Nicole Johnson

Head of Urban Marketing, Pandora

This Jersey girl’s love of music started at West Virginia University’s college radio station U92. Nicole was quickly put on-air and created a late night show, The Urban Dinner, playing hip hop and R&B hits that continues at the university today. After graduating from West Virginia University, Nicole started her career answering phones at WKTU-103.5 in NYC (an iHeart Station), taking on multiple responsibilities at the station. She was quickly promoted to mid-day producer setting up interviews with top talent and developing show ideas. Nicole was then offered a staff position and transitioned to the programming department where she developed her skills in music programming, concerts organization, event management and networking. A few years later, Nicole was offered a position in the urban promotions department with Clive Davis record label J. /RCA Records.  In this new position, Nicole organized budgets, developed radio promotion campaigns and maintained relationships with programmers to gain airplay on artist such as: Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx, Alicia Keys, and Jazmine Sullivan to name a few. In 2010, she made the decision to transition to network programming and helped launch the BET network Centric.

Nicole was the Sr. Director of Music and Talent for Centric and the BET Experience for 5+ years and has worked with AEG and top executives at BET on crafting the BET Experience weekend. In 2017, the BET Experience Weekend brought in over 165,000 people; a 10% increase over 2016 and is now known as the biggest event in history at LA Live.

Nicole has been with Pandora for almost three years and has brought artist like Cardi B, Big Sean, SZA, LIZZO, LL Cool J, Khalid and Logic to the Pandora stage. Nicole has also created Pandora’s Black Music Month campaign highlighting artist of color with over a Billion spins and a weekly takeover of the station.  Nicole has recently expanded her role to head SiriusXM content and marketing opportunities for the Hip Hop and R&B format.  Nicole has a proven track record of delivering sought-after celebrity guests and being an out-of-the-box creative thinker who can spot emerging trends and talent while understanding audience desires. Her philosophy is “No excuses just results” and that’s exactly what she provides.

The Music Industry Advisory Board aims to ensure that students have access to a diverse set of successful music professionals, so they are aware that there is more to the industry beyond being on the main stage. Our mission is to close the gap for the next generation of music industry professionals to create a more inclusive and diverse future.