When Baruch College students discover their new favorite artists, the work of Charlene Thomas, a senior marketing executive at Universal Music Group, already shaped that recommendation long before they pressed play.
As the senior vice president of marketing at Def Jam Recordings, a Universal Music Group record label, Thomas has worked with artists including Jay Z, Wu-Tang Clan, Kanye West, LL COOL J and Public Enemy.
Beyond UMG, Thomas serves on the associate board of the Hip Hop Museum and teaches as an adjunct professor at Baruch’s Zicklin School of Business.
In an interview with The Ticker, Thomas discussed her career journey, teaching philosophy and the importance of quality marketing in breaking new artists.
“I had a friend that was a recording artist, and I went to a session with her and was really intrigued with the process [of recording songs],” she said. “I asked the engineer at the recording studio if there were a lot of women doing this particular job and he said ‘no.’ I was always a person who liked a challenge, and I asked him if I could intern.
While pursuing her first career as a recording engineer, Thomas also interned at Video Music Box, a New York City late-night television channel that played hip hop and rap acts.
After a chance encounter with a music executive, she was offered an interview at LOUD Records and became the record label’s fifth employee in NYC.
“The first record I worked on was Wu-Tang Clan. The marketing came about because [my role at LOUD Records] was very hands-on. We were trying to break those artists at a particular time and radio, which was the biggest factor in discovering music at the time, only played our records at night,” she said.
In promoting hip hop artists, Thomas combined her music background as a classically trained pianist with her talent for business strategy.
“As a marketer, when I have an artist that I’m working with, the first thing that I have to do is understand their vision. If my goal is to sell records, I have to create a plan in order to let people know that the music exists as well as where they can consume it,” she said.
While working in marketing, Thomas also furthered her education by pursuing a master’s in business administration at Seton Hall and a doctorate in marketing from Capella University.
Today, Thomas continues to work in the hip hop space, including with many legacy artists.
“My role expanded one year ago to focus on the resurgence of catalog records; creating new marketing moments and capturing the audience that is discovering the music for the first time,” she said.
In addition to promoting legacy acts, Thomas also works on frontline marketing at UMG, which involves advertising newly released music from active artists.
To celebrate Def Jam’s 40th anniversary, she helped the record label launch its own TV channel for music fans in partnership with Tubi.
As part of her role at UMG, Thomas also gives back by mentoring young Black, Indigenous and people of color executives on a path to leadership.
“In terms of mentorship, when I started in the music industry there were not a lot of [support] programs. It’s beneficial to me because I learn just as much from my mentees and it’s a joy to pay it forward and help the next generation.”
She compared mentoring executives to teaching Baruch students.
“I try to be the professor where you’re comfortable to come and talk to me, ask me questions, and [I want] our classroom to feel like a team environment,” Thomas said.
