Habbi is a music executive, strategist and founder obsessed with exceptional work: how it gets made, how it works, and how the right people come to understand why it matters. Her work centres on a deceptively simple question: how do you make the right people care?
So her approach to every project begins with positioning. Before campaigns, platforms or distribution, she wants to know what is already true: who are we talking about, what distinguishes them, what evidence exists, and what connects it all. It’s a kind of archaeology — stripping away accumulated noise until the through-line becomes obvious. The story is not invented; it is found, then made clear enough for other people to see it for themselves.
That philosophy was shaped in London, where Habbi spent a decade navigating one of the world’s most competitive creative markets. Early on, she applied for unpaid internships and heard nothing back. Talent and hard work were not enough if she could not communicate precisely what she had to offer. Once she learned how to frame her own skills, opportunities began to follow. London taught her something specific: in a crowded market, clarity is a competitive advantage. You have to know who you are, what you are asking for and why someone should care.
Returning to Iceland brought a different education. After ten years away, Habbi had become increasingly disconnected from her home country and its professional network. Iceland Music put her back at the centre of the Icelandic music industry and reminded her what can happen in a small ecosystem when people are not conditioned to assume every barrier is immovable.
“Why don’t you just call Taylor up?” isn’t a meme in Iceland, it’s how things get done. And if you know what you’re asking, most of the time the answer is: let’s go.
That combination of precise storytelling and a slightly detached audacity became the foundation of GLITSKÝ Management. Through her partnership with Sodarock’s Michael Dixon, Habbi had the ingredients to do what she had always wanted: manage artists, starting with Elín Hall and Baldvin Hlynsson.
Her work with Elín Hall is an example of the philosophy in practice. Habbi became interested in Elín after becoming obsessed with one of her songs, at a point when very few people around her appeared to be paying attention. What followed, in partnership with Dixon, was the development of Elín’s international career across recording, releases, live and press.
With Baldvin Hlynsson, the opportunity was already sitting on a hard drive. When they began working together, he told Habbi he had around 70 unfinished songs, including one with Una Torfa. Her response was simple: finish it, release it. Dropi í hafi subsequently reached number one on both Rás 2 and Bylgjan.
GLITSKÝ Management has since expanded to work with Magnús Jóhann and Spacestation. Alongside artist management, Habbi writes and speaks about artist development, music export and the role of positioning in building international careers.
Across her work, Habbi is interested in the distance between what something is and what people understand it to be — and, more importantly, how to close that gap using only what’s true. Or, put another way: how do you make exceptional work understandable enough to travel?
Start with what is true.
Find the through-line.
Make it clear enough to travel.
For Habbi, intentionality is not an aesthetic preference.
It is the strategy.