This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
We’re sitting down with leaders on the business side of the creator economy to get their best advice for creators looking to launch and develop their careers. This week, we spoke with two SoundCloud executives, chief content and marketing officer Lauren Wirtzer Seawood and senior vice president of creator Tracy Chan.
SoundCloud is a free-to-upload, subscription-tiered music sharing and social audio platform founded in 2007. It is known for being a launch pad for emerging artists and a place for more established musicians to share casual demos, release unofficial songs, and connect directly with fans via its comments section. Amid a staff layoff in August and the recent departures of executives including its head of creators, the company is pivoting toward a creator-driven music industry with multiple recent hires.
We spoke with Seawood and Chan about the company’s overall direction in the creator economy, its product offerings for creators, its monetization offerings, advice for creators using SoundCloud, and more.
In the past couple years, SoundCloud has made a handful of key hires in a push toward creator-oriented products. In May 2021, the company recruited Lauren Wirtzer Seawood to become the company’s chief content and marketing officer.
Seawood came to SoundCloud with an impressive career background in music, digital media, and the creator economy—formerly working as president of music distribution platform UnitedMasters, Instagram’s head of music partnerships, and head of digital for Beyoncé’s entertainment company, Parkwood Entertainment.
Seawood told Passionfruit in an interview that since her hiring, SoundCloud has focused on building out monetization and audience growth opportunities for creators.
