SYLVIA RHONE: THE TRAILBLAZER

Philadelphia-born, Harlem-raised Sylvia Rhone has spent her career making history, not least as the first African American woman to head a major-label group.

She achieved that feat in 1994, leading Elektra Entertainment Group. In 2019, when she was promoted to chairman/CEO of Epic Records, she was still the only woman of color in the top job at a major-label group.

Sony Music boss Rob Stringer, announcing Rhone’s arrival at Epic, hailed her as “a trailblazing and iconic executive.”

Proclaimed UMPG Chairman Jody Gerson, “This is not only a big day for Sylvia Rhone; her promotion to chairman and CEO is an inspiration to our entire industry and the change we are working to effect for an equal and inclusive future. We all must acknowledge and applaud that a move has been made in the right direction and it’s breaking glass ceilings and driving progress. Good for Sylvia and good for all of us.”

Sony Music Publishing boss Jon Platt observed, “Sylvia Rhone is a visionary exec with the intelligence, strength and sensitivity to navigate a radically changing business. Most importantly, she has inspired countless women and people of color in this industry by showing what’s possible when you have the talent and the guts to go the distance.”

“Sylvia Rhone is a pioneer, a visionary—one of the most extraordinary and savvy executives I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with,” declared Roc Nation’s Jay Brown. “She is an inspiration and mentor to so many, and her ear and business sense are unparalleled. All she has to do is step in the room and everyone knows that Sylvia Rhone has always been and always will be the chairman and CEO.”

“Epic has a tried-and-true leader who’s been successful wherever she’s been and a person of fine character and loyalty—someone you want to be in a foxhole with,” said Doug Morris, who has headed all the major-label groups. “She’s a brilliant woman who’s gonna win, no matter what.”

Rhone has long been an industry pioneer, with a dynamic career in rock, R&B and hip-hop that’s spanned 40 years. Always excelling amid constant change, she’s played a key role in shepherding hip-hop culture into the mainstream and in 2019, stunned the industry by landing multiple rap artists at the top of the streaming charts.

At the 2018 Culture Creator Awards, where she was honored, Rhone said of her solemn responsibility to hip-hop, “Our one common goal is to protect the culture, and now more than ever, since our culture has gotten so popular and those people who have never been a part of the culture see that they can make a lot of money [from it], we have to watch very closely. There’s a feeding frenzy, and [these] people are the buyers, not the believers.”

Another area in which she’s distinguished herself: the digital revolution, a difficult adjustment that ultimately became a great equalizing force; she has navigated the rapidly changing ecosystem of the music industry with aplomb. “The transformation of our industry into a content and technology business has created more entry points, a broader range of music-centric companies to explore than just record labels,” Rhone noted in 2018, adding, “Aspiring female executives will be able to find their place in this music ecosystem—and they will change the world.”

“A leader and forward thinker, Sylvia has been key to shaping contemporary music through historic changes,” confirms top attorney John Branca, who calls her “a friend to talent and a creative collaborator.”

Sylvia Rhone was born to a schoolteacher mother who marched with Martin Luther King Jr., the SCLC and Adam Clayton Powell Jr.—and a father who, like his wife, became an important part of the political and social fabric of Harlem.

Rhone attended The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a B.S. in economics. Fresh out of college, she entered an international management program at Banker’s Trust in New York. One day she decided to wear pants to work—and was told to go home and change. “I never went back,” she told Billboard’s Gail Mitchell in 2018.

Instead, she opted to pursue a dream she’d secretly held since college, when she attended a Jackson 5 concert as the guest of the group’s manager, a friend of her mother’s, Suzanne DePasse. “I watched her working,” Rhone recalled to Mitchell, “and something clicked.”

Rhone began her music career in 1974 at Buddha Records and subsequently worked her way through the ranks of ABC Records and Ariola Records.

But it was meeting mentor and champion Doug Morris that really shaped her executive trajectory. That vital chapter began at WMG, where Morris was president of Atlantic Records. “She flew right to the top,” he recalls. “She can be tough as nails but always on the right side of the line. I’m very proud to have played a part in her career. She’s special.”

After a successful run as Elektra’s regional promotion manager in the Northeast, Rhone was elevated to director of National Black Music Marketing at Atlantic in 1985, reporting to Morris. She was promoted the following year to SVP/GM, taking on A&R and marketing duties, in which capacity she oversaw the development and introduction of artists like Brandy, En Vogue, LeVert, MC Lyte, Yo Yo, The D.O.C., The System and Chuckii Booker.

In 1990 Rhone pitched Morris on the formation of EastWest Records America and, with her subsequent appointment as president/CEO of the new entity, became the first African American woman to head a major label.

Four years later she was hired by Morris to become chairman/CEO of Elektra Entertainment Group (EEG)—thus becoming the first Black woman to attain that role at a major-label group. “We smashed right through the glass ceiling this time,” she said. “This is an important symbolic moment not only for me but for every African American and woman in our business. I know I have some very big shoes to fill, and I look forward to the challenges ahead.”

Joe Smith, who variously led Warner Bros. Records, Elektra, Capitol and other labels during his illustrious career and was Rhone’s boss during her promo days in the early ’80s, commented to the Los Angeles Times: “There are still some guys in the old guard who find it difficult to accept an African American woman taking over the reins of a giant pop company, but Sylvia will wake them up. What you have here is a bright and aggressive executive who has proven herself repeatedly over the past 20 years. The way I see it, Sylvia’s promotion isn’t just a great move for her; it’s a huge step forward for the entire music business.”

At EEG, Rhone cultivated one of the most diverse rosters in the biz, one that included groundbreaking hip-hop artists Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes, folk-pop stalwart Tracy Chapman, crossover gospel powerhouse Yolanda Adams and hard-rock giants AC/DC and Metallica, not to mention Natalie Merchant, Gerald Levert, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Fabolous, Jason Mraz and Third Eye Blind. In less than two years, she increased the label group’s sales by more than $300 million.

Shortly after the formation of EEG, WMG was struck by massive upheaval. Following the exits of Bob Krasnow (whom Rhone succeeded at Elektra) and Mo Ostin, Morris had been promoted to head of North America by then-WMG Chairman Bob Morgado. But a power struggle involving Morgado and the group’s four major-label chiefs led to his exit. Morgado was succeeded by HBO executive Michael Fuchs—who fired Morris in 1995. Rhone nonetheless survived the corporate carnage to work another nine years for the company, having formed a productive relationship with new WMG Chairman/CEO Roger Ames.

Enter Edgar Bronfman Jr., who bought WMG from Time Warner in March 2003. He had a longstanding relationship with Lyor Cohen, who was presiding over Def Jam at the time. Bronfman installed Cohen as WMG boss, and in 2004, Rhone’s position was eliminated in the restructuring that resulted from the merger of Elektra and Atlantic.

Morris, by then CEO at Universal Music Group, promptly hired her as president of Motown Records and EVP of Universal Records. “Working with Doug and Mel is a homecoming for me,” Rhone said. “I had the privilege of working for Doug in my early years and consider him a mentor. What’s so exciting about the company is its depth of creative assets; the collaboration possibilities of the associated labels are limitless.”

While at UMG, she developed Erykah Badu, India.Arie, Akon and Chamillionaire and helped guide independent Cash Money to mainstream success. By 2004 Cash Money had come under the Motown umbrella, and Morris enlisted Sylvia to manage it. She helped raise the label’s profile during a resurgence of fan interest in Juvenile and Hot Boys, connecting them to their fan bases through social-networking platforms.

Rhone stepped down as head of Universal Motown in 2011 during the UMG leadership transition that saw Lucian Grange replace Morris.

In 2013 she founded the imprint Vested in Culture (distributed by Epic), having pitched Morris, then boss of Sony Music, to create a boutique label that would afford her a wider platform. “Our mission is to be a bridge for our artists and to help them grow as cultural brands,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “Many times, the influence of music on the culture is undervalued, so I wanted to reflect in the name of our company that we are passionate about the culture in all of its aspects, including style, film, art and TV.”

During this period, she explained her approach to staff development to The Hollywood Reporter: “There is an unfortunate history in our business of teams being segregated along urban and pop lines. Oftentimes, Black executives are only allowed to work with Black acts, so they’re not allowed to develop outside of the urban discipline and their skill set is truncated. The deck really needs to be shuffled because music does not reflect that anymore. What’s pop, what’s hip-hop, what’s rock? It’s really more about who that fan is.

“At Elektra, I always shuffled the deck. A Black woman was head of video production; a Black executive was head of A&R—it didn’t matter. The talent is there, but we still are encumbered by old-school models. I’ve taken that responsibility very personally as a Black woman in the business—to create opportunities that don’t fall into the typical silos that Black people work in.”

In 2014 Rhone was named president of Epic, working alongside Chairman/CEO Antonio “L.A.” Reid. But after Reid stepped down in 2017, she began heading the label’s operations solo.

She was notably one of six top female executives to issue a formal letter of complaint to the Recording Academy’s board of trustees over the infamous re-mark made by then-CEO Neil Portnow after the 2018 Grammy Awards about women needing to “step up.”

Rhone and her sister signatories called Portnow’s comment “emblematic of a much larger issue with the [Recording Academy] as a whole on the broader set of inclusion issues across all demographics,” continuing, “As senior music executives with true commitment to the welfare of the organization and the music community, we hereby put ourselves forward for service.”

Reflecting on her unique position as a female senior music executive, she told Billboard in June 2018, “As a woman, you have to come from a position of confidence. There’s a certain gift that women have in their management style that’s more inclusive than a male counterpart’s. One of the keys is to always be your best self. There’s no secret formula to it. You just have to understand that you’re managing a team of people—whether it’s two or 100—that is far more important than you.”

In the first quarter of 2019, Rhone achieved a rare hat trick when albums by Future, Travis Scott and 21 Savage hit the Top 10 simultaneously. Future would go on to further heights with the smash 2022 set I NEVER LIKED YOU and the cover of GQ, which dubbed him “the best rapper alive.” Most recently, Rhone masterminded the release of UTOPIA, Scott’s chart-topping 2023 album.

April 2019 saw her appointed chairman and CEO of Epic. “I am excited to continue my amazing journey at Epic Records, supported by Rob Stringer’s vision and leadership,” she said. “Everything we do is a testament to our incredible artists, who set the bar of the entire Epic culture, inspiring our dedicated executive team every day and enriching the legacy of this great label.”

Also that year, Rhone was tapped as City of Hope’s Spirit of Life honoree, becoming the first African American woman so recognized. At the L.A. Spirit of Life kickoff breakfast, then-Motown boss Ethiopia Habtemariam recalled that seeing a Black woman as Elektra chairman in the early days of her own career filled her with a sense of possibility—and that Rhone’s gracious response to a long-ago fan letter Habtemariam had sent her kept her on her path. When it comes to supporting artists and execs, “Sylvia has walked the walk,” Habtemariam affirmed.

“I am honored that I get to work with Sylvia,” said attorney Dina LaPolt when she introduced Rhone for their keynote interview at MIDEM 2019. “Her wealth of experience and heart has helped her shepherd the careers of countless artists while keeping an eye toward both the artistic vision of her clients and the cultural relevance and responsibilities of her work. She is intelligent, fiercely driven and deeply focused on the well-being of the artists and creators she works with. This is all in addition to her trailblazing role on behalf of women and people of color.”

Over the course of her career, Rhone has been recognized by, among other publications, Fortune, Ebony, Entertainment Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter. In 2019 she received an honorary doctor of music degree in recognition of her contributions to the industry. She was honored this year by the Black Music Action Coalition with the nonprofit’s Clarence Avant Trailblazer Award.

In the words of Irving Azoff, “Sylvia simply is a winner and continues to prove it—past, present and future.”

In 2023 Billboard named Rhone its Women in Music Executive of the Year. “I had to put away all those fears that I wouldn’t succeed and embrace the courage to move forward,” Rhone said upon accepting the honor. “I concluded that this was my chance, my time. And that’s the takeaway I would share with whoever has that doubt: Always believe in yourself and your worth.”