[1] Harris has worked in the music industry on both sides of the Atlantic for more than four decades as a promotions manager, including for such major companies as Transatlantic Records, EMI and Motown, and he is one of the most high-profile black executives in the business, with artists he has represented including Stevie Wonder (with whom he has worked since the 1970s), Junior Giscombe, Omar, and Lynden David Hall.
[5] He was "fascinated by the world of pop music since the age of nine or 10",[6] and learned to play the guitar,[3] although by the time he attended Dundee University he realised that his way into the industry lay not in making the music himself: "Becoming entertainment convenor in Dundee was perfect, as in those days the university circuit was very important for bands.
[15] In 2007 Harris received an honorary doctorate from the University of Westminster[16][17] and he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to the music industry.
[7][18][19] Described by Billboard magazine as a "tireless advocate for artists and campaigner for equal opportunity", Harris in June 2020 wrote an open letter on equality and racism, in response to Blackout Tuesday – the collective protest action originally organized within the music industry following the murder of George Floyd; after discussing the barriers due to prejudice that he himself had faced, Harris stated: "I would like to remind you all that this awareness of racism in the industry should not last for one day, or one week, or one year.
I would like to see other young black people in the industry rise to the positions of authority and seniority that their talent merits.