September 28, 2026
By Music Business Worldwide
Universal Music Group has appointed former Spotify executive Òscar Celma as Senior Vice President, Applied AI and Machine Learning.
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At Spotify, Celma helped lead the development of AI-powered listening features including AI DJ, Jam, and Daylist
Celma‘s appointment, announced on Monday (September 28), is effective immediately.
He will report to Hannah Poferl, UMG’s Chief Data Officer.
In the new role, Celma will help lead the development and application of AI and machine learning across UMG’s global operations.
His remit includes supporting UMG‘s labels, divisions, and businesses, the company said.
“Òscar brings a unique blend of quantitative and product experience, deep expertise in AI, and a love of music,” said Poferl.
“He’s built teams that have delivered and knows how to turn data at scale into useful insights. With the breadth and depth of UMG‘s data, there’s enormous potential for him to help our teams do more for our artists.”
Celma said: “I’ve spent much of my career exploring how technology can serve artists, songwriters and music fans.
“It’s an exciting time to join Universal Music Group, given its industry leadership in using AI to expand what’s creatively and commercially possible.
“I look forward to working with Hannah and leaders across UMG to advance our AI and machine learning capabilities to support human artistry.”
Celma most recently led Machine Learning and Product Analytics at Condé Nast.
Before that, as Director of Engineering at Spotify, he led engineering teams responsible for new listening experiences.
Spotifylaunched its AI DJ in beta in February 2023, combining its own personalization technology with generative AI from OpenAI and a voice platform from its acquisition of Sonantic.
UMG says Celma’s work at the streaming company also covered personalization and discovery products used by “hundreds of millions of listeners worldwide.”
He also spent seven years at Pandora/SiriusXM in senior data science leadership roles, focused on machine learning, music discovery, and recommendation.
Earlier in his career, Celma was a Senior Research Scientist at Gracenote.
He was also co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Barcelona-based BMAT Music Innovators.
Celma holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Digital Communication from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.
He is the author of Music Recommendation and Discovery, published by Springer in 2010.
Hannah Poferljoined UMG as Chief Data Officer in January from The New York Times, where she had held the same title since 2021.
UMG said at the time that she would report to Chief Operating Officer Boyd Muir and use data and AI to drive the company’s superfan strategy.
Celma’s hire follows a run of AI agreements struck by UMG over the past year.
In October 2025, UMG settled its copyright lawsuit against Udio and agreed to develop a licensed AI music platform with Udio.
In January, it struck a strategic collaboration with NVIDIA centered on the chipmaker’s Music Flamingo model, which the two companies said they would extend to reshape music discovery for fans.
UMG said at the time that its Music & Advanced Machine Learning Lab had previously trained its models on NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure.
On September 10, UMG signed a multi-year licensing agreement with ElevenLabs, under which the AI audio company will launch a music creation platform for fans.
Announcing that deal, UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge said ElevenLabs’ leadership in AI audio brings “a new dimension to our growing ecosystem of partners committed to expanding what’s creatively and commercially possible for human artistry.”
Universal has also joined Sony Music Group and Warner Music Group in investing in Stability AI.Music Business Worldwide
