Sylvia Rhone: The Exit Interview

As Sylvia Rhone was getting her flowers last week at the Femme It Forward event in Los Angeles, she couldn’t help but marvel at the breadth of talent represented in the night’s R&B honorees. Ciara, Jhené Aiko, Mariah The Scientist, Kehlani, Normani, Olandria Carthen, and Ravyn Lenae were among those recognized by the four-year-old organization at a gala event in Beverly Hills. “How they curated the artists was impressive,” she says two days later. “It was a very eclectic group.”

Rhone, whose five-decades-long career has seen her ascend from assistant (back when the position was called secretary) to the first woman to helm a major label (Elektra, home to Missy Elliott, Tracy Chapman, and Busta Rhymes) — and who would go on to run several more companies across recorded music and publishing (Epic Records and Universal Motown among them) — was in attendance at the Give Her FlowHERS gala to clock another first: an award named in her honor.

“When I look around this room, I see a constellation of achievers,” she said in accepting the inaugural Sylvia Rhone Legacy Award. “We stand up to systems that try to exclude us. Yet we are an immovable force when we celebrate our collective power.” The honor, added Rhone from the stage, “arrives at a pivotal moment — just after moving on from Epic Records. … I’m most proud of building an ecosystem of young Black executives who understood teamwork. This is a huge part of my legacy.”

Indeed, Rhone had blazed a path forward for so many women in the industry, and for the Black music which shaped the culture over the last 40 years. She had become so engrained in the business — thanked by artists in liner notes and from the Grammy stage, in the case of Jamie Foxx, Camila Cabello, and Travis Scott, among others — some wondered if she’d ever leave willingly. As it turns out, that’s exactly what Rhone decided to do in exiting Epic Records, where she served as CEO and chairwoman from 2019 to September of this year.

Sylvia Rhone and Margeaux Watson speak onstage at the 2025 Give Her FlowHERS Awards Gala presented by Femme It Forward at The Beverly Hilton on November 21, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California.

Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Femme It Forward

“I left when I wanted to leave,” says Rhone, now 73, of her last day, six months before the end of her contract. “I wanted to leave all of the releases that were coming in the right place. They were commitments I had to those artists, and to the company, and to the staff. And so I left on my timeline. I feel like…. freedom. And it’s a good feeling to have.”

Rhone is light on details of how it all came to pass, and moments of reflection — thinking of her impact across the three major label groups — seem to have a sort of finality to them. “I’ve been working since I was 16,” she says. “I’ve done things I’m so proud of and put people and corporations in positions to grow. I’m good! I just don’t feel like I can give it the same energy that I’ve given it for all these years.”

Besides, Rhone reconciles, the business she’s leaving has diminished considerably. “Listen, there’s not a lot of bodies in the business anymore,” says Rhone.

“Thousands of people have lost their jobs, and the companies are continuing to do layoffs. I’m sure Universal will go through another round, and is Warner finished? I don’t know. … I don’t know if the music business is for anybody. Women and Black folks will always be at the bottom of the list. I think there are a lot of people in position that can still grow into being a Chairman, but there’s just going to be less companies.”

Sylvia Rhone speaks onstage at the 2025 Give Her FlowHERS Awards Gala presented by Femme It Forward at The Beverly Hilton on November 21, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California.

Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Femme It Forward

Staff reduction in the wake of mergers and acquisitions is just one of the immediate challenges the industry facing. Another, the arrival of AI, is far more existential. “I’ve been in the business a long time, between the cassette and the CD and then iTunes and now streaming, and I’ve never seen the kind of shift that’s happening. I was never afraid of those things, but now with AI and everything that’s happening across the board in terms of jobs, it presents a whole different game. I just don’t want to work like that. I really want these next years to be more in my control than someone else’s control.”

The future of Epic Records’ leadership remains unclear. Industry chatter suggests the label may fold into another Sony Music imprint like RCA (which, at one time, housed Jive, J, and Arista). Rhone declines comment as she’s no longer privy to that kind of information. Later in our conversation, she remarks, “In the music business, as you know, you’re only as good as your last three minutes and 23 seconds.”

Rhone’s vision of her future comes down to a simple ethos: “As long as I can live my life with a purpose.” She plans to stay based in Los Angeles, to travel, read books, catch up with friends, and “live a more healthy life — not just food and exercise and all of that, but in not having the stress on you,” Rhone explains. Professionally, she’s still settling into a new routine, admitting “there are days when I’m like, oh my God, I don’t have all of that happening and I miss it, but I’m adjusting.”

Sylvia Rhone attends the 2025 Give Her FlowHERS Awards Gala presented by Femme It Forward at The Beverly Hilton on November 21, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California.

Jerritt Clark/Getty Images for Femme It Forward

The 24-7 nature of running a music company and dealing with artists is not something she’s sad to leave behind. “I’ve worked hard enough that I’d rather pick and choose where I think I could really make a contribution,” says Rhone.

“A lot of catalogs, for instance, are being bought by investment companies who don’t know much about how to market the songs, or maybe don’t even have the correct rights to market the catalog in its entirety. So I’m looking at doing advisory board work, maybe even outside of music. I’m excited about that. It’s a lot going on in my head right now. At this point in my life, I have a small stretch of time that I really want to have that freedom. Because what more can I do? Get another number one record?”

Read Rhone’s Femme It Forward speech in its entirety below:

I want to thank Femme It Forward and Give Her FlowHERS for this inaugural Sylvia Rhone Award. Standing here, accepting an award that bears my name, reminds me of the responsibility we ALL carry as Black women who lead. When I look around this room, I see a constellation of achievers—each of us shining so bright we make the next woman shine too. We stand up to systems that try to exclude us. Yet we are an immovable force when we celebrate our collective power.

This honor arrives at a pivotal moment—just after moving on from Epic Records. At Epic, Motown, Elektra, and everywhere I’ve worked, I’m most proud of building an ecosystem of young Black executives who understood teamwork. This is a huge part of my legacy. When I left Epic, more than half our staff identified as women or Black people — culture-movers transforming shared values into victories.

My years in music have been a labor of love, but they have been labor. I’m blessed now to lean into new projects and well-deserved rest. Because while I am Sylvia Rhone the C-level executive, I am also Sylvia the woman whose talents reach into every aspect of art and culture. I am Sylvia the mom, the friend, the lover of ocean breezes. I am the Sylvia who has earned all of it.

So now I am passing the baton to you all. Like Olympic relay races, passing with grace transfers momentum. Successful exchanges make up time you thought was lost. Success relies on teamwork, timing, and communication. It’s your time.

So listen: go forth and prosper even more. Your dreams are the world’s dreams. Make big plans and activate. Together, we are redefining what it means to be seen, heard, and valued. We bring flavor to disruptive strategies, genius to corporate traditions. The ROI of Black women is infinite.

Let this award inspire every woman rising.

Sylvia Rhone attends Black Women in Music Dinner convened by The Connie Orlando Foundation at Audrey Irmas Pavillion on June 03, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

Sylvia Rhone and Margeaux Watson