Music & Artist Relations Lead

A-Players is partnering with GRAI, to hire their first Music & Artist Relations Lead.

GRAI is an artist-first AI music platform: fans remix and share real music, and artists opt in and earn new royalties. This is the “AI working for artists” story, not the “AI replacing artists” one. It’s backed by a $9M seed co-led by Khosla Ventures and Inovo VC, and founded by serial entrepreneurs who previously sold VOCHI to Pinterest (the CEO went on to lead an ML division there). GRAI launches this September, already has ~100 artists in its ambassador program, and ships a live product (Music with Friends on iOS).

What you’re walking into

This is a 0→1 leadership seat, reporting directly to the CEO. You’re not inheriting a machine to maintain; you’re building the artist relations function from scratch, on top of real early traction. The product exists, the first ~100 artists are already in, and the launch clock is running. What’s missing is the person to turn that into a repeatable engine, own the artist relationship end to end, and build the team around it. You’ll have direct founder access and real product influence from day one.

What you’ll own

• The artist strategy. Define how GRAI wins and keeps artists at each growth stage, and make the calls on where to focus.

• The artist pipeline. Build and optimize sourcing across networks, platforms, events, and social, from first contact to active partner.

• The programs. Design onboarding, co-marketing, content integrations, and the ambassador program so they scale beyond you.

• The key relationships. Personally carry the highest-priority artists while building systems your team can run.

• The team. Hire, develop, and lead the artist relations function as it grows.

• The artist’s voice in the room. Represent artists in product, marketing, and leadership decisions, and surface partnership opportunities across campaigns, content, and events.

What your first year could look like

• First 90 days: you’ve mapped and prioritized the pipeline, taken ownership of the ~100-artist ambassador program, and defined what a great GRAI artist relationship looks like.

• Through launch: onboarding and co-marketing frameworks are live and working against real launch goals.

• By the end of year one: a repeatable artist pipeline, the first playbooks documented, and your first hires in seat.

Who you’ll work with

You’ll report to the CEO and partner closely with product, marketing, and brand. This is a small, fast team where the artist function has a direct line to the people building the product.

Who we’re looking for

• A senior music-industry operator who has led artist- or partnership-focused teams

• Established relationships within the US emerging and mid-tier artist community

• Fluency on both sides of the table: artist creativity and partnership business dynamics

• A track record of building from zero and managing teams

• Both strategic thinking and hands-on execution

Nice to have

• Music-tech or creator-economy DNA (streaming platforms, artist tools, creator or social products)

• Built an artist or ambassador program from scratch, with metrics to show for it

• Comfort operating in a fast-moving, pre-launch environment

What’s on offer

• A true ground-floor leadership seat with direct founder access and product influence

• Meaningful early-stage equity at a well-funded music-tech company

• Competitive cash + equity, flexible to the top of the band for the right person

• Remote within the US (LA or NYC a plus), with flexible ways of working

About A-Players

A-Players is a talent partner for high-growth US startups. We’re running this search on GRAI’s behalf, so when you apply here, you’ll speak with us first. We keep the process fast, transparent, and candidate-first, and we represent you directly to the founding team.