Record Executive, Sylvia Rhone, to Receive Presidential Award

There is no denying that Sylvia Rhone is a game changer. The Music Business Association (Music Biz), formerly known as NARM and DigitalMusic.org, will recognize her talents when they present her its prestigious Presidential Award for Sustained Executive Achievement to Rhone on Wednesday, May 7, at the Opening Session of the Music Biz 2014 annual convention at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

Rhone, an African American woman, will be the first female executive to receive the Award, which has previously been presented to industry luminaries such as Clive Davis, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun, Akio Morita, Walter Yetnikoff, Paul Smith, Henry Droz, Russ Solomon, Jack Eugster, Eric Paulson, Bob Higgins, Jim Urie, John Marmaduke, Dick Clark, Casey Kasem, Ted Cohen, and Don Cornelius, along with organizational honorees such as the Country Music Association (CMA), the Recording Academy, and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

“I have had the fortune of working with many of the past honorees who have received this distinguished recognition from the Music Business Association, and it is a true privilege to be counted among them,” Rhone stated.

A veteran in the music industry for 39 years, Rhone got her started out as a secretary at Buddha Records in 1974 before moving on to other labels such as Atlantic, Elektra and then Universal in 2004, where she became President of Motown Records, Executive VP of Universal Records, and Chairman of the Universal Motown Record Group.

Rhone would remain with Universal Motown after it split off from Universal Republic Records in 2006, expanding the reach of hip-hop imprint Cash Money and utilizing social media and digital platforms to connect artists such as Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Kid Cudi, Akon, and Blue October with their fans. In 2012, she founded Vested in Culture under the umbrella of Sony Music Entertainment.

Source: Black Enterprise Magazine