diff --git a/data-plane/routes/sounds.ts b/data-plane/routes/sounds.ts
index 3caabd4..f4f60a8 100644
--- a/data-plane/routes/sounds.ts
+++ b/data-plane/routes/sounds.ts
@@ -39,22 +39,38 @@ export class Sounds {
       if (!isNaN(parsed) && parsed > 0) skip = parsed;
     }
 
-    const audios = await this.db.models.Audio.find({
-      $text: { $search: cleanedTerm },
-    })
-      .sort({
-        score: { $meta: "textScore" },
-        useCount: -1,
-        createdAt: -1,
+    const pageEnd = skip + limit;
+    const fetchLimit = pageEnd + 1;
+    const matchingAuthorDids = await this.findMatchingSoundAuthorDids(
+      cleanedTerm,
+    );
+
+    const [textAudios, authorAudios] = await Promise.all([
+      this.db.models.Audio.find({
+        $text: { $search: cleanedTerm },
       })
-      .skip(skip)
-      .limit(limit)
-      .lean();
-
-    const transformedAudios = audios.map(toSoundItem);
+        .sort({
+          score: { $meta: "textScore" },
+          useCount: -1,
+          createdAt: -1,
+        })
+        .limit(fetchLimit)
+        .lean(),
+      matchingAuthorDids.length > 0
+        ? this.db.models.Audio.find({
+          authorDid: { $in: matchingAuthorDids },
+        })
+          .sort({ useCount: -1, createdAt: -1 })
+          .limit(fetchLimit)
+          .lean()
+        : Promise.resolve([]),
+    ]);
+
+    const audios = dedupeAudios([...textAudios, ...authorAudios]);
+    const transformedAudios = audios.slice(skip, pageEnd).map(toSoundItem);
 
     let nextCursor: string | undefined;
-    if (transformedAudios.length === limit) {
+    if (audios.length > pageEnd) {
       nextCursor = (skip + limit).toString();
     }
 
@@ -64,6 +80,33 @@ export class Sounds {
     };
   }
 
+  private async findMatchingSoundAuthorDids(term: string): Promise<string[]> {
+    const cleanedTerm = term.replace(/^@/g, "");
+    if (!cleanedTerm) return [];
+
+    const handlePrefix = cleanedTerm.toLowerCase();
+    const handleRangeEnd = `${handlePrefix}\uffff`;
+
+    const [matchingActors, matchingProfiles] = await Promise.all([
+      this.db.models.Actor.find({
+        handle: {
+          $gte: handlePrefix,
+          $lt: handleRangeEnd,
+        },
+      }).select("did -_id").lean(),
+      this.db.models.Profile.find({
+        $text: { $search: cleanedTerm },
+      }).select("authorDid -_id").lean(),
+    ]);
+
+    return Array.from(
+      new Set([
+        ...matchingActors.map((actor) => actor.did),
+        ...matchingProfiles.map((profile) => profile.authorDid),
+      ]),
+    );
+  }
+
   /**
    * Get audios by URIs
    */
@@ -218,3 +261,14 @@ const toSoundItem = (audio: {
   indexedAt: audio.indexedAt,
   sortAt: compositeTime(audio.createdAt, audio.indexedAt) || audio.createdAt,
 });
+
+const dedupeAudios = <T extends { uri: string }>(audios: T[]): T[] => {
+  const seen = new Set<string>();
+  const result: T[] = [];
+  for (const audio of audios) {
+    if (seen.has(audio.uri)) continue;
+    seen.add(audio.uri);
+    result.push(audio);
+  }
+  return result;
+};
diff --git a/tests/sounds_test.ts b/tests/sounds_test.ts
index ba9e4d2..c3149f8 100644
--- a/tests/sounds_test.ts
+++ b/tests/sounds_test.ts
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ Deno.test({
 
     try {
       await ctx.db.models.Audio.init();
+      await ctx.db.models.Profile.init();
 
       const nowIso = new Date().toISOString();
       const authorDid = TEST_USERS[1].did;
@@ -155,6 +156,30 @@ Deno.test({
         assertEquals(body.audios[0].uri, chillUri);
       });
 
+      await t.step("searches sounds by author handle", async () => {
+        const res = await app.request(
+          "/xrpc/so.sprk.sound.searchAudios?q=@sound-author",
+        );
+        assertEquals(res.status, 200);
+
+        const body = await res.json() as SearchAudiosOutput;
+        assertEquals(body.audios.length, 2);
+        assertEquals(body.audios[0].uri, chillUri);
+        assertEquals(body.audios[1].uri, summerUri);
+      });
+
+      await t.step("searches sounds by author display name", async () => {
+        const res = await app.request(
+          "/xrpc/so.sprk.sound.searchAudios?q=author",
+        );
+        assertEquals(res.status, 200);
+
+        const body = await res.json() as SearchAudiosOutput;
+        assertEquals(body.audios.length, 2);
+        assertEquals(body.audios[0].uri, chillUri);
+        assertEquals(body.audios[1].uri, summerUri);
+      });
+
       await t.step("returns an empty result for blank queries", async () => {
         const res = await app.request(
           `/xrpc/so.sprk.sound.searchAudios?q=${encodeURIComponent("   ")}`,