When Ariana Borromeo arrived at Northeastern University in 2022, she had no plans to work in music. She was a first-year political science major, fresh off a semester abroad in N.U.in Germany, browsing the club fair. Then, she saw the table for Green Line Records, the university’s student-run record label, and something clicked.
Within weeks, she was managing a project for a local punk band, and, as she puts it, “faking it till [she] made it.” Three years later, Borromeo is the president of Green Line Records and independently manages rising pop artist Beno. She changed her major to music industry before the end of her first year and never looked back.
“It’s a very communal type of scene. I really fell in love with Boston’s music culture at that point,” she said.
Her trajectory illustrates what Green Line Records has been doing for two decades: merging collaboration, learning and creativity. Now, in her final semester, Borromeo is focused on signing a new class of artists, mentoring the executive board that will succeed her and proving that Boston’s music scene deserves far more attention than it gets.
In a Q&A with The Huntington News, Borromeo spoke about her unlikely path into the industry, what makes Boston’s music scene special and why the best thing aspiring music professionals can do is just start.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Huntington News: You went from an Artists & Repertoire (A&R) representative to A&R co-head to president. How did each role shape the way you think about the work?
Ariana Borromeo: I was an A&R rep for two semesters, where I was just a member of the club and learning the ropes on what any of this means, just faking it until I made it. It’s how you get into the industry, really — just exposing yourself. I realized that I was good at communicating with artists, and they felt understood by me whenever I was put in those positions.
Being co-head was more so on the people-managing side, because I was overseeing the A&R reps, balancing projects and making sure that the reps are getting everything done on our strict timeline by the end of every semester.
Getting to be the president has been even more so on the people-managing side as opposed to the artist-managing side. But because my roots are in working with the artists, I’ve been integrating that at each level. I don’t think I can go without making those personal connections. It has fostered more of a community, knowing that it’s coming from the top down of everyone getting to know each other. I really trust the rest of my e-board and they are really into this thing, and I think the fact that I am so into it encourages them. It spreads.
HN: Is there a particular artist or project you’re especially proud of?
Borromeo: The artist I manage now, he’s called Beno. That’s more of an independent thing now, but it started because we signed him last spring. I also knew him through the network — through the grapevine — but it evolved into something that I was really passionate about and saw that he had his own drive. I think it is important for artists you work with to have their own visions, ideas and plans for their music that you can help them execute as opposed to coming up with it for them.
I’m proud of the way that our work developed organically into something that I think will continue after graduation, and it’s a growing relationship with him and his band. The fact that I’ve been able to extend that project, and the trajectory it’s going now, is really great.
HN: Boston has a lot of colleges and emerging artists, but it doesn’t get the same national attention as New York or Los Angeles. What makes the scene here unique?
Borromeo: Obviously, it’s a hub for a lot of creative people, specifically in music, with Berklee [College of Music] and even the Northeastern music scene. They’re underrated. I didn’t know about it until I got here and made the decision to be one of them. Within the bubble that is the music scene here in Boston, it’s such a good community. It makes it special that not many people are coming in for it; it’s all genuine, and it’s coming from the inside out. People are finding the scene here and finding themselves in it, giving people room to grow.
HN: How does Green Line fill a gap in that ecosystem?
Borromeo: Green Line is such a unique model with the position it takes in the industry. It’s a student organization, and just like any organization here or at any school, we are funded by the school, and we teach students how to do things. At the same time, we’re a real, functioning record label. We’re a nonprofit, which is rare. But it gives us the fire to really make quality stuff.
Obviously, we’re all learning. A lot of starting artists don’t have that experience where they’re collaborating with a bunch of people on their own project and getting feedback and ideas, or brainstorming with a big group of people who are trying to understand what they’re going for in terms of their creative vision and the sound for their music. I like to think of Green Line as that starting point for these artists who have so much potential, so they can get to a point where they get signed and work with other people who they really mesh with. It’s an environment for mutual growth. It’s an even playing field — we’re all in it.
I think it’s also a great way to learn, because when you’re out there in the industry, it can feel like there are people who are so far ahead of you, even if they’re here to work on your project, and it’s intimidating. So I think it subtracts that intimidation and gives a good foundation for people to learn how to work.
HN: Green Line has been around for about two decades. How do you think about carrying on that legacy?
Borromeo: I was thinking about this today because we’re starting to get into the stage of who’s gonna run it next year. People have different visions of what Green Line is, and I think after COVID-19, this type of model was kind of lost. But I think we brought it back with the artists that we’ve been signing and with the attention that we’ve been getting from the local scene. That’s why it matters a lot to me. We’ve really upped it in the past couple of semesters.
I trust my current e-board, and they are really passionate about it in the way I am. I trust that they’ll be able to carry it on. The stuff that we do fosters a certain type of community, and it attracts a certain type of person, so I don’t doubt that more people will come in who have the same type of energy. And everyone I meet who’s a part of Green Line is really just a good hang. That’s a thing people say, in the music industry, that the real requirement, or baseline, is that you’re a good hang, because that’s all it is. It’s just the culture that I think will be everlasting.
HN: For students who might want to work in music but aren’t sure it’s realistic, what would you say?
Borromeo: I would tell them to give it a shot. You can just make things happen in this industry yourself, and that’s hard to realize at the first stage — it’s not like other industries. I’ll say it again, fake it till you make it. I’ve confirmed that with people who are in the industry; you just have to give things a shot. It’s really learning the ropes, and any artist, I would hope, is looking for help. Green Line is a great way for that — but also, whatever you want to do, like photography, managing, recording — you just have to reach out, and people will understand that you’re early. We’re all, again, learning. It goes beyond Green Line. There are a lot of people out there who just want to give this a shot, and if you work together, you can get it done.