As part of our Horizon Future Leaders series of interviews, we are connecting with the music industry’s next generation of leaders to gather candid advice and insights into their career journeys.
This week we spoke to Heather Johnson, Systems Director at Sub Pop Records.
With a background that spans tech, gaming and now independent music, Heather brings a problem-solving mindset to an industry often overloaded with legacy systems.
Her path, from building label infrastructure at Ninety9Lives to mentoring with A2IM and Merlin Engage, offers a refreshing take on how tech fluency, mentorship, curiosity and a punk-spirited ethos can power meaningful change in music operations.
Read the full Q&A with Heather below 👇
What’s your current role in the music industry?
I am the Systems Director at Sub Pop Records.
Truthfully, working for Sub Pop is a dream job: the music, the team and the history are undeniably iconic. But the thing that I love the most is the ethos and the culture at Sub Pop: the music and the artists are the priority, no one is afraid to get weird with it, and there is still this air of punk-we-will-do-it-our-own-way about Sub Pop that I love.
There is an added bonus that everyone there is so unbelievably passionate and kind. And way cooler than I am. I am still trying to figure out why they haven’t locked me out of the office yet…
What does your general day to day look like?
The best way to describe my role is that I am pointed at various challenges or processes that may be tedious, with the aim to make them more efficient and less burdensome on the team.
Sometimes it means implementing new software or maybe building something internally. Sometimes it means researching new partners or tools.
Recently, I’ve spent quite a bit of time with the publishing team optimising their collections solution around the world, as well as building an internal tool to track the state of registrations.
What steps did you take early in your career to gain experience and build skills to get you where you are now?
In my early days when I was in school and working retail jobs, I picked up three little habits that seem to keep working no matter how much I stumble or grow. So, I stick to them.
If I’m the smartest person in the room, I’m probably lost. So far, I have found that my greatest resources for information are people that are smarter and far more experienced than I am.
I have worked hard to be in the same room as those individuals and then stopped talking and started listening. I also make sure to express gratitude for those who were willing to give me their time. I was never entitled to it just because I was willing to ask for it.
If someone is giving you feedback, don’t take it personally. I learned this one from my time at Apple. They have an excellent culture around feedback. If anyone reading this has worked for Apple, they will probably agree with me that their feedback process and script can feel a little cheesy.
However, the underlying principle is incredibly powerful as it teaches you a lot about yourself and your own ego. Chances are, you will be wrong at some point in your career. You can either ignore it and keep being wrong, or take the feedback, fix it and move on.
It is not a matter of if but when you will make mistakes. It’s better to work on the skill of solving problems than trying to avoid them. They’re inevitable.
I’m not perfect at all of these, but I try really hard to think with this perspective as much as possible.
What opportunities did you explore early on that were particularly valuable?
To be honest, I am relatively new to the music industry. I really only joined around 2018 when I stepped in to start helping my partner with his record label, Ninety9Lives. I took over running the label in 2019 when my partner moved on to build his next project.
I was given that opportunity not because I was well versed in running a label, but because I had pair-programmed with him when he built the tech stack that the label ran on.
I needed a crash course on how to run a record label. So, I signed Ninety9Lives up for A2IM and applied for the mentorship programme. That’s how I met Tony Kiewel - President of Sub Pop - my current boss and mentor. I’m sure I sound like a broken record at this point, but that mentorship quite literally made me.
I learned so much and in return I tried really hard to share whatever I could about video games and tech, the industries I had just come from. Tony opened the door for me to join the A2IM board and, through my time on the board, I met so many amazing leaders of the independent industry who were equally kind and generous with their own institutional knowledge of the industry.
I cannot express enough gratitude for the kindness of this industry and the people I have met.
Has the opportunity landscape changed since then?
My time in the industry is still so relatively brief, so while I have seen some changes, they have not been drastic. I do feel as though there are very intentional efforts being made to grow and develop the next generation of leaders. I don’t think that is new, but I am seeing a growing emphasis on efforts to diversify the leadership and perspective of the industry.
Are there any specific internships, projects, or initiatives that you would recommend to newcomers looking to pursue a similar role?
Yes! First, learn to code. There is so much power in the ability to manipulate a computer into doing the tedious work for you. AND learning to debug is an invaluable skill that really hones your ability to unravel a problem down to its core. It’s a skill I am still trying to perfect. There are an infinite number of online development programmes but the best one I have seen so far has been Boot.dev.
Second, find a mentor or join a mentorship programme and show up with a purpose. I’ve now participated in three A2IM mentorship experiences, first as a mentee and twice as a mentor. And in 2023, I was part of the first Merlin Engage mentorship class. It was a very different experience than my A2IM experience but equally profound.
I chuckled when I was placed with Megan Jasper, CEO of Sub Pop, as I had already been bothering Tony Kiewel, President of Sub Pop, for well into four years. I thought for sure that the Sub Pop leadership team was going to be concerned that they were somehow personally funding my development at this point.
I really loved the structure of the Merlin Engage mentorship programme and how they provided unique opportunities for mentors and mentees to meet in person at conferences. We also stay connected outside of the programme via a LinkedIn group for Merlin Engage alumni.
What advice do you have for building and leveraging a professional network in the music industry?
I have three pieces of advice:
Find your community. Join an org. The first community I found was within A2IM and through my time on the board. I still talk to quite a few of them daily. And others, whenever schedules permit.
Recently, I took on the role of Chapter Co-Chair for the newly formed Seattle chapter of Women In Music. Kim Rasori, my partner in crime and the chapter chair, is now both a friend and a colleague. And honestly, someone I would have never met as our jobs are so different.
Establishing this chapter has opened the door to so many new friendships and connections within the local Seattle music community. There are so many amazing non-profits geared towards building community. Take advantage of them.
Seek friendship first. I learned this from the video game industry. The gaming industry is incredible but very fickle. Binge hiring and firing is a common practice and you never knew where someone was going to be in a year.
Consequently, networking was focused on making a connection with someone over shared interest rather than where they worked. A collaboration or opportunity to work together might happen at some point, it may not. But removing the pressure of “wanting something” from someone changes the dynamic in such a positive way.
Not every conversation has to be a pitch. Focus on catching up and getting to know what they’ve been up to. If business is meant to happen, it will happen.
How has the evolving digital landscape impacted your role, and where do you focus to stay ahead?
I just came from the Music Policy Forum and as much as I want to claim this little phrase as my own, I can’t. Michael Bracy, the founder of MPF, kind of hit the nail on the head: in this industry there are builders and there are extractors. In some ways you need the right balance of both to incentivise development.
My job is centered around utilising tools, good partners and new technologies to help the teams at Sub Pop focus on the part of the jobs they love. My job is also to know how the extractors operate and how the builders are motivated. And then I do my best to find the right partners to fit our needs. The same is applicable for all aspects of the industry. Even with regard to AI.
What trends or changes do you see on the horizon for the music industry, and how can early career professionals prepare for them?
I think I would need several hours - or maybe days - and a novel’s worth of words to share all of my thoughts on this question. However, I think the first that is currently living rent free in my head is consolidation. Not just of the independents but also of the technology and tools we rely on.
Consolidation can lead to layoffs. For professionals, I think the only way to prepare is to be aware of what your company’s exit strategy is. But also be aware of the climate of the market and policies that affect your company. Also, learn to code. It’s a valuable skill no matter what your job description is.
The other is this propensity to shove new technologies into everything we do and it’s a waste of time. Which is an odd stance for someone like me to take, given my job title and my background. That being said, when I learned to write code I also learned to be programmatic.
There is no one tool or technology that is going to solve all problems. The blockchain is not as clever a solution to music rights as you think. AI is only as good as the data it’s fed - just ask any developer how they feel about Github Copilot.
We shouldn’t dismiss new technologies nor should we trust that they will be infallible. For example, AI isn’t going to go away. But it’s important to know when to use it and when not to use it based on its reliability and your needs.
What’s one piece of advice you wish someone had given you at the start of your career?
This one stung a little for me, thinking back to 2016 when I transitioned careers into software development. I wish I had been given this perspective earlier as it may have saved me some mental load: my experience on my resume was worth far more than my college education.
I focused heavily on straight As and a shiny GPA when I wish I had spent more time getting real world experience. I’ve learned more from mentors and “just doing it” than I ever did in school.