COMPANY TOWN : New Elektra Chief Breaks Male Bastion : Music: African American Sylvia Rhone calls her promotion by Warner Music Group a ‘symbolic moment.’

The music industry’s good ol’ boys club finally opened its doors this week when Warner Music Group promoted Sylvia Rhone to head its mammoth Elektra/EastWest division--the latest twist in a dramatic shake-up at the world’s largest record corporation.

“We smashed right through the glass ceiling this time,” said Rhone, 42, referring to her status as the most powerful woman in the music industry. “This is an important symbolic moment not only for me, but for every African American and woman in our business. I know I have some very big shoes to fill, and I look forward to the challenges ahead.”

The “glass ceiling” that prevents the rise of minorities to power is especially prevalent in the music business, where only 3% of the most senior positions are held by women.

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With her promotion, Rhone joins an elite circle previously reserved for white male executives such as Warner Bros. Records Chairman Mo Ostin and Atlantic Group Co-Chairman Ahmet Ertegun. All three executives report to Doug Morris, president and chief operating officer of Time Warner Inc.’s new domestic music sector. The realignment was orchestrated by Warner Music Group Chairman Robert Morgado, who is trying to stimulate business at the labels.

Elektra--home to 125 acts, including Metallica, Natalie Cole and Anita Baker--has long been considered one of the most prestigious labels in the business. As chief of the firm, Rhone follows in the footsteps of four top industry figures: founder Jac Holzman, entertainment impresario David Geffen, veteran executive Joe Smith and talent guru Bob Krasnow, who resigned last week, citing objections to the new chain of command.

Sources say Rhone, a Wharton School graduate and single mother, was chosen for the position because of her achievements at EastWest, where as chair and chief executive since 1991 she masterminded the multimillion-dollar success of acts such as En Vogue, Pantera, Snow and Das EFX.

In her new position, Rhone will oversee operations at Elektra, Asylum, Nonesuch and EastWest Records, with each label maintaining its moniker. According to Rhone, the albums scheduled for release this year by those firms will hit the stores as planned.

No significant reorganization is expected to occur under the merger before 1995--at which point cuts in staff and artist rosters at both companies are likely to begin, sources at Warner said. Rhone denied rumors that she has been given a mandate to clean house immediately.

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“We are not going to do anything whatsoever to disrupt the continuity of either business,” said Rhone, who held meetings in New York this week with employees at Elektra and EastWest to calm the waters. “I intend to preserve the artistic identity of each company and consider this opportunity the most exciting challenge of my career.”

Rhone, a Harlem native who grew up listening to Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye, entered the music industry in 1974 as a secretary at Buddah Records. She worked in a variety of record company promotion departments--including at Elektra--before being named the head of national promotion for Warner-owned Atlantic Records in 1985.

The next stop on the corporate elevator was head of Atlantic’s black-music department, followed by vice president and then senior vice president of EastWest Records in 1988. Since taking over as chief executive of that company three years later, she helped drive annual revenue at the firm from $50 million to past the $80 million mark.

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“You can’t argue with success, and Sylvia Rhone is one of the great success stories of our business,” said Charles Koppelman, chairman and chief executive of EMI Records Group in North America. “This isn’t about somebody cashing in on five minutes’ worth of glory here. Sylvia Rhone is a winner who worked her way up to the top.”

Rhone’s 20-year ascent from secretary to record label chief was no cakewalk, but rather a hard-won victory rife with racist and sexist encounters, she says. Even now, Rhone’s promotion has prompted grumbling in the industry’s good ol’ boys network, where her rock music credentials are privately being challenged.

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“There are still some guys in the old guard who find it difficult to accept an African American woman taking over the reins of a giant pop company, but Sylvia will wake them up,” said Joe Smith, a former Elektra chief who was Rhone’s boss during the early 1980s.

“What you have here is a bright and aggressive executive who has proven herself repeatedly over the past 20 years,” he said. “The way I see it, Sylvia’s promotion isn’t just a great move for her. It’s a huge step forward for the entire music business.”