Asked what fans can expect when the It’s Iconic tour — featuring co-headliners TLC and Salt-N-Pepa with special guest En Vogue — rolls into town this summer, industry veteran Sheila Eldridge hints, “It’s going to be a game changer for all three of the groups. They’re going to be doing some very interesting things on this tour.”

Eldridge should know. Behind the scenes, she’s been handling En Vogue’s marketing/PR for more than 30 years. However, in addition to collaborating with the pioneering ‘90s R&B/pop group, Eldridge has simultaneously forged her own trailblazing career. As founder/CEO of Maryland-based Miles Ahead Entertainment & Broadcasting, she has evolved from record promotion and PR executive to multicultural communications/marketing executive to radio station owner and syndicated broadcaster.

An HBCU alumnus who majored in communications at Howard University, Eldridge pursued her love of radio by working at the college’s WHUR-FM. At that time, she also gained a longtime mentor in the station’s then-sales manager and later Urban One (formerly Radio One) founder Cathy Hughes.

When a subsequent move to a Los Angeles radio gig in the late ‘70s didn’t pan out, Eldridge segued into the record biz. She first handled West Coast promotion during Casablanca Records’ disco and funk era for the likes of Donna Summer and Funkadelic. Shifting to Elektra Records marked Eldridge’s first PR stint. When the label’s jazz fusion division was eliminated, she squelched her entrepreneurial cravings by launching Orchid PR in 1981. The agency’s initial clients: Patrice Rushen, Cameo and Phyllis Hyman.

Ten years later, Eldridge rebranded Orchid as Miles Ahead Entertainment (“I’m a Miles Davis fan”) to grow beyond PR to intersect with growing corporate interest in artists for commercial campaigns. The company’s corporate clients currently include Burrell Communications, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and United Healthcare.

Returning to her radio roots in 2007, Eldridge partnered with Perry Publishing to acquire five Radio One stations in Augusta, Georgia as Perry Broadcasting. She next segued into syndication with the weekly Café Mocha radio show in 2011. With hosts Loni Love, Yo-Yo and Angelique Perrin, Café Mocha is now heard in over 40 urban AC markets including New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta and D.C. The four-time Gracie Award-winning program — tagged as “radio from a woman’s perspective” — recently celebrated its 15^th anniversary while also hosting its Salute THEM Awards, the annual fundraiser for the radio program’s Mocha Cares Foundation. Recognized for their impact in moving the culture forward, 2025’s honorees included Academy Award winner Ryan Coogler (Sinners).

Eldridge’s latest passion project focuses on paying it forward to student creatives in the HBCU community. She and her team presented the third annual HBCU First LOOK Film Festival (HBCUFLF) at Howard University last November. The festival initially bowed in 2023 with former president Barack Obama and Michelle Obama presiding over an opening night screening of the Netflix/Higher Ground biopic Rustin. Just ahead of NBA All-Star Weekend this February, Eldridge brought the HBCU First LOOK Women in Sports event to Los Angeles, marking both the 25th anniversary of Love & Basketball and the burgeoning intersection of film, sports and music.

Here’s what else Eldridge told Billboard about adapting, pivoting and leveling up in building her multifaceted career — and mentoring aspiring industry creatives and executives of color on how to do the same.

Why does En Vogue’s music still click and — given the tour — might new music also be on the way?

En Vogue’s sound pays tribute to the ‘90s while their lyrics are timeless. “Free Your Mind” is an intergenerational anthem. As for new music, never say never. But for now, they’re focused on touring.

(NOTE: This interview was conducted before reports of a feud between En Vogue’s current and former members emerged. Eldridge was contacted but hadn’t responded by the time this story was posted.)

In making the pivot from Orchid to Miles Ahead, what lessons did you learn?

I learned along the way to keep a nucleus of your team and then staff up for different projects. The highest number that I’ve ever had was 10 people on staff, located around the country in different markets. That’s probably how I’ve been able to survive through the industry, keeping a nucleus of people. Also, part of my longevity in this industry is because I keep young people around me. I stay in a learning state of mind. From them, I’m learning about new technology, the new thinking process with social and digital media. And they’re learning the fundamentals from me.

What prompted the move into radio ownership?

You’ve got to be able to move in different areas; to always have a plan A and plan B to fall back on. The marketing side carried my business for about 20 years. But I had a passion for radio and always stayed in contact with Ms. Hughes. When I told her that I was ready to own some radio stations and asked for her help, I was devastated when she said, “You’re not ready.” She’s the one who suggested I go through the NAB program. Nearly three years later, my partners and I bought the five stations from her while I also kept my marketing business. The radio industry was going through a real downturn between selling off stations and consolidations. I stayed in that deal for about 10 years and then sold my interest.  

And what did you learn from that experience?

What I learned is that content is key; that providing content was where the industry was going. So that’s how I moved into the syndication business. This was before a lot of the big companies like iHeartMedia were really getting into syndication. I was on the cusp of that.

Which led to launching Café Mocha?

I realized there were no women leading the conversation. We had Wendy Williams but she moved into television. I decided to take a different route. That the show wouldn’t be one person’s name; it would be the platform. So I trademarked the name Café Mocha and initially began with hosts Loni Love, Angelique Perrin and MC Lyte. When Lyte exited to work with her foundation, she suggested that Yo-Yo would be the perfect person to replace her. Our goal is to assure listeners they can relate via any one of the co-hosts: Angelique, who’s single, polished and looking for a man [laughs]; comedienne/actress Loni, former automotive engineer, HBCU graduate, political and extremely well-read; and hip-hop icon Yo-Yo, rooted in music and dedicated to helping at-risk kids. All of what we term “Lifestyle Radio,” featuring intriguing conversations and the best in urban AC music.

With many decrying radio’s importance now, what’s your take on its future?

Radio no longer means terrestrial. You’ve got to be on various platforms because, as I’ve said, you have to meet people where they are. There are very few people that I know who are still listening to terrestrial radio. When we started Café Mocha, I was told, “You can’t be on SiriusXM and on terrestrial radio.” But we are … and also have the Mocha Podcasts Network.

What propelled your focus on the HBCU student community?

Eight years ago, I thought, “You need to come up with something that’s a career program; a pipeline for people and alumni who are in the industry who can give back and with whom students can also connect.” Like I’ve said, it’s all about networking, building relationships. So I decided after the pandemic to roll it out as a film festival because that’s where content is going. It may be called a film festival but it’s really a content festival in that students can learn about other things too. Like I had a news person from a major market tell students her story from attending an HBCU to now.  So it’s also giving them hands-on experiences through master classes and panel discussions.

What’s improved the most for women working in the music industry — and what more can be done?

What’s changed the most is that more women have come to the forefront. And now it’s even better because young women are also coming to the forefront who are speaking up, speaking out and building a strong network. That’s something I’m very proud of and happy to see. Among the women in the industry past and present whose work in bringing women together has inspired me are Hughes, Sylvia Rhone [former Epic Records chairwoman/CEO], Sharon Heyward [former president of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis’ Perspective Records] and DeDe McGuire [nationally syndicated radio personality].

But make no mistake about it, [the pushback on] DEI is hitting everyone. However, the good news is that people, especially women, know how to pivot. And women of color are masters of that. What needs to happen is more generational interaction. We need more women of my generation to network and engage with young women who are just getting into the industry. There needs to be a stronger connection between women of all generations. At the end of the day, we’re experiencing many of the same issues. Working together on a broader, intergenerational scale would be a very powerful way to not only survive through this era but also excel.

With BTS being one of the biggest musical acts in the world, it’s hard to imagine that anyone could leave the members starstruck. But on the Elvis Duran Show, a few of them revealed which celebrities have given them the same feeling they give ARMY on a daily basis.

In the interview posted Wednesday (April 1), RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook were asked to name some of the biggest personalities who have attended BTS concerts. SUGA was the first to answer, replying generally, “Some artists that I used to like as a younger kid, if they show up at our show, it’s one of those starstruck moments.”

“I remember Matthew McConaughey,” said RM. “He came over to our show in, like, 2019 with his son. He came over to backstage, and I was so in to Interstellar.”

Then, j-hope revealed which American pop star blew him away after finding out she’d come to a BTS show a few years ago. “I found out later that Gracie Abrams was in our concert,” he said. “It’s great. She’s an amazing artist, so it feels a bit surreal to see such great artists at our shows.”

The interview comes after the release of BTS’ new album, ARIRANG, which dropped March 20 and recently debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. In support of the LP — which is the band’s first full-length since 2020 — BTS unveiled a behind-the-scenes documentary on Netflix and will soon embark on a world tour, both of which the members spoke about on Elvis Duran.

Plus, the guys answered a few fun, random questions — including which of them would fare the best in the wilderness if left to their own devices. “SUGA,” RM said confidently. “He’s like a walking GPT. Like, he knows everything.”

Check out BTS’ full interview on the Elvis Duran Show above.

In late 2021, top songwriter, producer and OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder, Downtown’s former chief business officer Andrew Sparkler and veteran artist manager Ron Lafitte had a meeting where they talked through a question that had been on all of their minds: Is there space for a new publishing company? At the time, the three felt there was a gap in the publishing business for songwriters who weren’t just looking for the lowest-fee administration deal possible. In their view, there weren’t many options for songwriters who preferred a hands-on, strategic publisher that could provide bespoke A&R services.

“Obviously, every publisher likes to think of themselves that way,” says Sparkler. “So we said, we need to meaningfully differentiate ourselves… And make it so if someone is deciding between two places, they can always say, ‘I will get something unique at Runner.’”

By 2023, the trio launched Runner Music, hoping to differentiate themselves from competitors that were seemingly in a race more for market share as opposed to serving songwriters. Sparkler took the helm as CEO, Lafitte took on the catalog side of the business as co-founder and board member, and “Ryan, of course, [as co-chief creative officer] helped attract talent,” says Sparkler, nodding at Tedder’s wide ranging credits on hits like “Halo” by Beyoncé, “greedy” by Tate McRae, “Maps” by Maroon 5 and his own chart toppers with OneRepublic. The founders also quickly recruited another executive to round out the team — the firm’s now-president and co-chief creative officer Amanda Hill, a longtime Sony Music Publishing A&R executive who had earned a sterling reputation in the L.A. publishing industry for picking talent. 

Runner then added financial firepower to the firm by making the Blackstone-affiliate Melody Holdings, which also includes companies including SESAC and MNRK, an equity partner in the venture. Now, three years in, Runner’s plan seems to be working: The company landed six credits on the new BTS comeback album ARIRANG (“SWIM,” “Body to Body,” “Merry Go Round,” “Please,” “Aliens” and “NORMAL”), for which Runner set up songwriting camps in association with HYBE and Diplo. Runner signees have also notched several top credits, including Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl-approved “DtMF” (Tyler Spry), Tate McRae’s sultry “Sports Car” (Grant Boutin, Tedder) Jordan Davis’s “Bar None” (Ben Johnson) and “Woman,” a new hit by Kane Brown (Ben Johnson), among other major cuts. 

For Sparkler and Hill, however, there’s no rush to build on that momentum and grow the company. “We have great ambitions,” Sparkler says. “But we’ve also seen so many other businesses around us put growth first and figure other things out later. We have been very deliberate in our growth in every sense.”

Runner is still relatively small, composed of eight employees and 19 signees. But it’s also put up big money: To date, it’s deployed $70 million to buy catalogs, including shares of songs like “Levitating” and “Physical” by Dua Lipa, “Dynamite” by BTS, “It Wasn’t Me” and “Boombastic” by Shaggy, “Taki Taki” by DJ Snake and Selena Gomez, “Ghost” and “Anyone” by Justin Bieber, “Gone Gone Gone” by Phillip Phillips, “I Won’t Give Up” by Jason Mraz, “Ho Hey” and “Stubborn Love” by The Lumineers and more.

“The highest compliment we get paid is that people often assume we have 30 or 40 people on staff,” Sparkler says.

Adds Tedder in a statement to Billboard: “I’m so proud of the close-knit team of writers and producers we’ve assembled in the last [nearly three] years; as the name says, we have been nonstop running — [or] sprinting… In this industry where great songs are dying for attention 24/7 and virality cosplays as a business plan, I only trust one thing — doing the work.” 

Why did you decide to launch Runner Music three years ago? What gap in the publishing market did you think you could fill?

Sparkler: In late 2021, the conversation between Ryan [Tedder], Ron [Lafitte] and I was really about looking at a lot of publishers and the services they were offering and asking: Is there room in the marketplace for an indie that is creatively forward? It started first as catalog acquisition, and then we started talking to Amanda [Hill] about opening up a frontline business that really nurtured songwriters. 

Hill: I was Ryan’s publisher at Sony. We clicked right away. I think we both view the music world similarly and have the same kind of competitive spirit. We had been working together at Sony, and then he approached me about doing this. I was entering year 18 at Sony at that point, so the timing was right for me. What I was picking up from songwriters at that time was that people wanted another option. They wanted the reach of a major but something that felt like a family, something smaller and more attentive. A lot of people were getting tired of being just a number on a piece of paper. So on day one, I knew that’s what I was building — the other option.

Publishing deals have largely been moving toward admin-only, trying to get the percentages down as low as possible. Are you offering admin deals, or are you positioning Runner as only a high-touch publisher option?

Hill: We’re the high-touch publisher option. People want the relationship, they want real work done and they want a true partner. Every single person we work with gets 150% from us. We’re intertwined with their teams and individually engaged on what we’re doing every step of the way, and it’s strategic. I look at it like everyone should have their own plan, and that’s what we’re doing — executing a custom plan for each person and adjusting it quickly because you’re constantly in conversation with them. It’s definitely the most hands-on approach there could be.

When you were sketching this out and figuring out the strategy, what was your vision of the ideal Runner signee?

Hill: I very much didn’t want to be in the business of just collecting people. The fact that some songwriter is available and we could sign them is not a reason to sign them. The real check marks for me are: How hard do you want to work, and are we aligned on how to get there?

How involved is Ryan on the signing front?

Hill: It’s really my decision. But sometimes he’ll meet someone in the studio and get excited. I’d say 75% of the time it’s just me and my team doing our thing. And 25% of the time, it’s things that he’s bringing in — he’s connecting dots, and then I’m jumping in and helping bring them into the Runner world. So he’s super hands-on, but he’s not approving deals.

What’s the split between how much Runner invests in catalog versus frontline?

Sparkler: I don’t know the specific dollar split. I think Melody has been a phenomenal partner — they appreciate the discipline we’ve shown with respect to capital deployment and frontline signings. We’re in a fortunate place where if we go to them with a good case, they say yes. We were a successful business even in the early days, so it makes it easier to get a yes when we’re delivering good returns. I would say Melody is just as invested in the frontline side as they are the catalog side. On the catalog side, we do have a debt facility with Bank of America.

For catalogs, what kind of price range are you looking for, and what kind of rights interest you?

Sparkler: We look at everything. All of our deals have been sub-$15 million so far, and most have been sub-$5 million. But we’ve done a lot; certainly well over 20 deals. Our strategy is that we have a disciplined way to analyze on the financial and legal side to complete those deals efficiently, and it’s allowed us to build a good-sized catalog relatively quickly. 

I try to build a diverse catalog across genres. We have some amazing Christian catalogs, a lot of pop catalogs, some producer catalogs with really A-plus music. The thing I’m always trying to do is avoid being overly concentrated in one particular area. We also have a preference against purely passive rights. If it’s a marquee catalog — if it’s a song my parents know — then sure, that’s something we’d consider even if it’s purely passive income. But for the most part, we like copyright control to come back to us at some point, although it doesn’t have to be in a year or two — we’re open to three, five, seven years out.

Downtown has been your publishing administrator from the start. Now, Downtown has been acquired by Universal. How is that affecting Runner, if at all?

Sparkler: I think of publishing administration in two buckets: Do they have the technology to execute on the task, and when something goes wrong, do we have people we can call who are going to fix the problem? When Amanda and I were taking meetings about who should administer the frontline piece — the catalog piece is administered by MSI, a sister company within the Melody family — it kept coming back to Downtown because we had confidence that we’d have half a dozen people we could call to address any issue. That has not changed. Our terms with them are great, and they’ve been amazing partners. Obviously, neither they nor we can predict the future, but the key is we know who to call when we need something done, and they have been excellent on that score.

Do you think Runner would ever do admin in-house?

Sparkler: Never say never — we’re ambitious. But as a blessing or a curse, I come from an admin background. We have a lot of collective knowledge of how difficult it is to start an administration business. It’s not something we’d take lightly in terms of cost, time or attention. The same service and attention that Amanda and her team give to our writers — that’s the bar we’d want to hold ourselves to. If we can’t do it at that bar, we’re not going to do it. That said, it’s not lost on us that with every deal we do and every record that comes out with a Runner writer on it, that’s more net publishing share we’re essentially giving away to administration. So at a certain scale, it’s something we’d have to more seriously consider.

BTS is back, and Runner songwriters had a hand in nearly half of the songs on their new album ARIRANG. How did your six credits on the album come about?

Hill: This was always something we had our eye on — we really wanted to be part of the comeback. It actually started with some of our writers making ideas that Ryan was sharing with HYBE. Ryan and [HYBE chairman] Bang Si-hyuk have developed a really close relationship over the last couple of years — they’re doing a boy band together. So it started with “Please” and “NORMAL.” Those came from around that time. Then, I was chatting with one of Diplo’s team members, and we thought, ‘We should do a [songwriting] camp with our teams [for BTS].’ That’s really where most of the rest of it came from — that’s where “SWIM” was written and others.

You say you want Runner to be differentiated from the competition and offer high-touch services. What is an example of something you feel Runner does differently than other publishers?

Sparkler: What Amanda has built around the songwriter community within Runner is something I have never seen before and never heard about before. The writers hang out with each other. The writers themselves are bringing each other into sessions. Amanda has hosted incredible dinners and social events that the writers don’t have to attend — they choose to come. The culture she’s building is really special.

Hill: You’ll start seeing this in albums that come out in the future. You’ll see Alexander 23 at the helm of a record, and then you’ll notice other Runner writers on it; that’s their choice. They’re calling other people, too — everyone can write with whoever they want — but what says it the most is that they’re choosing to collaborate with each other. It stems from Ryan and his open-door policy to bring people in. But you’re going to start seeing projects led not just by Ryan, but by other Runner signees, too, with a lot of Runner synergy on them. I think that’s our next story.

You’re in year three of Runner. Where do you see the company in year 10? 

Sparkler: We want to be a large, independent music company across all verticals. We have large ambitions, and we try to be measured about it — always asking, what are we trying to accomplish this year, and how does that get us toward the goals further out? Ryan and I talked about this a lot when we were starting Runner. Obviously, there are plenty of examples of writers and artists who start companies as a side project. That was never Ryan’s intent. He is as involved in this business as anyone — we talk to him all day, every day. He agrees that success for Runner, in a lot of ways, looks like this: In 10 years, someone says “Runner Music” and thinks, “Oh, that music company — wait, did Ryan Tedder start that?” Where the company itself eclipses any individual — me, Amanda, Ryan, anyone — and it becomes about the creations we’ve helped foster into the world. We think about it in terms of really building a forever company.

Hill: The answer is what we’re doing now, times 10. Yes, we want to scale. We want to be a large company. I want a whole squad of amazing A&R people and other great team members. But it’s all still going to be rooted in this idea of starting with songwriters, having real relationships with people, real strategy around each of them, and not just signing people because they’re available — really focusing on signing the right people.