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Music Streaming, Audio Entertainment, Technology, Digital Media

Backend Engineer - Music

New York, New York, United StatesOnsiteFull Time$133,000–$190,000 /yrPosted 1 month agoVisa sponsorship available

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Role summary

We are seeking a Backend Engineer to join our Artist-First AI Music lab, focusing on designing and building state-of-the-art generative AI products for music. The role involves building scalable backend systems and APIs to support AI creation, content consumption, and reporting. You will collaborate with Product and Design teams, improve system performance and reliability, and contribute to a strong engineering culture. The ideal candidate has experience with Java, API design, service-based architectures, and a strong understanding of performance, scalability, and reliability. Experience with Generative AI is preferred. This hybrid role is based in New York City.

We are seeking a Backend Engineer to join our Artist-First AI Music lab. Our team designs and builds state-of-the-art generative products for music that create breakthrough experiences for fans and artists. We invent entirely new listening experiences that center and celebrate artists and creatives. All of our products will put artists and songwriters first, through these four principles:
  • Partnerships with record labels, distributors, and music publishers: We’ll develop new products for artists and fans through upfront agreements, not by asking for forgiveness later.
  • Choice in participation: We recognize there’s a wide range of views on use of generative music tools within the artistic community. Therefore, artists and rightsholders will choose if and how to participate to ensure the use of AI tools aligns with the values of the people behind the music.
  • Fair compensation and new revenue: We will build products that create wholly new revenue streams for rightsholders, artists, and songwriters, ensuring they are properly compensated for uses of their work and transparently credited for their contributions.
  • Artist-fan connection: AI tools we develop will not replace human artistry. They will give artists new ways to be creative and connect with fans. We will leverage our role as the place where more than 700 million people already come to listen to music every month to ensure that generative AI deepens artist-fan connections.

What You'll Do

  • Build backend systems that support generative AI usage at scale
  • Design and develop APIs that power AI creation flows, content consumption, and reporting
  • Work closely with Product and Design to bring new features to life
  • Improve system scalability, performance, and reliability
  • Contribute to a collaborative engineering culture through code reviews and knowledge sharing
  • Help evolve our architecture as we grow and scale

    • Who You Are

  • You have experience developing backend systems using Java
  • You know how to design APIs and work with service-based architectures
  • You write clean, maintainable, and well-tested code
  • You care about performance, scalability, and system reliability
  • You enjoy working collaboratively in cross-functional teams
  • You are curious, proactive, and motivated to learn and grow
  • You have experience contributing to production systems
  • You are interested in applying AI to improve systems and exploring practical use cases

    • Where You'll Be

    • This role is based in New York, NY
    • We offer you the flexibility to work where you work best! There will be some in person meetings, but still allows for flexibility to work from home.
    • We ask that you come in 3 times per week
    The United States base range for this position is $133,000 – $190,000 USD, plus equity. The benefits available for this position include health insurance, six-month paid parental leave, 401(k) retirement plan, monthly meal allowance, 23 paid days off, paid flexible holidays, and paid sick leave. These ranges may be modified in the future.

    Spotify is an equal opportunity employer. You are welcome at Spotify for who you are, no matter where you come from, what you look like, or what’s playing in your headphones. Our platform is for everyone, and so is our workplace. The more voices we have represented and amplified in our business, the more we will all thrive, contribute, and be forward-thinking! So bring us your personal experience, your perspectives, and your background. It’s in our differences that we will find the power to keep revolutionizing the way the world listens.
     
    At Spotify, we are passionate about inclusivity and making sure our entire recruitment process is accessible to everyone. We have ways to request reasonable accommodations during the interview process and help assist in what you need. If you need accommodations at any stage of the application or interview process, please let us know - we’re here to support you in any way we can.
     

    Sample Spotify interview questions

    • 1

      Design a Spotify friends activity feed

      system designaverage
    • 2

      Design a data pipeline for Spotify's recommendations.

      system designaverage
    • 3

      Design an Ad Banner Delivery System

      system designmedium
    • 4

      How would you apply algorithms to Spotify functionality? Implement an existing feature during a system design exercise.

      codingaverage
    • 5

      Design the backend architecture for Spotify

      system designmedium

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