Knut Frängsmyr: a music-tech homecoming

In March 2025, Knut Frängsmyr ― former Klarna Deputy CEO and Chief Legal Officer ― joined Epidemic Sound as Chief of Music before taking on the broader role of Chief Operating Officer. We sat down with Knut in the studio to chat through his background, music’s central role in the business, the rationale behind his new COO title, and why he sees this as his music-tech homecoming.

So, Knut, you’ve been with Epidemic Sound for about six months now ― how did you get introduced to the company and what have your first impressions been?

Epidemic Sound has been in my life for a while now ― I was actually one of the first clients many years ago. The company has evolved a lot since then, and before joining I spoke with a lot of people who have worked with Epidemic Sound and everything came with glowing references.

Having worked at some really fast-moving companies over the years, I wanted to find something equally challenging and inspiring. I’ve been here around six months now and it all checks out ― I'm thoroughly enjoying myself and really excited about our potential to expand how we can support both artists and content creators.

And you joined as Chief of Music – can you talk us through your music background?

We had this old transistor radio when I was a kid and I think this is where my interest in music stems from. I remember spending hours in the basement of our house listening to that thing, recording the tracks I liked, and even trying to write out the lyrics in an old notebook (mostly made up words as my English wasn’t great back then!)

I go to a lot of gigs with my friends and family – a few recent ones would be Teddy Swims, Ed Sheeran, Sam Outlaw, Blanco White, and, of course, Taylor Swift with my daughters. Music has always been a big part of my life, so joining Epidemic Sound feels like my music-tech homecoming.

How has it been stepping in to lead a music team and roster of artists that includes Grammy-winning and nominated musicians, producers, and sound engineers?

Humbling. The team and all of the amazing artists we work with are truly impressive. The important thing for me is figuring out where I can add value for them, and I feel like I have experience to draw on. I’ve been both CTO and CFO at previous companies, but I’ve never written a line of code or closed the books.

I’m very comfortable being a technical novice working with people who are true experts in a craft, to help them work out how to get the best out of themselves. I’m learning every day and loving working with our music team to provide world-class support for our artists.

It’s been a fairly quick transition into a new role as COO ― can you talk us through what this will involve and the rationale behind the move?

Sure. Firstly, music might not be in the title anymore, but it’s still very much part of the remit, but now alongside marketing and enterprise sales.

This is largely due to how interconnected our ecosystem has become. Music sits at the center of everything we do; it’s the thing that drives us all, and the core offering we provide for our customers. It’s crucial that we have a varied catalog of top quality music, and to get this we need to make sure we’re supporting, motivating, and paying our artists in the best way. For us to do this, we need to make sure we’re monetizing our catalog effectively; essentially we need to ensure our enterprise and sales organizations are helping to gain placements with the top creators and brands of the world. That is dependent on our marketing engine helping to reach more customers who in turn will distribute our music.

Becoming COO is all about doubling down on the flywheel we’ve built, bringing music even closer to the core business, and ultimately strengthening how everything fits together to empower artists and content creators.

You’ve got a background in intellectual property, right? How did this start, and how do you think this will play into your role at Epidemic Sound?

I do, and I think it goes back to my upbringing. My father was a professor and author and my mother worked in a book store, so we had books all over the place growing up (as well as my brother’s huge vinyl collection). Fast forward to my time at university when we started studying an IP module, and it all clicked for me – the link back to constantly being around literature and music combined with learning how to commercialize and help creators earn from that type of IP became really appealing, so I focused in on that.

When it comes to Epidemic Sound, the core of the business is essentially a super innovative way to work with copyright - sure it’s expanded over the years by creating new ways to track and monetize music for artists and rights holders through user-generated content, but the core approach to copyright is the same. So my background stands me in good stead in terms of understanding the model, and pushing for ways to expand it that can add value for our content creators and artists.

With that in mind, the key copyright talking point right now is obviously AI. I see a ton of opportunities for Epidemic Sound to approach AI in a positive way that champions human creativity, not replaces it.

Okay final question: you’re now essentially responsible for the company’s offering to content creators and artists. How do you see this growing in the coming years?

Epidemic Sound is in a great position to expand our offering, and to launch new tools that have a real impact for both content creators and artists. We’ve been working directly with both creative groups to explore new AI-powered soundtracking features, and ensure we’re focused on solving real challenges and empowering them. Stay tuned.