{"id":15477,"date":"2021-03-25T22:18:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T02:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/?p=15477"},"modified":"2026-01-14T15:15:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T20:15:43","slug":"celebrating-women-record-label-execs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splice.com\/blog\/celebrating-women-record-label-execs\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating the record label execs who lifted others up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Illustration:<\/strong> Najeebah Al-Ghadban<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the face of disrespect, inequality, and a lack of recognition, women have played a strong role in the music industry since the late 1940s.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

They’ve pushed the industry forward while championing and supporting other members of marginalized groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below, we celebrate some of the leaders (on record) who\u2019ve demonstrated that women belong at the head of the table. The unequal representation seen across the industry throughout the decades is staggering. The more women, non-binary people, and people of color hired to leadership roles today and tomorrow, the more we\u2019ll hear conversations and see actions of equality take place up, down, and across the music supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1947: Miriam Bienstock got Atlantic Records off the ground<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Miriam Abramson was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1923 to Russian-Jewish immigrants. She studied piano and had an interest in jazz music. In 1945, she married record producer Herb Abramson. In 1947, Herb formed Atlantic Records with Ahmet Ertegun. Miriam took charge of the fledgling company’s finances and production, handling payments to musicians and negotiating distribution deals. She also acted as Ruth Brown’s manager for a while, who bolstered the label\u2019s early success, prompting the moniker \u201cThe House that Ruth Built,\u201d according to Billboard.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the company flourished with such artists as Ray Charles, The Coasters, and The Drifters, Mariam\u2019s role expanded to business manager, in which she negotiated a distribution deal with London\u2019s Decca Records in 1955. After a divorce from Herb Abramson, she married music publisher Freddy Bienstock in 1957.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1958, she was named the VP of Atlantic, in charge of publishing. Billboard Magazine<\/em> published an article that same year titled, “Atlantic\u2019s ‘Money Man’ is a Woman,”<\/a> highlighting her success in increasing the label\u2019s production and revenue, as well as her penchant for transparency in the company and overall business acumen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article written by June Bundy Csida concludes with, \u201cToday, she is known as one of the few women executives in the record industry, a business heretofore noted for its lack of fem talent in top-flight posts. In addition to Mariam Bienstock, the ranks of key women execs with record companies are virtually limited to Mercury Records\u2019 classical chief Wilma Cozart, Liberty\u2019s sales head Bobbie Dieterle, Apollo\u2019s veteran manager Bess Berman, and Christine Hamilton, VP and sales manager of Dot Records.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marium Bienstock died in 2015 at the age of 92, leaving a legacy<\/a> of unparalleled innovative thinking, top-tier fiscal management, some of the label\u2019s biggest artists, and a maintained discipline at Atlantic. She even exposed Ertegun to the early recordings of Ray Charles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1953: Vivian Carter Bracken grew Vee-Jay Records into one of the most successful indie labels of the era<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1948, Vivian Carter (later Vivian Carter Bracken) won a contest that launched her career as a radio emcee. In 1953, she and her husband, James, borrowed $500 from a pawnbroker<\/a> to record a local group called The Spaniels in the record shop they owned in Gary, Indiana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They combined their initials, V and J, to form Vee-Jay Records and released The Spaniels\u2019 first album, Baby, It’s You<\/em>. It was a top-10 hit and so successful that they had to lease it to Chance Records for distribution. With a more solid foundation, they released the group\u2019s second album a year later and had a crossover hit. After being turned down by competitor Chess Records, Jimmy Reed, a Chicago slaughterhouse worker at the time, approached them. Though his first album fell flat, the second was a massive top-10 R&B hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n