A Woman's Industry Worth: Then And Now

Women in the radio and music business have come a long way in the past 20 years. In the '70s, when labels' black music departments were first taking form and such FM stations as WBLS New York were expanding the reach of black music, the generation of women who are now in powerful positions in the industry were just getting their feet wet?as secretaries, on-air jocks, and local field reps. During the three decades since then, women have overcome many challenges and obstacles, misperceptions and stereotypes.

DeDe McGuire, who co-hosts ABC's syndicated Doug Banks morning show, says the roles of women on the radio have changed and continue to evolve. "Doug recently did an interview with Upscale magazine [in which] they pointed out that many morning shows, local or syndicated, now have a very strong, opinionated female presence, like myself and [the Russ Parr morning show's] Olivia Foxx. Sometimes these women are just as strong a presence as the male anchor."

But it wasn't always like that. And even now, many programmers have a very narrow view of what a woman's on-air role should be. McGuire says, "From '90-'92, I was doing afternoon drive at [KKDA-FM] K104 in Dallas. It was almost unheard of for a woman to be in that shift. I was also the main jock who filled in for Tom Joyner in mornings when he was on vacation. And that was thanks to [female] PD Terry Avery. But after I left K104, the only jobs I was offered were middays or morning co-host. Now, if a man had been doing afternoons in Dallas, do you think he would have been getting those kinds of limited offers?

"I think that's still how a lot of PDs think," McGuire continues. "You have to have a vision of who your audience is?and most stations still primarily target women?to consider having a woman anchor your prime drive slots. Women do like to hear someone they can identify with on the air."

Tracy Latrelle, PD of XM Satellite Radio's R&B channel the Flow and a 17-year radio veteran, adds that women often have had a harder time earning respect from their male bosses. "I think a lot of women in key roles are second-guessed and watched more closely, more often than men. Maybe part of that is because men are accustomed to women being in less-powerful roles than they are now. In the past, we were more likely MDs or assistants. Now we're PDs and VPs."

Deneen Womack, MD of WBLS New York, agrees. "Although it has gotten a lot better, women are still battling to get the same respect that men get, even when they are on the same level. To overcome that, I think many women have had to take on a more aggressive quality in order to compete in a man's world. When I first started out in radio, answering phones for Johnny Allen at [WRKS New York], he told me, 'As a woman, you have to be extra hard in this business. You can't be sensitive or mild-mannered.' "

Women on the label side have encountered similar challenges. Michelle Madison, VP of urban promotion at Elektra Entertainment, says, "As a woman in the music business, sometimes you have to think about how you are coming across?Are you perceived as too overbearing? Are you coming across as a bitch? You have to keep those things in balance but still not come across as weak or oversensitive."

Daisy Davis, OM of Clear Channel's Norfolk, Va., R&B cluster, adds, "One of the things I realize as I look back now is that people may have perceived me as unap-





proachable. I guess I didn't play the political game?I was just never very good at that. So, while I did become an OM, it took me a long time to get here. I might have made it a lot faster if I had felt I was able to change who I was in order to further my career. I just never wanted to."

Stereotypes and perceptions were not the only challenges our panel faced. The so-called "old-boys network" has been a factor for years.

Cynthia Johnson, senior VP of urban promotion for J Records, explains: "Early on in my career, I noticed there were some things that male programmers would do with other men that they would not consider doing with their female counterparts?like going to a basketball game or playing golf . . . So I felt I had to find other ways to make an impact. I had to kill them with my work ethic. So over the years, maybe I wrote more memos than my male co-workers or maybe I came up with 10 more ideas for promotions and implemented them with my stations. I felt if I can't be a part of the recreational aspect of this job to make a connection, then I'll be the one person PDs know they can rely on when they need a promotion or an artist."

Women in the industry have also faced the issue of balancing career and family. But Nicole Sellers, Southeast promotion manager for J Records, asks, "Why can't you have both? There is a misperception that a woman can't be everything. She can have a home, a family, and do her job well. I'm doing it. Some of the highest-ranking women in the business had very young children when

they started

out.





You learn to juggle and balance your life, just as you would in any other industry. You never hear people questioning whether men can handle a family and home life and still travel around the country promoting records. Yet they have to find that same balance with their family. You never see a man penalized or not promoted because he has a family, yet you see it all the time with women."

Madison adds, "When you look at the opportunities 20 years ago when I started in radio, they were few and far between for women, although overall, the industry had a much broader landscape. There were a lot of jobs overall; there were just limited choices for women. But today, while we've seen women make great strides, the opportunities overall have dwindled, and that frightens me."

FUTURE FORECAST

What does the industry's current turmoil and continued consolidation mean for women's future in music? Madison continues, "I don't want to look negatively on it, but the fact remains that we are all?men and women?going to suffer."

McGuire says, "I don't think we will go backward, with women getting less of the pie. There will just be less pie to go around for everyone. You can't take away the success that women like [WBLS New York p.m. driver] Wendy Williams or [rival WQHT p.m. driver] Angie Martinez have achieved. We've seen that women can be successful in those positions in major markets. As radio continues to consolidate or move toward more voice-tracking, you'll still see women in prominent roles, but [there] will be fewer women."

Carla Boatner, OM of Clear Channel's New Orleans R&B cluster, adds that "while we are much better off today, I'm still worried about the future opportunities for women. There's a few female OMs, like myself and Daisy at Clear Channel, and that's because of [CC VP of urban programming] Doc Wynter. He recognizes the talent of his female programmers and moves them up?like [WKKV Milwaukee PD] Jamillah [Muhammad], [WGCI Chicago APD/MD] Tiffany Green, or in Detroit, where [WJLB APD/MD] Kris Kelly and [WMXD PD] Janet G are doing their thing. But not every company has someone with his vision."

Davis also cites Wynter as a key person in developing female talent within Clear Channel, but she adds that "the future is questionable for PDs, period. Who knows if companies will have individual programmers at each station in five or 10 years? Look at us now. I've got four stations, and that's the norm."

Johnson worries that "women in particular could suffer more with the consolidation at labels. I'm also concerned about the elimination of lower-level jobs, like field reps. That's where the training begins and you learn how to do this job. So where is the next generation of promotion people, men or women, going to start?"

LISTEN CLOSELY

Despite the gloomy predictions, our panel says there are ways to survive, even in the hardest of times. Madison recalls that "the best advice I was ever given was to be yourself. At the end of the day, if you can say you've done your best, that's all you can do. If you keep your integrity, you'll always have a good reputation, and in this business, that is invaluable."

Latrelle says, "We have to learn to put our foot down, to be a bitch when we feel strongly enough about something. Otherwise, we aren't taken seriously. When men want something they believe in, they do whatever they have to to achieve it, and I think women can take a cue from that. So, get ugly if you have to?but that doesn't mean get emotional. Control that urge that women have to implode. To me, if someone calls a woman in this business a bitch, that means she's strong and powerful, and that's why she has made it as far as she has."

Womack agrees that "women have to be more aggressive in the workplace, whether it's stating their position or going after a position. You have to be able to make hard decisions. When you are just starting out in the business, make sure you let the higher-ups know who you are. When I was an intern, I would go into the GM's office to ask her questions and let her know what I wanted to do in radio. I also worked in many different departments to find out what I really wanted to do . . . That way you don't spend time on a career track that you decide five years later that you hate."

"Decide what you can live with and what you can't," Davis suggests. "Do you want to change your whole personality to fit into a career path? If so, then remember you'll have to roll with the punches down the road."

But Davis also says that in radio, you've got to adapt to the new landscape. "One of the things I've learned from Doc is [that] the programming game is all about numbers now. It's not about being creative as much. Knowing research, Arbitron, and sales are the keys. So many young people come into this business talking about the streets. Well, the streets are important, but if you don't know the numbers, you're not going to be able to move up."

McGuire, who started in Killeen, Texas, in 1988, says, "Within two years, I had moved to two markets and was in Dallas by 1990. I've been a secretary, traffic manager, PSA director, on air, and a receptionist. If you really love this business, you'll do anything to stay in it. You know you have to work hard and pay your dues. I've moved to five cities throughout my career, and it's not always about working at the hottest, hippest station in town. If you're a professional, you know you can hone your skills anywhere, and that's what you do. It's not about your ego."

Davis notes that in the past, "men would often become more successful in radio, because they were more willing to take chances and move around from city to city. Women often feel tied to a particular market because of friends and family. Sometimes, even when you are comfortable, you have to leave in order to move up, especially if you are being overlooked in your current situation. We are each responsible for what happens in our lives. If you allow yourself to be overlooked because you never make a change, then it's nobody's fault but your own. Get up and go."

Boatner's rule of thumb is to "keep God first, and don't let the business consume your life. Have outside interests that help you keep a perspective on what's really important."

THE NABFEME TRADITION BEGINS

With the industry changing rapidly and women inside the industry struggling to be all they can be, an organization like the National Assn. of Black Female Executives in Music and Entertainment (NABFEME)?and the conference it has planned for Aug. 29-Sept. 1 in Toronto?can be an inspiration.

Madison, who is also NABFEME's COO, says, "I feel having an organization such as this is important, because it allows women to support, nurture, and promote each other. There are young women just entering the business today who might be intimidated by walking up and talking to someone like [Def Jam senior VP of urban promotion] Johnnie Walker, but in an atmosphere like the NABFEME conference, it's more relaxed. If I had a group like this when I was first starting out, I probably would have developed a sense of security and confidence much sooner in my career."

Sellers adds that for her, "it's like when you watch the nightly news, and all you see is a certain image portrayed of your people that may not be positive. That's how the industry looks sometimes. But with NABFEME, you see first-hand all the positive things women have been able to do in the music industry and how far you can excel, too."

"It's important for young female professionals to see all facets of the industry?television, film, and publishing, as well as radio and the music industry, to see women at all levels all working and learning from each other," Johnson says. "Just because I have a VP next to my name doesn't mean I can't learn from someone who is just starting out, whose perspective now may turn out to be how we do business in five or 10 years."

Womack says that "NABFEME is a great way to network and to be in an environment with other women who may be facing the same experiences or challenges as you. In a way, it's like a girls club, just like there is a so-called boys club. Only NABFEME isn't exclusive of anyone, gender-wise. Men are just as welcome, and we can learn from them as well."

She continues, "Over the years, I've seen a lot of women in powerful positions who were so concerned about who was coming up behind them who might take their spot that they never wanted to share anything. Now, we see more women like [veteran radio programmer and record executive] Helen Little who are willing to take the time to talk to you and guide you. That's what NABFEME is all about."

Boatner says, "Coming up, there were a lot of male role models in programming for me to look up to. There were only a few females PDs, like Terry Avery, or GMs like Verna Green. So to have a group like this, where you can go and actually meet women who are VPs, presidents, and CEOs, is something we didn't have before. At the same time, I feel like I can now give back to those who are coming up behind me . . . Eventually, I want to move to the next level, and if I don't train the next person to take over, who will? At NABFEME, I can meet that next generation of women coming into the business."

McGuire sums it up by saying that "we all know how cutthroat this business can be. But NABFEME is about sisterhood and supporting each other. The catfighting, backstabbing, and hating [that] goes on at times, takes a back seat to respect and camaraderie. I mean, why hate on those women who are paving the way for you? It doesn't make sense. NABFEME highlights the positive aspects of working together and networking, which we all can benefit from."