HIGHLIGHTS

Rising music executives Brianna Agyemang (Senior Artist Campaign Manager, Apple’s Platoon) and Jamila Thomas (Senior Director of Marketing, Atlantic Records) had been on the phone with each other on Friday, May 29, contemplating taking a day off work to process it all. But they started thinking bigger – much bigger – deciding before they hung up that a day of reflection and conversation was urgent not just for themselves but for the entire music industry.

Agyemang and Thomas quickly designed a graphic, cobbled together a website, and proceeded to enlist their network of colleagues and friends to spread the word on social media, spurring a flurry of plans both inside the music business and out to observe what some supporters started calling “Black Out Tuesday.”

The three major record labels – Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group – along with radio stations, artists and streaming giants like Apple Music and Spotify joined the movement.

Thomas and Agyemang’s call to action suggests that up-and-coming executives like them have more power to change the business than their job titles might imply – and they say they are prepared to keep using it. Now, they are focused on what they call phase two of their efforts and what comes next.