A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(September 2022) |
Sylvia Rhone | |
---|---|
Chairwoman & CEO of Epic Records | |
Assumed office April 2019 | |
President | Ezekiel Lewis (2020-Present) |
Preceded by | LA Reid |
President Of Motown Records | |
In office October 2004 –2011 | |
Preceded by | Kedar Massenburg |
Succeeded by | Ethiopia Habtemariam |
Chairwoman and CEO of the Elektra Entertainment Group | |
In office July 1994 –October 2004 | |
Preceded by | Robert J. Morgado |
Succeeded by | Steve Bartels |
CEO &President of EastWest Records | |
In office 1990–1994 | |
Sylvia Rhone (born March 11,1952) is an American record company executive. Since 2019,she is the chair and CEO of Epic Records,a label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. [1] [2] [3]
Rhone served previously in senior positions at Vested In Culture,Universal Motown,Elektra Entertainment Group,and Atlantic Records. [4]
In October 2004,Rhone was appointed president of Motown Records and executive vice president of Universal Records. Prior to her Universal Motown role,Rhone served as chairwoman and CEO of the Elektra Entertainment Group. [5] Rhone's appointment in 1994 as chairwoman and CEO of EEG established her as the only African American and the first woman in the history of the recording industry to attain such a title. [6] [7] [8] [9]
Born in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania on March 11,1952,and raised in Harlem,New York, [6] Rhone has cited her early exposure to seminal R&B shows at the Apollo Theatre as pivotal to her belief in music as an inspirational force. She cited influences in R&B such as Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald. [10] In addition to R&B,Rhone also enjoyed rock music through artists like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. [10] Accepted at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania,Rhone graduated with a B.S. in Economics. [6]
Rhone got a job at Bankers Trust in New York City soon after graduating college,but pursued her passion for music by landing a job as a secretary for Buddha Records in 1974. In a succession of promotions over the next six years,she also held positions at ABC Records and Ariola Records. Rhone was previously part of the Elektra family in 1980 as northeast regional promotion manager for special markets,and she was eventually promoted to director of national black music marketing for Atlantic Records.
Credited with helping to realign Atlantic's black music business,Rhone took on broader responsibilities in A&R and marketing in 1986 with her promotion to senior vice president and general manager of Atlantic Records. At Atlantic,Rhone managed such artists as En Vogue,the System,Levert,Bob Baldwin,Brandy,Yo Yo,the D.O.C.,MC Lyte,Chuckii Booker,Miki Howard,Gerald Albright and the Rude Boys and Chris Bender (singer). It was under her leadership that Billboard magazine named Atlantic the #1 Black Music Division in 1988. [11]
Rhone's career has been highlighted by multiple firsts:In 1990 she became the first African American woman to head a major record company when she was named CEO and president of Atlantic's EastWest Records America division. A year later when the EastWest artist roster and operations were combined with those of Atco Records,Rhone was named chairwoman and CEO of Atco/EastWest and subsequently of EastWest Records America.
At EastWest,she was directly involved in introducing several newcomers as well as helping established stars gain new success,including En Vogue,Gerald Levert,Pantera and Das EFX. She also played a role in furthering the careers of AC/DC and Simply Red,who eventually became EEG artists. Atlantic Records' founder Ahmet Ertegun commented on Rhone's success during the period,calling her administration one of "innovation,imagination,and freshness." [2]
In 1993,she was cited by Ebony magazine as one of the top up-and-coming black executives in the entertainment industry.
In July 1994,Rhone was hired by Warner Music Group chairman Doug Morris to become chairwoman and CEO of the Elektra Entertainment Group. [12] [13] The Los Angeles Times called Rhone "the most powerful woman in the music business",citing her as the only African American and the first woman in the history of the recording industry to attain the dual title. [14] [15]
Rhone guided the merger of Elektra,EastWest (of which she was formerly CEO) and Sire Records into one of the Warner Music Group's most diverse and competitive labels. Rhone was directly involved in the launch and guidance of multiple best-selling artists,including Missy Elliott,Busta Rhymes,Tracy Chapman,Yolanda Adams,Metallica,Natalie Merchant,Gerald Levert,Ol' Dirty Bastard,Fabolous,Jason Mraz,and Third Eye Blind,among others. [16]
In 2004,Rhone was appointed president of Motown Records,executive vice president of Universal Records,with the chairman of Universal Music Group,Doug Morris,calling her "a rainmaker"[ citation needed ],and Universal Motown Record Group chairman Mel Lewinter citing Rhone as a "natural to lead Motown's evolution into the future". [17] Under Rhone's stewardship,Motown reinvigorated both roster and staff,re-tooling the label into one of the savvier digital music business platforms. Rhone added Akon,India.Arie,Erykah Badu,Lil Wayne,Chamillionaire and others to the label.
In February 2006,the Universal Music label split into two labels,Universal Republic Records and Universal Motown Records,with Rhone serving as president of the latter. Rhone's approach helped to raise the global identity of Cash Money Records,while also placing an increased emphasis on Universal Motown artists' connecting with fans via social media.
Rhone declined to sign Drake, [18] who would later sign a distribution deal with Universal for one of the largest advances to an unsigned artist in history.
Rhone stepped down from being president of the company in 2011. [19]
In 2012,Rhone became CEO of her self-established label Vested In Culture,which was distributed through Epic Records. [20] In 2014,Rhone was named President of Epic Records,where she has overseen the release of projects including Travis Scott's No. 1 album Astroworld,Camila Cabello's #1 debut album Camila,and the smash single "Havana," which was recently named the biggest single of 2018 by the IFPI. [21] [22] Since 2017,Rhone has been the head of Epic Records' operations. [23]
Rhone was named Chairwoman and CEO of Epic Records in 2019. [24] Under Rhone's leadership,the label has placed three artists simultaneously in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 Albums chart twice,with Travis Scott's album Astroworld debuting at the top spot and returning to No. 1 again at the end of 2018. Rhone has guided multiple artists to the top of the charts at Epic Records,including Travis Scott,Camila Cabello,21 Savage,Future,DJ Khaled,French Montana,Meghan Trainor and others.
She has also been recognized for bringing unprecedented hip hop success to the label and projects from Future,21 Savage,and others. [25]
Rhone was ranked No. 35 on Billboard's Annual Power 100 List in 2019. [26]
Rhone received the City Of Hope's Spirit Of Life Award in October,2019,presented by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. [27] [28] [29] [30]
Rhone received the Midem 2019 Hall Of Fame Award, [31] in association with Billboard,at their 53rd annual conference in June,2019,where Rhone gave the keynote address.
Rhone received an honorary doctorate from the Berklee College of Music in April,2019. [32]
In 2019 Rhone was profiled in Variety. [33]
2018 Rhone was profiled in Billboard Magazine as "Sony Music's Most powerful African-American Woman." [34]
In 2018,Rhone received the Culture Creators Icon Award, [35] [36] where Rhone stated in her acceptance speech "Our one common goal is to protect the culture."
Rhone is a member of the board of directors of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [37]
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12,1959,and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14,1960. Its name,a portmanteau of motor and town,has become a nickname for Detroit,where the label was originally headquartered.
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group,founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1950s and 1970s. In 2004,it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy,the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009. In October 2018,Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group,once again operating as an independently managed frontline label of Warner Music. In June 2022,Elektra Music Group was merged with 300 Entertainment to create the umbrella label 300 Elektra Entertainment (3EE),though both Elektra and 300 continued to maintain their separate identities as labels.
Arista Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment,a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America,the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music Group,the North American division of German conglomerate Bertelsmann. Founded in November 1974 by Clive Davis and deactivated in 2011,Arista was re-established in 2018. Along with RCA Records,Columbia Records,and Epic Records,it is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels.
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment,a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America,the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953,but later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of genres,including pop,R&B,rock,and hip hop.
Warner Music Group Corp.,commonly abbreviated as WMG,is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the global music industry,after Universal Music Group (UMG) and Sony Music Entertainment (SME). Formerly part of Time Warner,WMG was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange from 2005 until 2011,when it announced its privatization and sale to Access Industries. It later had its second IPO on Nasdaq in 2020,once again becoming a public company. With a multibillion-dollar annual turnover,WMG employs more than 4,500 people and has operations in more than 50 countries throughout the world.
Sire Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records.
Sony Music Entertainment (SME),commonly known as Sony Music,is an American multinational music company owned by Sony Entertainment and managed by the American umbrella division of multinational conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of the Sony Music Group,with the other half being the publishing division,Sony Music Publishing.
The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American recording music unit,formed on New Year's Eve 1998 by Universal Music Group. It consists of labels created under the operations of Island Records and Def Jam Recordings. On April 1,2014,Universal Music Group publicly announced the disbandment of the Island Def Jam Music Group,leaving IDJMG and its affiliated subsidiaries as separate sister labels.
Universal Records was a record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated as part of the Universal Motown Republic Group. The label has been dormant since 2006,due to Universal Motown and Universal Republic Records being formed and taking all of the artists from it. Those labels were eventually combined to form the latest iteration of Republic Records.
East West Records is a record label formed in 1955,distributed and owned by Warner Music Group,headquartered in London,England.
Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City,it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995,and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an imprint of the Universal Motown Republic Group,and was renamed Universal Republic Records after a reorganization in 2006 before going back to its original name in 2012.
Universal Motown Records was an American record label that operated as a division of Universal Motown Republic Group. It was the contemporary incarnation of the legendary Motown Records label,and the "urban" half of UMG,although there were some rock artists on the label as well.
Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA) is an American umbrella label operating as a unit of Interscope Capitol Labels Group,owned by Universal Music Group. It currently consists of record labels Interscope Records and Geffen Records.
Doug Morris is an American record executive. He served as chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Universal Music Group from 1995 to 2011,as well as Sony Music Entertainment from 2011 to 2017. He founded the record label 12Tone in 2018,where he's since served as CEO.
Barry Weiss is an American music executive. He co-founded the record label RECORDS in 2015,an imprint of Sony Music Entertainment which specializes in young recording artists.
Joel Klaiman is an American music industry executive. He is the founder and CEO of ASCEND4M entertainment agency,and the CEO of Tunespotter. Klaiman is a former president of Hitco Entertainment;previously,he was a senior executive at Columbia Records,Epic Records and Universal Republic Records. Over the course of his career,he has worked with artists including Adele,Beyoncé,John Legend,Harry Styles and Taylor Swift. He is credited with designing the promotional campaigns that resulted in the crossover success of singles by artists such as Swift,Pharrell,and Daft Punk.
Jacqueline Saturn is the President of Virgin Music Group North America and Executive Vice- President of Global Artist Relations for Virgin Music Group,the world’s leading partner to independent music companies and artists. Saturn's influence is well-acknowledged,garnering recognition on Billboard’s “Power 100,”“Women in Music," and “Indie Power Players”lists,as well as,Variety's Women’s Impact Report. Her extensive career in the music domain has been featured in Rolling Stone,Music Business Worldwide,Variety,and more. She is also on the Los Angeles Chapter Board of the Recording Academy®and holds the position of Chapter Governor.
Jody Gerson is the Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Publishing Group. Upon assuming the role on January 1,2015,Gerson became the first female CEO of a major music publisher and first chairwoman of a global music company. Gerson serves on the Executive Management Board for Universal Music Group.
Todd Moscowitz is an American music industry executive. He is currently the founder and CEO of Alamo Records and the manager of Gucci Mane. Previously,Moscowitz co-founded 300 Entertainment,served as a co-president and CEO of Warner Bros. Records and worked for Def Jam.
Ethiopia Habtemariam is an American businesswoman and music executive who served as the chair and chief executive officer of Motown Records from 2021 to 2022. She is Ethiopian-American.
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