Over nearly two decades at Interscope Geffen A&M, label President Michelle An and her hand-built team have been instrumental in bringing to life the creative visions of top artists including Billie Eilish, Selena Gomez and Olivia Rodrigo. The exec began her tenure in 2006 as part of the brand partnerships department before moving into creative. She was tapped to head the visual creative department in 2012 and eight years later became EVP of creative strategy, overseeing the company’s music video, photography, advertising, film and TV projects. An was elevated to her current post in 2024 by Interscope Capitol Chairman/CEO John Janick.

You studied classical music. Is that what led you to Interscope?

Not exactly. After graduating from Northwestern I was in Chicago working as a consultant for Deloitte in the financial sector, with Fortune 500 companies as clients. The role of a consultant is to find solutions and maximize the potential of a company. Now that I think about it, it’s kind of interesting that my first gig out of college was such a great training ground for what I’m doing now, because I’m still getting under the hood to help maximize the potential of global brands. But today the brands aren’t Fortune 500 companies—they’re artists.

The dress code at Deloitte was business attire, and every day I would try to get away with taking off my heels and wearing flip-flops. One of the partners told me it felt like I should go work at MTV, and it sparked the idea to go from a financial-based career to one that was more creative. At the time, one of the clients I consulted for was Interpublic Group, which is a holding company for PR, advertising and marketing agencies. They invited me to transition to one of their PR agencies, Golin Harris, when I decided to make a career jump. At GH, I did publicity for McDonald’s the year after the documentary Super Size Me came out, and that was the time McDonald’s added salads and apples to their menu. I had to find exciting ways for the press to talk about apples at McDonald’s. If you can do that, you can learn to pitch anything, right?

I moved to Los Angeles in 2006 and told my parents I was going to law school, which never ended up happening (I did score well on my LSATs, though). What did happen was a UMG recruiter saw my ad-agency experience on my resume. At that time, record labels didn’t have brand-partnership teams, and labels were interested in creating this sort of department, so that’s how I ended up at Interscope as an assistant to the newly titled head of brand partnerships. I sat right outside of Steve Berman’s office. Jimmy Iovine told me once that I was great at what I do because I went to the School of Berman, that was the best compliment ever.

How did your career progress from there?

I feel like I’ve had three lives at Interscope during my tenure. Originally, I came in through brand partnerships. With music videos being so important to artists, we needed to find ways to fund them, so I was talking to brands all the time to contribute towards the cost of the video budget. It was about quick, easy wins, and I became the product-placement girl. I’d sit on set all day, sometimes as long as 14 hours, because no one actually took the time to put the product-placement shot in the schedule. At the end of the day I would be summoned by the director to come to the monitor to ensure we properly shot the product to secure the bag. I wouldn’t say it was time wasted by any means. I would observe the dynamic of a set, how different departments had to work together for a creative end result.

Eventually, the head of music video production said, “You’re always on set and seem to know your way around. Would you ever make the jump from brand partnerships to video production?” So I ended up being her assistant and eventually started commissioning videos on my own. I considered myself fortunate because I got to cut my teeth as a video commissioner on some of the coolest artists on the roster, like M.I.A., TV on the Radio, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Dave Sitek’s Maximum Balloon project.

One day in 2012 John Janick asked to meet me. John was brand new to the building. For some reason I vividly remember what I wore to the meeting, which was this black sweatshirt with a white unicorn galloping in front of purple thunderbolts. We had this great meeting where he asked what I thought about the future of music videos and the label in general. He had a vision that artists should feel like they could go to one label person to download their creative vision for videos, photos and artwork. At the time those functions were run by different departments. I fully agreed with his vision, so Janick made this simple structural change for the better, and asked if I wanted to head up the newly created visual creative department.

I think John’s vision had a profound impact on how Interscope signs and partners with artists. Now, I sit with an artist, sometimes before they are even signed, listen to their creative vision, not only for their music but their personal identity and brand. Essentially, I’m here to talk through any aspect of an artist’s career that involves a visual element. I have always been someone who helps when asked, so helping artists feels natural to me.

How did that restructuring change the creative process for Interscope artists?

Artists at Interscope should feel like they can come in and download what’s in their heads. They always have a line to us to share their creative vision. Furthermore, what we learn from a photo shoot we can also apply to the artwork, as well as to a music video. There should always be cohesion throughout all those visuals—and it doesn’t stop there. What we learn from an artist’s photos, artwork and visuals can be applied to their merch, pop-ups, live performances on TV and tours. And guess what? If Nike wants to do a brand deal with an artist, or Glossier wants to do a makeup deal, we know how to make it look and feel like the artist brand is front and center, versus the artist feeling like a paid model. We now live in an audio-visual world, so Janick really set us up structurally to be ahead of the curve. I love executing an artist's vision. I remember when Justin Lubliner, a good friend and the CEO of Darkroom Records, introduced me in a Billie Eilish Apple meeting as “The Executioner.” We all laughed, but I loved it. I want artists and their management teams to trust that the visual creative team will execute for them.

Why do you think you’ve had so many “lives” at Interscope?

I mentioned my three lives so far, but perhaps I’m heading into my fourth life as a President of Interscope. It’s funny, I’ve never wanted to leave Interscope, even after 18 years. Janick fosters a culture at the label that is highly results-oriented, productive and entrepreneurial, an organization where we are constantly learning.

What’s your philosophy about working with artists and helping them build their world?

One of the first artists that I worked with as head of visual creative was Selena Gomez. Her managers are Aleen Keshishian and Zack Morgenroth of Lighthouse Management + Media. I remember the very first meeting, where I came prepared with a list of directors I thought Selena might want to work with. On the list was one of my favorite directors, Jesse Peretz, who had made a ton of iconic music videos but was also busy in the film-and-TV space. I remember Zack sitting on the couch smiling at me, but little did I know Aleen managed Jesse, and Aleen was Harvard classmates with him. Working with Selena and her team unlocked another level of thinking about the importance of world-building and an artist platform. Selena was invited to visit the Instagram campus in Menlo Park, and even though you would think a digital-marketing person would accompany the artist, Aleen and Zack insisted I go.

I sat there as Instagram executives and engineers asked Selena what was important to her and if she had recommendations for the platform. She told them she wished the more positive comments could float to the top and the negative, hateful comments could be pushed lower. It was an impactful moment for me. I saw how artists could be real agents for change.

When I’m working with an artist, I like to think about their personal platform goals. “Do you have philanthropic goals? Do you have acting aspirations? Do you want to create a consumer brand?” It never stops with just the music. Different artists have different goals, but I always try to get under the hood and help them accomplish those goals. Selena uses her platform for good. This creates a ripple effect into the universe. I think about that goodness, how it’s important to the soul. This concept makes me feel great about showing up to work every single day. Can these artists and their platforms have profound, soulful effects on the universe? Jon Batiste, who I met after his ground-breaking Grammy year in 2022, truly embodies this very idea. I met him, and I knew he’s simply channeling love and goodness through music at all times.

Tell me about some of the other artists you feel a close connection with?

The idea of care and support and always wanting to do what’s right for your artist is truly felt with artists like Billie Eilish and FINNEAS. But Billie, FINNEAS and their parents reciprocate it right back to the label team.

The first time I met Billie, she walked into the room and I swear she made the air feel so still. She was wearing this collar with spikes, and if you hugged her too closely you would stab yourself. It was so clear that being creative—being an artist—was as essential as breathing to her. We worked so closely with Billie to ensure she had everything she needed to imagine, build and create anything she wanted. She has photographed her own cover art, she directs her own music videos, she has designed her own merch, her own shoes and has even created her own perfume. Billie and FINNEAS have written two Oscar-winning songs, and they’ve accomplished all this at such a young age. But when I think about all this, I think about how good they are as humans, and how much they care about the planet, and how wonderful Patrick and Maggie are as parents, and as a label, alongside Darkroom, we were able to accomplish so much within a cocoon of trust and mutual care.

I feel the same way about Imagine Dragons and their management team, Mac Reynolds and Turner Pope of Reynolds Management. I’ve been working with the band for over 12 years, and it feels like family. We have traveled the globe and even endured a hurricane during the middle of a video shoot. I brought 16 of [her son] Rhodes’ buddies to one of the band’s four sold-out shows at the Hollywood Bowl this past year, and the guys said hello to every single kid. They even autographed someone’s dollar bill.

How important is team-building in your role?

I could probably tell you one thing about every single employee at Interscope, because I want to take the time to get to know people. I want to know what makes them tick. How are they committed to helping an artist? What makes them want to be at Interscope? Have they found their purpose within this music ecosystem? All those things are interesting to me, because team alchemy and team synergy are so important. It’s not plug and play, it’s about who will work well together for the benefit of the artist.

In 2024 we had a restructure, but we rolled up our sleeves and simply did good work. I feel as though we’re such a strong company. I want to keep it going with this new structure of Sam Riback and me being co-presidents of Interscope.

What’s it like working with Sam?

I love Sam. I learn a lot from Sam. I’m a really spontaneous person and my brain can run through hundreds of scenarios at once, but sometimes I want to talk through every scenario. Sam, on the other hand, is so efficient and so intelligent, and he doesn’t waste time doing things that aren’t productive. That’s the great yin and yang of our working relationship. We complement each other. We’re balanced and create a better whole. Annie Lee, our COO, is another executive I couldn’t imagine a career at Interscope without.

Can you share a bit about the key players on your team?

Our head of pop/rock marketing is Adrian Amodeo. He’s been at Interscope nearly as long as me, and our kids want to do playdates constantly. Our co-heads of pop/rock digital are Chris Mortimer and Kirsten Stubbs, and our VP of pop/rock visual creative is Chelsea Dodson, who works closely with me and is hands-on with Billie all the time. Then there’s our EVP of pop/rock A&R, Matt Morris, who also has been at Interscope for nearly as long as me. Insofar as how Sam and I operate as a team and our leadership style, I’d say we’re egoless people—but maybe you have to have an ego to say you’re egoless.

What are you looking forward to in 2025?

We have some incredible releases on the way. With artists like Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Gracie Abrams, it never really stops, right? Lady Gaga has an incredible new album, MAYHEM. No one does it like Gaga, so 2025 is going to be quite exciting with her in the mix. Gaga has blown me away with her performances at FireAid, the Grammys, the opening of the Super Bowl and SNL’s 50th Anniversary show. She is such a force, and the single “Abracadabra” is making a huge cultural impact around the globe. Selena Gomez and benny blanco have released a very cool album, I Said I Loved You First, that touches on their past, present and future. Together they created something really special. Anyma’s show at the Sphere was an absolute game-changer in the live show arena. Lucy Dacus is one of the most brilliant and intellectual artists I have ever known, and Forever Is a Feeling is the type of album where you hang on every word and can picture your life so clearly in your head. Last year we created a global pop group, KATSEYE, with our partners at HYBE, which was documented in an eight-part series on Netflix called Pop Star Academy. KATSEYE has new music coming out later this year. It’s an honor to be able to work Michael Kiwanuka’s music on this side of the pond. d4vd has a new album coming out called Withered. (Rhodes wants to be just as good as d4vd at Fortnite.) d4vd will be at Coachella in April, along with 2hollis, whose new music is truly extraordinary.