Epidemic Sound bolsters management team with appointment of former Airbnb and Google execs – Music Business Worldwide

Sweden-headquartered royalty-free soundtrack provider Epidemic Sound has appointed Rikard Herlitz to the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Julian Persaud as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), both starting January 2023.

The company says the addition of the two executives “will help to elevate and further professionalize the commercial and technological direction at Epidemic Sound”.

Julian Persaud joins from Omio, a European travel platform, where he was Chief Commercial Officer.

Previously, Persaud was the Global Head of Operations for Airbnb Experiences, responsible for developing and managing operations for the Airbnb business unit.

Before taking on this role, Persaud was the Regional Managing Director for Airbnb in Asia-Pacific, where he led strategy and supply operations based out of Singapore.

Persaud joined Airbnb from Google, where he was Managing Director, South East Asia, expanding Google’s business across the region.

Rikard Herlitz joins Epidemic Sound from Google where he has held the position of Engineering Director for Google Meet since the beginning of 2019.

Prior to that, Herlitz held the role of Chief Technology Officer at Mojang Studios working specifically with the development of Minecraft.

Before Mojang, he founded and worked as the CTO in two different companies, Goo Technologies and Ardor Labs AB, building products used by companies like Amazon and NASA.

Epidemic Sound says that Herlitz will provide tech leadership and strategic direction across all of markets.

“I am confident we have found the right talents to help us take Epidemic Sound into the next phase on our journey to soundtrack the world.”

Oscar Höglund, Epidemic Sound

Oscar Höglund, Epidemic Sound co-founder and CEO, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome both Rikard and Julian to our leadership team.

“Their in-depth knowledge and global experiences from both the commercial, and the technological side will be essential as we move into our next stage of development.

“I am confident we have found the right talents to help us take Epidemic Sound into the next phase on our journey to soundtrack the world.”

“With their disruptive business model and stellar team, the potential to amplify Epidemic Sound’s strengths through increased technological investments is staggering.”

Rikard Herlitz

Rikard Herlitz, Epidemic Sound’s new CTO, said: “With their disruptive business model and stellar team, the potential to amplify Epidemic Sound’s strengths through increased technological investments is staggering.

“I’m incredibly happy to have the opportunity to help foster this development, and contribute to the fantastic journey Epidemic Sound is on.”

“I’m truly delighted to be joining Epidemic at such an exciting stage of their growth and development journey.”

Julian Persaud

Julian Persaud, Epidemic Sound’s new CCO, added: “I’m truly delighted to be joining Epidemic at such an exciting stage of their growth and development journey.

“The combination of such a big mission, impressive momentum, and stellar talent made this an obvious next move for me. I look forward to contributing to their future successes.”Music Business Worldwide