AI & Audio Scientist

Universal Music Group; City Of London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading music company in London is seeking an experienced AI & Audio Scientist to join their pioneering research team. This role entails designing state-of-the-art AI algorithms and collaborating across teams to deliver innovative solutions in the music industry. The ideal candidate has a strong background in AI/ML, is proficient in Python, and possesses a passion for music. This position offers competitive salary and extensive benefits.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Generous annual leave

Private healthcare

Pension scheme

Employee assistance programme

Discounts on music and merchandise

Comprehensive training opportunities

Qualifications

• 3+ years of hands-on experience in AI/ML or related fields applied to audio/music.
• Experience in Music Information Retrieval and generative models.
• Familiarity with cloud computing environments.

Responsibilities

• Design and build AI/ML algorithms for music/audio tasks.
• Explore frontier research and related opportunities for UMG.
• Collaborate with stakeholders for model deployment.

Skills

AI / Machine Learning

Digital Signal Processing

Software Engineering

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Passion for music

Education

Computer Science or related technical field

Tools

Python

Pytorch

TensorFlow

Linux environments

Job description

Music is Universal
It’s the passionate and dedicated team at Universal Music who help make us the world’s leading music company. From A&R to finance, legal to digital, sales to marketing, Universal Music is the place to grow and develop your career within a truly commercial and innovative business that leads in everything it does.
Everyone is welcome to apply for our roles, and we are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment because of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief, age, marital status, background, pregnancy, or caring responsibilities. We also recognise the importance of diversity of thought within our teams and are fully committed to embracing the talents of people with autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and other forms of neurocognitive variation.
We will always seek to make appropriate adjustments to recruitment, workplaces, and work processes to be fully inclusive to people with different needs and working styles. If you need us to make any reasonable adjustments for you from application onwards, including alternatives to the online form or to disclose a neurocognitive condition, please email [e-mail].

Introduction to the Music and Audio Machine Learning Lab team at UMG

Join the Music and Audio Machine Learning Lab (MAML), Universal Music Group’s core AI R&D team. Our mission is to invent and build groundbreaking AI that empowers our artists, supports our teams, and redefines what’s possible in the music industry.

AI is transforming the creative landscape, and at MAML, we are at the very heart of this revolution for music. This is a rare, once‑in‑a‑career opportunity to not just witness this change, but to actively shape how music is created, discovered, and experienced for generations to come.

A Day in the Life of an AI & Audio Scientist

As an AI & Audio Scientist at MAML, you will operate at the intersection of pioneering research and real‑world application. You will:

• Push the frontiers of AI: Dive deep into the latest research in areas like generative models, multi‑modal learning, and self‑supervised learning. You won’t just follow the literature; you will come up with novel ideas to push the frontier.
• Invent and Build: Take ideas from research to prototype to global‑scale product. You will be hands‑on throughout the entire R&D lifecycle: identifying new opportunities, designing novel models, training and deploying them on our modern cloud infrastructure (with elastic GPU compute).
• Solve Unique Challenges: Tackle complex problems unique to the music domain, from understanding the nuance of a track for better search and discover to developing new creative tools and ensuring the quality of our vast catalogue.

Your impact on the role

• At UMG: The tools you build will be deployed globally, used every day by our teams, and play a part in the journey of every single UMG music release.
• In the Industry: Your work will directly influence the future of the music ecosystem. You will set new standards for innovation, collaborate with major partners and launch entirely new product categories for music lovers, like our "Sound Therapy" wellness experience on Apple Music, which is powered by MAML technology and drives millions of streams a day.

Your Day-to-Day Responsibilities

• Design and build state‑of‑the‑art AI/ML algorithms to tackle a variety of tasks in music/audio
• Explore frontier research in AI/ML for Music/Audio, and related opportunities for UMG
• Collaborate with the team and stakeholders to deploy models to production.
• Work with stakeholders across UMG and the industry. Communicate results and findings to audiences of all levels of expertise.
• Be part of an innovative and dynamic team.

Skills and Experience Required

• Strong background in AI / Machine Learning / Digital Signal Processing /Computer Science or related technical field.
• 3+ years of hands‑on professional and/or research experience in AI/ML or related technical fields applied to audio/music.
• Experience in at least one of: Music Information Retrieval, generative models, multi‑modal deep learning, representation learning, music LLMs.
• Up to date knowledge of AI/ML state of the art, including scientific literature, tools, models, best practices etc.
• Proven ability to come up with novel ideas and designs for AI/ML models, systems, pipelines and/or applications, and to implement them successfully.
• Strong software engineering skills.
• Proficiency in Python, ML frameworks (Pytorch, Tensorflow etc.) and usual scientific libraries (e.g. Numpy, Scipy, sklearn)
• Familiarity with Linux environments.
• Ability to write good, well documented, and reusable code.
• Good communication skills, both oral and written.
• Curious, self‑motivated, and proactive.
• Attention to detail, relentlessly raising the bar.
• Passion for music and/or deep musical understanding.

Desirable

• Track record of publication(s) in relevant conferences or journals (e.g. ISMIR, ICASSP, Neurips, ICLR etc)
• Experience with generative models for audio/music.
• Experience working in industry.
• Experience going all the way from ideation / early research to production.
• Familiarity/experience with cloud computing environments (e.g. AWS, Google Cloud Platform)
• Experience with distributed model training.
• Experience with containerised software development (e.g. Docker)

Why Join Our Team?

You will be part of a close‑knit, world‑class team of scientists and engineers who share a deep passion for both machine learning and music. Our culture is built on curiosity, trust, collaboration and a commitment to pushing the envelope.

If you are driven to solve novel problems, build state‑of‑the‑art technology, and leave a lasting mark on the future of music, then MAML is the place for you. We can’t wait to see what you’ll build with us.

About UMG UK

Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world’s leading music company, committed to artistry, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Our extensive catalogue encompasses the most renowned artists globally, and we proudly foster a creative environment that values diversity, inclusion, and excellence. At UMG, we believe that our people are the heart of our business, and we strive to nurture a dynamic and inclusive workplace culture.

Your Reward and Benefits

• Competitive salary reflective of your experience and contribution
• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Private healthcare and wellness initiatives
• Pension scheme with employer contributions
• Employee assistance programme and mental health resources
• Discounts on music, merchandise, events, and products
• Comprehensive training and career development opportunities
• A dynamic and inclusive workplace culture focused on professional growth and well‑being

Just So You Know...

The company presents this job description as a guide to the major areas and duties for which the jobholder is accountable. However, the business operates in an environment that demands change and the jobholder’s specific responsibilities and activities will vary and develop. Therefore, the job description should be seen as indicative and not as a permanent, definitive, and exhaustive statement.

Job Category:

Technology