PR Firm Brawls With Sylvia Rhone
Sylvia Rhone grew up in Harlem and attributes her career in the music industry in part to attending shows and concerts at the celebrated Apollo Theater. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Economics from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania and started her first job working at a bank.
That didn’t stick, music called to her, and she went to work for Buddha Records as a secretary (1974). Later she spent time at ABC Records, Ariola Records, Elektra, and Atlantic Records during the 80s. And under her watch as Sr. VP and General Manager, in 1988 Atlantic Records was honored by Billboard, naming them #1 Black Music Division.
In 1990, Rhone stepped in as CEO of Atlantic Record’s East/West Division, marking the first time an African-American woman attained that level with a major record label. Founder of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun said her administration at Atlantic defined “innovation, imagination, and freshness.” Ebony Magazine in 1993 considered her a top up-and-coming entertainment industry’s black executives.
In 2004, she became President of Motown Records and VP of Universal Records. During her time there, she rejuvenated the level of entertainers and staff while introducing a more digital format for production of artists’ work. And in 2012 she launched her label – Vested in Culture putting a distribution deal in place with Epic Records. During her time in the music industry, she’s represented many artists including Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Kid Cudi, Melanie Fiona, Erykyah Badu, Stevie Wonder, Drake, Akon, and Nelly.
Nasty Little Man, founded by Steve Martin in 1992, is an NYC PR firm established to represent bands and musicians. Artists represented by NLM include Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney, Ryan Adams, Radiohead, Gorillaz, Beck, Band of Horses, and Atoms for Peace. Their website nastylittleman.com doesn’t talk about the firm and what they offer – instead it’s all about the artists, who’s on tour, what’s coming up, etc.
Now let’s get to the gory details of the war of deleted tweets.
Billboard magazine today reported on a brawl between a PR Firm named “Nasty Little Man”, and the President of Kanye West’s record label. Interesting reading.
So, as Billboard puts it:
“Epic Records’ president Sylvia Rhone reacted on Twitter by imploring Kanye to steal Beck’s trophy. (Judging by Beck’s subsequent reaction to West’s comments, it seems like he wouldn’t really have cared.) Rhone subsequently deleted the tweet (you can read it here), and requests for comment from Epic weren’t returned.
In response to Rhone’s response, Beck’s PR firm Nasty Little Man issued a tweet on Monday morning calling Rhone an “#idiotbitch.”
The tweet was, unsurprisingly, deleted shortly afterward. (Screenshot here.) Nasty owner Steve Martin tells Billboard: “I lost my cool, and I regret it. It doesn’t reflect Beck in any way. I was lashing out in a moment of anger and poor judgment.” Martin expressed regret for Beck’s well-deserved win being the subject of such debate, but stressed that the win was “22 years coming, and we couldn’t be happier.”
Nasty Little Man works primarily in the music srena.
Who was wrong? We at Everything PR always welcome comments and feedback.
