Berklee Honors Tina Davis, President of EMPIRE, at Annual Music Business Lecture Series The leader of one of the most successful independent record labels shared insights at the 31st annual James G. Zafris Lecture Series.
By
Kelly Wong
December 12, 2024
Tina Davis, president of the independent distributor, record label, and publisher EMPIRE and Tonya Butler, chair of Berklees Music Business/Management Department.
Image courtesy of Music Business/Management
Berklee's Music Business/Management Department commemorated the 31st annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series on November 14 by honoring Tina Davis, president of the independent distributor, record label, and publisher EMPIRE, for her sustained success in an extremely competitive and traditionally male-dominated industry.
Moderated by Music Business/Management Department Chair Tonya Butler, the conversation offered students a professional's insight on relationship-building, perseverance, and how to build a lasting career in music as an A&R executive.
Davis described how she began her career under the mentorship of LaRonda Sutton, who kept her promise by firing Davis after only one year of employment, a move meant to encourage her growth and expand her opportunities in the industry. This unexpected turn of events led to a position at Def Jam Recordings, where her people skills, work ethic, and talent-spotting prowess earned significant recognition throughout both the company and the music business. Following her departure from Def Jam, Davis was approached by Grammy Award-winning artist Chris Brown to take on the role of his manager. Though initially reluctant, his persistence won her over. How could I say no to Chris Brown? she reflected. He's undeniably the next Michael Jackson.
Davis continued to uplift and encourage the Berklee students by urging them to approach setbacks, such as being fired, as opportunities for growth and redirection. Challenges can be stepping stones to something greater, said Davis, who took multiple questions from more than a dozen students that lined up to seek her advice.
After the interview, students showcased their original music in a live A&R listening session, hosted by Chris Wares, assistant chair of Music Business/Management. Joined by Latoya Lee, the Berklee Career Center's director of industry relations, the EMPIRE president critiqued and offered feedback on the strength and viability of the student's submissions. Rarely do up-and-coming artists get the chance to hear from a genuine record label president and A&R icon like Tina Davis, said Butler. The students were both honored and grateful that she took the time to listen to their music and share her honest opinion of their work. This turned out to be one of our most inspiring Zafris events to-date.
About the Zafris Lecture Series The James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture Series for Music Business/Management is Berklee's first endowed visiting lecture series, established by the Board of Trustees in 1992 and named after James G. Zafris, a longtime chair of the board and one of its founding members. Past Zafris lecturers have included Andreea Gleeson, CEO of Tunecore; David Israelite, president and CEO of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA); Jon Platt, chairman and CEO of Sony Music Publishing; Dina Lapolt, renowned entertainment attorney; Jeff Harleston, general counsel and executive vice president of business and legal affairs at Universal Music Group, and many more.
Related Categories
News
Most Popular
Rihanna sings during the Concert for Valor in Washington, DC, November 11, 2014.
Image by EJ Hersom / CC-BY-2.0
This Rihanna Song Has Secret' '80s Easter Eggs The SOS songwriter revealed a nostalgic twist to the lyrics, and it's going viral on TikTok.
Latest
Berklee concert at the Gnaoua and World Music Festival on June 29, 2024, in Essaouira, Morocco.
Image by Zakaria Latouri
Berklee at the Gnaoua and World Music Festival Returns for Its Second Year The Berklee on the Road program will be held June 16-21, 2025, in Morocco.
Students performing at Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics in Perugia, Italy, in July 2024.
Image courtesy of Berklee Global
Berklee at Umbria Jazz Clinics to Celebrate 40th Anniversary in July 2025 Applications for the 2025 edition will open December 17, 2024.
Alissia Benveniste BM '14
Grammy-Nominated Producer Alissia Benveniste Makes Magic, Inside and Outside the Studio Since graduating a decade ago, bassist Benveniste has been exploring collaborations with legends and forging new creative connections.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
12/06/2026
YES Network and The Gotham Sports App will air seven Athletes Unlimited Softball...
12/06/2026
The United Football League will host its FAST Innovation Suite at the 2026 United Bowl presented by Credit One Bank on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. ET at Audi...
12/06/2026
PTZOptics and LayerJot will present live demonstrations at InfoComm 2026 showing how natural-language AI prompting, robotic camera control, and on-device comput...
12/06/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026, featuring...
12/06/2026
Ateme has announced that Eurovision Services is using Ateme's software-based frame-rate conversion technology for international live event workflows. The de...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin and Simplestream have announced a partnership with Xperi to simplify the launch of OTT streaming services on TiVo OS smart TVs and devices. The collabo...
12/06/2026
Net Insight has announced that a multinational technology company is deploying a...
12/06/2026
MLB Players Inc., the business arm of the MLB Players Association, has announced a partnership with Athletes First to develop and sell brand partnerships across...
12/06/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D) and VuWall have announced the CommandKeyboard-Advanc...
12/06/2026
Comcast Smart Solutions announces a new smart technology deployment with Major L...
12/06/2026
Elevation Worship completed the initial leg of its Elevation Nights 2026 tour ...
12/06/2026
AJA Video Systems has announced KONA IP25 support for Colorfront Transkoder and ...
12/06/2026
Audinate Group Limited (ASX: AD8) will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7321, Ce...
12/06/2026
Pac-12 Commissioner Teresa Gould has announced the appointment of Scott Adametz as Chief Technology Officer. The Pac-12 describes the hire as the first CTO appo...
12/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced AMPP Edge Live, a production system combining Grass Valley hardware, NVIDIA Blackwell GPU acceleration, and AMPP OS in a single platf...
12/06/2026
At one time a trailblazer with the launch of the Longhorn Network, the Universit...
12/06/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
12/06/2026
Chyron has announced PAINT 10.4, an update to its illustrated replay and sports ...
12/06/2026
SVP, Production Mark Gross: With the new schedule, with not having every Sunday night, it's given us an opportunity to take a step back and reimagine what ...
12/06/2026
For Televisa Technical Engineering Manager Roberto N nez Ibarra and the small team of 12 technicians and two production personnel at the IBC things are already ...
12/06/2026
Simple Steps to Better Acoustics - Taming The Small Room
Most of us mix in spare rooms and small spaces, where the acoustics fight us at every turn. At Gear...
12/06/2026
Latest addition expands vintage-inspired effects palette
Meris' Ottobit pedal range draws its inspiration from vintage gaming consoles, and the latest a...
12/06/2026
Soundbox-based chamber strings series expanded
Sonora Cinematic have just announced the launch of the second instalment in their Soundbox-based chamber stri...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
AJA Announces KONA IP25 Integration with Colorfront Software
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Collaboration enables uncompressed SMPTE ST 2110 I/O ...
12/06/2026
URSA Cine 12K LF Used to Create Visuals for STUTS' K-Arena Concert
Brie Clayton June 12, 2026
0 Comments
Organic visuals projected on a giant scre...
12/06/2026
MTI FILM Acquires Mango New Edit, Expanding its Global Post-Production Services ...
12/06/2026
AI Point Tracking Speeds Up Complex VFX Tracks in Mocha Pro
Jessie Electa Petrov June 12, 2026
0 Comments
The 2026.5 release adds automatic point trac...
12/06/2026
Bitmovin, a provider of video streaming solutions, has partnered with Simplestream, a provider of OTT and broadcast solutions, and technology provider Xperi, to...
12/06/2026
Leostream Corporation, creator of the world-leading Leostream Remote Desktop Access Platform, today announced Jigsaw24, a leading B2B IT solutions provider wit...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/06/2026
How Aussie indie games and screen are levelling up with IP 11 June 2026
Ari Harrison, Pro Jank Footy
Head of Games Joey Egger and Ari Harrison of Umbrella sha...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First-Look Images from Villaflor, Santiago Mitre's New Film
Entertainment
12 June 2026
GlobalArgentina
Link copied to ...
12/06/2026
Back to All News
Cross the Boundaries of the Real World into the Spirit Realm i...
12/06/2026
With John Daro, DI Colourist at Warner Bros. Water Tower Color Tuesday 23 June, 10am-1pm or 3-6pm
Restar Corporation
Tokyo
Register here
John Daro is the ...
12/06/2026
Meet The Grumpy Onion Ireland's newest online sensation, all he wants is to ...
12/06/2026
RT stays Up All Night with brand new daily 2026 FIFA World Cup Vodcast
Adding to the fun around 2026 FIFA World Cup tournament, RT has launched a brand new d...
12/06/2026
A fentanyl countermeasure that adapts to combat future black-market drugs Scripps Research scientists developed a vaccine that teaches the immune system to rapi...
11/06/2026
The immense size of the tourney and its Atlantic-spanning operation also disting...
11/06/2026
Nielsen has released a new soccer fandom consumer research report, The Fans Behind The Game: FIFA World Cup 2026 Edition, examining the soccer audience in the...
Berklee Honors Tina Davis, President of EMPIRE, at Annual Music Business Lecture Series The leader of one of the most successful independent record labels shared insights at the 31st annual James G. Zafris Lecture Series.
