Overview
AI & Audio Scientist – London, N1C 4AG, United Kingdom
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 ground breaking 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
Your work here will have a massive and tangible impact, both inside and outside UMG.
• 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-arttechnology, 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
At UMG, we recognise and reward your contributions through competitive compensation and extensive benefits, including:
• 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
