The two hires will work on SoundCloud’s efforts to bolster the company’s Artist Partnerships offerings, which provides solutions designed to “help both emerging and established artists navigate the industry at every stage of their journey”, says the company.
Both will report directly to SoundCloud President Eliah Seton, who took on the role in April 2021.
Rivera joins SoundCloud from the Nas co-founded music company Mass Appeal, where she has served as General Manager for just over a year since joining the company in June 2021.
Before that, she served as Head of Artist Relations for YouTube’s West Coast territory, where she managed streaming content and marketing campaigns and secured exclusive partnerships.
Rivera also spent over a decade at Universal, where she oversaw the East Coast for Universal Music Publishing and signed artist/songwriters Imagine Dragons, Take A DayTrip and Alex Da Kid.
She also signed Rihanna during her time at EMI Publishing, prior to stints at Def Jam and Bad Boy Records.
Slade, meanwhile, comes from Epic Records as SVP of Marketing, where he played an important role in the marketing and branding of artists such as Travis Scott and 21 Savage, says SoundCloud.
Prior to his time at Epic, Slade was the Senior Director of Marketing and Strategy at Jay-Z’s entertainment company Roc Nation.
In 2010, he founded the entertainment brand Grits & Biscuits, which “celebrates the southern experience through urban music, cultural connections and nightlife moves in a down home environment”, says SoundCloud.
“We are so proud to welcome Jessica and Maurice to the SoundCloud family.”
Eliah Seton
Eliah Seton, said: “We are so proud to welcome Jessica and Maurice to the SoundCloud family to lead our efforts in working more closely with artists at the highest level.
“Each of them brings a sterling reputation as two of the most well-connected and well-respected creative leaders in music.
“As we work toward providing a solution for artists at every stage of their careers, we have leadership in Jessica and Maurice that will make SoundCloud an even more attractive home for artists.”
“It’s an inspiring time to join SoundCloud as the team accelerates the company’s revolutionary artist partnerships business.”
Maurice Slade
Slade added: “It’s an inspiring time to join SoundCloud as the team accelerates the company’s revolutionary artist partnerships business.
“This allows us to provide an invaluable opportunity to artists by building custom at-scale marketing and monetization tools, and our goal is to continue building upon these resources to support as many artists as possible.”
“I’m excited to be joining a company committed to evolving artist solutions and services.”
Jessica Rivera
Jessica Rivera, added: “Navigating the music industry can be a complicated and nuanced process for artists, and SoundCloud is helping change that with its artist partnerships offering.
“I’m excited to be joining a company committed to evolving artist solutions and services while leading the next generation of artists to a more equitable future.”
Rivera and Slade join a number of recent executive hires at SoundCloud.
On June 15, Twitch’s former Head of Music Tracy Chan left the video streaming platform to join SoundCloud as its Senior Vice President of Creator.
At the time, Eliah Seton called Chan’s appointment “a game-changing addition to [the] leadership team at SoundCloud”.
On June 6, Jennifer Caserta was named SoundCloud’s Head of People, with a remit to promote strategic people practices at the company and manage employee branding for SoundCloud’s global team.Music Business Worldwide
