Bandier Program: Executive Q&A with Lauren Wirtzer-Seawood of SoundCloud

Lauren Wirtzer-Seawood is SoundCloud’s chief content and marketing officer. Here she oversees artist and label relations, advertising and brand partnerships, brand marketing, growth marketing, product marketing, editorial programming, creative and communications.

Most recently, Wirtzer-Seawood served as president of UnitedMasters, an independent music distribution startup launched in 2017 that provides premium music distribution services and artist business opportunities. At UnitedMasters, Wirtzer-Seawood led a team of creative, music and tech professionals to build an industry alternative for independent artists that amassed over 1 million users during her time with the company. She and her team also launched an unprecedented product integration and partnership with TikTok and recently landed a $50 million Series B investment led by Apple.

Prior to UnitedMasters, Wirtzer-Seawood was the head of music partnerships at Instagram, overseeing efforts to connect artists with Instagram’s 1 billion-plus global community. Wirtzer-Seawood led the team responsible for enabling artists across every genre to connect directly with their fans via Instagram’s suite of tools. Under her leadership, the team ignited headline-making initiatives for artists such as Ariana Grande, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.

Wirtzer-Seawood also served as the head of digital at Beyoncé’s entertainment and management company, Parkwood Entertainment. There she was instrumental in the widely acclaimed and first-of-its-kind surprise launch of the singer’s self-titled visual album which set the standard for surprise releases. Prior to Parkwood Entertainment, Wirtzer-Seawood held positions at Zynga and Def Jam Enterprises.

A 20-year music industry veteran, Wirtzer-Seawood serves as the chair of the board of the Music Business Association (MusicBiz).