From startup founder to product lead at Epidemic Sound, Anders Berntsson has always been driven by a passion for building meaningful tools. In this behind-the-scenes interview, he shares what it was like to lead the launch of Voices — a first-of-its-kind product shaped by deep cross-team collaboration, thoughtful AI integration, and a commitment to putting creators and voice artists at the center.

Anders, tell us a bit about yourself and your role at Epidemic Sound?

Hi, I’m Anders — father of three, and part of the Product team here at Epidemic Sound. I’m based in Stockholm, along with a good chunk of the team, and I’ve been working in product for about a decade now. I actually started out in data, but over time moved into product, spending years working across startups and large companies, mostly in the commerce space. Before joining Epidemic, I ran my own startup focused on data — a wild ride, but one that really deepened my passion for building things that matter.

What drives me is understanding people. I love the challenge of figuring out what users really need — not just what they say, but what’s underneath that — and then collaborating with designers and engineers to build something truly useful. For me, the magic of product is blending psychology, tech, and data to create experiences that feel intuitive and impactful. It’s still the most exciting part of my job.

How long have you worked here for?

It’s been about a year now—crazy, right? Time really feels warped at Epidemic Sound; in the best way, it feels like I’ve been here longer. I started out as a PM in the Soundtrack domain, originally working with the Discovery team. We focused on everything from search to recommendations—basically helping creators go from an idea to finding the perfect track for their video.

More recently, I’ve taken on responsibility for another team as well, which includes our work on Voices. So it’s been a fun evolution, and there's always something new and exciting to dive into.

What made you want to join Epidemic Sound?

There were really two big reasons I wanted to join Epidemic Sound. First, my wife actually used to work here and absolutely loved it, so I had a bit of an inside scoop on what the culture was like. I’d also been working remotely for years, and I was really craving a shift—somewhere with a great office environment, strong culture, and a social vibe where I could reconnect with people day to day. Epidemic Sound really stood out in that sense. The energy in the office is amazing, and it’s just a genuinely fun place to be.

The second reason was the product itself. I’d worked in commerce for many years, and while that world is super dynamic, you're always dealing with things you can see—products, physical or digital. But here, we’re working with audio in a primarily visual interface, which is such a unique and exciting challenge. I came in with no real background in music or sound design, but that’s actually what drew me in—the chance to dive into a whole new domain, learn something completely unfamiliar, and build meaningful experiences in a space I’ve grown to really appreciate. It’s been incredibly rewarding.

We’ve just launched a new product, Voices, which you are the lead PM on, how does it feel that it has now launched?

It feels great! Launching anything always comes with this gear shift – you go from a few intense, slightly chaotic weeks where a hundred decisions are flying at you, to suddenly having a bit of breathing room and thinking, “Okay, what’s next?” I actually love that pre-launch intensity – it’s fast-paced, high-energy, and really collaborative. But now that Voices is out in the world, it’s exciting in a different way. There’s something incredibly motivating about seeing real people use what we’ve built.

This was a true cross-company effort – so many teams came together to shape, build, and launch something completely new in a short amount of time. It felt like every corner of the company had a hand in it. That kind of alignment doesn’t happen by accident, and I think it speaks to how much people believed in what we were trying to do.

And honestly, this is just the beginning. Now that Voices is live, we’re continuing to learn from users – but in a whole new way. Seeing how creators actually interact with it is giving us fresh insight into what’s working, what needs refining, and where we can create even more value. 

Voices opens up a new space for us, and there’s still a lot to explore. But the early engagement has been really encouraging – users are excited, they’re sharing thoughtful feedback, and that makes it a genuinely rewarding product to keep building on.

What were some of the key challenges you faced when launching Voices?

Two big challenges stood out. The first was navigating how to engage with AI in a grounded, thoughtful way that aligns with our values — especially given the broader conversation happening in the creative community. We didn’t want to jump on the hype or make sweeping claims about what AI means for the future of creativity. Instead, we focused on our role: building tools that keep creators – and in this case, voice artists – at the center. That meant making some deliberate, sometimes difficult choices that added complexity to the product, but ultimately helped us stay true to the people we’re building for. I really believe the success of Voices stems from those early decisions, especially our commitment to making the voice artist the hero of the release.

The second challenge was the scale of collaboration. Most product builds happen within a small, focused team: a designer, a few engineers, a PM. But Voices was a cross-company effort that touched nearly every part of the business. It required a different kind of coordination and buy-in. Honestly, the level of support from across Epidemic was incredible. People rallied around the idea and made it possible to deliver something that felt genuinely meaningful – together.

What teams were you collaborating with to get this to the finish line? 

We collaborated with almost every team at Epidemic Sound to get Voices over the finish line. It really was a cross-company effort, and that’s part of what made it both so rewarding and so complex.

Early on, the focus was heavily on legal – everything from privacy notices to artist contracts and vendor agreements. I spent a surprising amount of time in negotiations and paperwork, making sure we had the right foundation before we even started building.

At the same time, we were working closely with the business team to shape the business case, define the monetization model, and figure out how to package it in a way that made sense for creators and the broader product ecosystem.

Marketing, growth, and finance were involved throughout as well. From positioning and messaging to rollout planning and forecasting, their input helped shape both the product and the go-to-market approach. (And yes, I learned the hard way that giving away free credits is more complicated than it sounds!)

Meanwhile, engineering was building in parallel, so keeping feedback loops tight across all teams was essential. Voices only came together the way it did because of that level of alignment and collaboration across the board.

 What kind of tasks did your role entail for this project?

As a PM — and someone with a founder background — I’ve always approached the role as “do whatever it takes.”. Of course, that includes strategy and planning, but sometimes it also means hands-on work that keeps things moving. One of the most unexpected – and important – parts of this project was quality-checking the voices themselves. I spent hours listening to samples across different languages, comparing tone, clarity, pacing, and expression to try to answer a surprisingly subjective question: “Does this sound right?” It wasn’t something we could automate or delegate – it took time, focus, and a real ear for detail. And in a product like this, the voices are the product, so getting that part right was absolutely essential.

How does the PM role at ES differentiate from other roles you’ve had in your career?

One of the biggest differences is how much more subjective everything is. In my previous roles, especially in commerce, product decisions were often very data-driven — you change a button from blue to red, see that it sells more t-shirts, and that’s your answer. It’s straightforward and measurable.

At Epidemic Sound, we’re working with music, sound effects, emotions — things that don’t have a clear right or wrong. That makes it much harder to validate decisions in the same way, and it can be a real challenge as a PM. You’re more exposed to uncertainty, and it would be easy to fall into indecision. So instead, you have to really build your own sense of what “good” looks and sounds like — by listening to a lot of audio, by talking to users, and by constantly refining your intuition.

Another big difference is the audience. Our users are primarily video editors — incredibly skilled people with workflows and habits that I personally didn’t have experience with. So a huge part of the role has been learning their world, understanding their tools, their expectations, and how we can build for them in a way that actually enhances their process. It’s a totally different type of product thinking — less about transactions, and more about creativity, flow, and trust.

What’s been your biggest learning in your time at ES so far?

The biggest learning for me has been just how much we can accomplish in a relatively short time. As a newcomer, it’s been incredibly fun and inspiring to witness how entrepreneurial the company is. There’s so much room to innovate, explore new ideas, and, most importantly, execute on them quickly. Being part of projects where we can take bold, new concepts and turn them into something real has been super exciting. It’s not just about having great ideas — it’s about the speed at which we can bring them to life and see the impact. That level of agility and creativity has definitely been one of the most rewarding things I’ve experienced here.