquired and restored the

. The studio was originally opened in 1971 and located on

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. In 2018, Gruss acquired the music publishing company, Carlin America and the rights to over 150,000 songs for $245 million, including the hit "

Total Eclipse of the Heart "Total Eclipse of the Heart" is the lead Single (music), single by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler from her fifth studio album, ''Faster Than the Speed of Night'' (1983) written and produced by Jim Steinman and recorded in 1982, released as a single ...

" written by

Jim Steinman James Richard Steinman (November 1, 1947 – April 19, 2021) was an American composer, lyricist and record producer. He also worked as an arranger, pianist, and singer. His work included songs in the adult contemporary, rock, dance, pop, mus ...

. Other acquisitions included the rights to the songs recorded by

The Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band based in Buffalo, New York, composed of lead vocalist and guitarist John Rzeznik, bassist and vocalist Robby Takac, as well as several rotating members since its formation in 1986. After starting ...

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is known for his three-octave tenor vocal range, live performances, R ...

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 17 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, five for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those albums have reached number one on ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

Daughtry (band) Daughtry is an American Rock music, rock band formed and fronted by namesake Chris Daughtry, who was a finalist on the American Idol (season 5), fifth season of ''American Idol''. Their Daughtry (album), self-titled debut album was released in ...

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is an English singer. He rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, '' Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, to great commercial success. In to ...

The Cult The Cult are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Bradford in 1983. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band had performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead vocalist Ian Astbury ...

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto (drummer), John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers (bassist), Sam ...

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1987. They are known for their extensive use of segues in live performances, and could be considered a key part of the re-emerging jam band scene of the 1990s, sp ...

, and

Skid Row A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disre ...

. In May 2020, Gruss established ''Black Hill Records'', a

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

dedicated to

rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...

, and signed Austin-based duo

Black Pistol Fire Black Pistol Fire is a Canadian-born, Austin-based rock duo. The group consists of Kevin McKeown (guitar/lead vocals) and Eric Owen (drums). Their sound is a mix of classic southern rock and garage punk. History Early years Kevin McKeown and Eri ...

, Nashville-based blues and rock guitarist

Jared James Nichols Jared James Nichols (born March 14, 1989) is an American blues-rock guitarist and singer from East Troy, Wisconsin, best known for his high-energy " pick-less" electric guitar playing technique. He is rarely seen playing without his signature si ...

and British rock band

. In November 2020, Gruss led Round Hill Music in collecting $291 million for a new fund dedicated to investing in

music rights Music licensing is the licensed use of copyrighted music. Music licensing is intended to ensure that the owners of copyrights on musical works are compensated for certain uses of their work. A purchaser has limited rights to use the work without a ...

. ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' reported that it was the third and the largest music royalty fund for the company. In January 2021, Gruss was included in the ''

s ''Change Agents list'' for raising nearly $600 million for acquisitions, including $328 million with a public listing on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

. In May 2021, Gruss acquired the Swedish label ''Telegram Studios'' whose master recordings and catalogue included Estelle, System of a Down’s

Serj Tankian Serj Tankian ( , ; born August 21, 1967) is an Armenian-American musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the alternative metal band System of a Down, which was formed in 1994. Tankian has released five albums with System of a Down ...

Throwing Muses Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was original ...

Ziggy Marley David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born 17 October 1968) is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is the son of Bob Marley and Rita Marley. He led the family band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers until 2002, with whom he released eight studio albums. After ...

, and

Surfer Blood Surfer Blood are an American indie rock band from West Palm Beach, Florida, United States, currently signed to Kanine Records, formerly signed to Joyful Noise Recordings and Warner Bros. Records. The band currently consists of four members: J ...

. Later that year, in August, he created a ''Round Hill Music Endowed Scholarship Fund'' of 1 million dollars to aid multiple students at

on an annual basis with financial assistance in pursuing Music Business and Management degrees. In January 2022, Gruss was also included in the ''Billboard Power List''.

Music career

Since 2015, Gruss has been an integral part of the band Rubikon as a guitarist and a songwriter. He has extensively toured with the band and opened for

Buckcherry Buckcherry is an American hard rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, ''Buckcherry (album), Buckcherry'' (1999) and ''Time Bomb (Buckcherry album), Time Bomb'' (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckche ...

, Disturbed,

Black Label Society Black Label Society is an American heavy metal/southern metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1998 by guitarist/singer Zakk Wylde. To date, the band has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, two compilation albums, one EP, and three ...

Sevendust Sevendust is an American Rock music, rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1994 by bassist Vinnie Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly (musician), John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon an ...

Shinedown Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of his previous band, Dreve. Smith, still under contract with record label Atlantic Records, recruited the band's original ...

Nonpoint Nonpoint is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The band currently consists of vocalist Elias Soriano, drummer Robb Rivera, rhythm guitarist Rasheed Thomas, bassist Adam Woloszyn, and lead guitarist Ja ...

, Tesla,

Pop Evil Pop Evil is an American rock band that was formed in North Muskegon, Michigan, in 2001 by Leigh Kakaty. The band's roots reside in TenFive, a group formed in the late-1990s by Kakaty and guitarist Jason Reed. Pop Evil has several songs that to ...

, and

Candlebox Candlebox is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since its formation in 1990, the group has released eight studio albums, several charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD. Candlebox found immediate success with the release ...

. "Blood on My Hands", co-written by Gruss, peaked at #37 on ''Billboard'''s Mainstream Rock chart in 2019. Gruss has been the Reissue Executive Producer on four of the London-based rock band Bush albums including ''

The Science of Things ''The Science of Things'' is the third studio album by British band Bush, released on 26 October 1999, through Trauma Records. The last Bush album released through Trauma, peaked at number eleven on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and has been certi ...

'', ''

Deconstructed Deconstruction is a philosophical theory. Deconstruction or Deconstructed may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Deconstructed'' (Bush album), a 1997 compilation album * ''Deconstructed'' (EP), an EP by Kesha * ''Deconstructed'' (Steve Swallow a ...

'', ''

Razorblade Suitcase ''Razorblade Suitcase'' is the second studio album by English rock band Bush. It was released on 19 November 1996 by Trauma and Interscope Records in the United States and Europe and on 20 January 1997 in the United Kingdom. The follow-up to t ...

'' and ''

Sixteen Stone ''Sixteen Stone'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Bush, released on 1 November 1994 in the United States and on 8 May 1995 in the United Kingdom through Trauma and Interscope Records. Featuring a rock sound characterised by g ...

''. He was also the executive producer of the album ''Travelers Blues'' by

, which was nominated for the

Best Traditional Blues Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album was awarded from 1983 to 2011 and from 2017 onwards. Until 1992 the award was known as Best Traditional Blues Performance and was twice awarded to individual tracks rather than albums. The award ...

at the

64th Annual Grammy Awards The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...

in 2022.2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Winners & Nominations List
"Grammy.com" ''

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

'' Nov. 24th, 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruss, Josh 1974 births Alumni of London Business School American guitarists American male songwriters American music publishers (people) Berklee College of Music alumni Columbia Business School alumni Living people Musicians from New York City Trinity College (Connecticut) alumni Bear Stearns people