Michael Weissman is an American technology and music executive and the former CEO of SoundCloud.
Weissman exited the role of CEO at SoundCloud in March 2023, succeeded in the position by Eliah Seton.
As Chief Executive of the company, Weissman led initiatives at SoundCloud including “Fan-Powered Royalties” – a payment system which sees royalties distributed to independent artists on the basis of what each individual SoundCloud user/subscriber has played, rather than via the “one big pot” model adopted by the likes of Spotify and Apple Music.
Michael Weissman: career to date
Michael Weissman joined SoundCloud in 2017 as Chief Operating Officer. He was as part of a new management team led by ex-Vimeo boss, Kerry Trainor.
This new management team was formed as two investors – Raine Group and Temasek – jointly invested $170 million into SoundCloud.
Weissman was promoted to President of SoundCloud in 2019, reporting to Trainor, before being named CEO in 2021.
Before joining SoundCloud, Weissman was Chief Operating Officer at Vimeo where he oversaw Vimeo’s P&L, strategy and all key business functions including finance, legal, analytics, sales, marketing, and content partnerships.
Prior to his tenture at Vimeo, Weissman held executive positions at IAC, Viacom and Universal Music Group.
Earlier in his career, from 2004 to 2007, Weissman was an Analyst for Media & Entertainment at Banc Of America Securities.
Michael Weissman: Leadership and philosophy at SoundCloud
As COO and President of SoundCloud, Michael Weissman played an lead role in key strategic moves by the company, including some of its music licensing efforts, plus its US ad sales relationship with Pandora, and the $15 million acquisition of artist services company, Repost Network, in 2019.
When announcing his promoted to CEO of SoundCloud, Weissman said: “I’m honored to lead SoundCloud’s next chapter. The company is in one of its most exciting moments in its history, and I’m thrilled to work alongside SoundCloud’s team and Board to lean into our unique position and opportunity in music.
“Kerry and I have worked together for nearly a decade, and I want to thank him for his vision and leadership to reposition SoundCloud for growth and, personally, for his partnership, friendship, and support for me to take the helm.”
“We want to be deeper in the music industry.”
Michael Weissman, SoundCloud, speaking in April 2021
And speaking to Music Business Worldwide in April 2021, Weissman added: “We want to be more of a music business going forward. We want to be deeper in the music industry.
“I won’t speak for my peers specifically, but I do see [streaming services] trying to move out of music into talk, podcasts, other non-music audio. They’re almost using music, while steering away from the core music business at the same time.
“We see things differently. We think music is a really exciting place to be.”Music Business Worldwide