Music industry’s black execs face ‘downsizing’

Better times
Citing such trailblazers as the late CBS Records senior executive LeBaron Taylor, veteran label executive Miller London, owner/publisher of industry/consumer publication Urban Network, recalls a time 30 years ago when major-label black executives were being “hired for our abilities and paid at the same high salaries as our white counterparts.”

“Taylor and others, who came up when R&B music was first known as ’race records,’ trained young people in this business how to hold down these jobs,” continues London, a former executive VP/general manager at Motown and also VP of sales for RCA, where he oversaw “all departments, not just urban.”

“And white executives saw the need to have us in these jobs and continued to elevate us.”

The Taylor era at CBS Records (later Sony) was the beginning of black executives getting their shots across the board, according to former Motown president Jheryl Busby.

“LeBaron put together the first division inside of a major corporation where the signing of artists, the budget process and staffing were controlled by black executives,” Busby says.

But through time, that climate changed as black music, especially hip-hop, became the new pop crossover music. The playing field became uneven as white executives replaced black executives who were not always given the tools to be successful at their jobs.

“A lot of our ability was diluted,” London says. “You don’t have to do anything to anybody, you just don’t help them,” London says. “One way is not to give financial support.”

Restructuring also diminished the ranks of black executives, although Busby is skeptical about how the word is used. “Sometimes blacks get hung up in a great accounting process called ’restructuring,’ “ Busby says. “It allows you to write off everything.”

‘Make my own world’
The systematic lack of access, opportunity and support is the principal reason behind the entrepreneurial spirit born out of hip-hop, contends WMG’s Liles, previously co-president at Def Jam.

“That’s the reason why hip-hop became culture,” he says. “And it’s the same reason why hip-hop has more entrepreneurs like Puffy (Bad Boy chief Sean Combs), Damon Dash or Russell Simmons.”

It’s the same motivation that propelled earlier African-American music pioneers. “People like (Motown founder) Berry Gordy and (Tabu Records and former Motown chairman) Clarence Avant said, ‘Look, I can’t make it in that world,”’ London says. “‘I’ll make my own world so I can make money.”’

But there are signs that the tide may be shifting. Earlier this year, Lisa Ellis was appointed general manager of Sony Urban Music. Virgin tapped Dupri to head its urban music division. Plus veterans Rhone and Reid are back at major-label helms.

Also signaling a change in the industry, Jay-Z moved from the artist to the executive ranks as president/CEO of Def Jam Recordings this year. Declining most interviews, Jay-Z seems to be letting his artists do the talking. He is already a creating a buzz with such artists as Teairra Mari and Rihanna.

One thing that has not changed and needs to, those who were interviewed agree, is the mentoring process.

“We do it to ourselves,” Massenburg says. “I don’t know if it’s ego or what, but we don’t mentor each other at all.”

Knowles adds, “We have to be careful that we don’t always put it on race. We have to make sure we have all the necessary tools and skills. We have to be proactive. If we wait for it to happen, we’ll still be waiting.”

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