18 Feb Meet the Graduating Class of Project Music 2019-2020
Original Article: Project Music Blog
Five years ago, in 2015, a few people at the EC had the crazy idea to start a music tech accelerator. At the time, there was no support in Nashville – or the world – for startups working on music technology solutions. Thus was born Project Music, the world’s first music technology accelerator. What started as a 14-week bootcamp and a founding cohort of 8 startups has turned into 5 years of incredible growth for Project Music, its alumni, and Nashville’s music industry. We’re excited to celebrate the graduation of the latest cohort, and to reflect on the last 5 years of Project Music.
““We were bouncing from Airbnbs, and different motels, and things like that, so there were a few nights where we had nowhere to stay, so I was sleeping right in the back of the Entrepreneur Center, there is a Google room, with a nice comfy couch, and I would lay right there on the couch, and all the cohorts would bring us coffee in the morning” regales Marcus Cobb, CEO of Jammber and member of the first Project Music cohort.
Through all five years of Project Music, the core promise of the program has stayed the same – to connect and immerse entrepreneurs in the music industry while giving them mentorship and coaching to strengthen their business. How that is delivered, however, has changed. What started as a traditional, intensive 14-week, bootcamp/accelerator has changed to a more flexible, year-long model. Teams no longer have to relocate to Nashville, and no equity is taken. This has led to more teams being accepted into the program, and at later stages.
Project Music Alumni (since 2015)
“Since switching to the new model, we have been able to to work with entrepreneurs that are a bit further along in their journey, from the start of the program,” says Jeremy Raley, Program Manger for Project Music. “For example, beatdapp (2019-2020 cohort) already having $1M funding and a contract in place upon acceptance. This is such a great win for the program as the connections and resources become even more valuable as a business matures.” The 2019-2020 cohort represents one of the most advanced and diverse groups to come through Project Music to date. Like beatdapp, most of the teams coming into the program had significant points of tractions – whether that’s funding, revenue, or early customers. For example, ArtistWorks has been in business for 10 years but was still able to find value in the program.
“I really appreciate the diversity of teams in this cohort,” says Haley Combs, Program Lead for Project Music. “They’re all working to solve really different problems, but they’re also all united in their vision of creating a better and brighter future for the music industry.”
The current cohort had their last formal day of programming on January 30, when they came to town for the program’s Unconference event, a day where we had over 140 1×1 meetings between entrepreneurs and investors. They’ll continue to receive support through the end of the month, when a new cohort will start on March 1. We want to congratulate our Project Music 2019-2020 teams for finishing strong and thank them for making this year amazing. Check out all of the teams below and see everyone that made this cohort so unique and special!
ArtistWorks
CEO: Patricia Butler
Napa, CA
ArtistWorks is an industry-unique provider of online music instruction where 36 world-renowned master musicians teach through their Video Exchange® Learning concept and platform. ArtistWorks is dedicated to providing anyone, anywhere in the world with affordable, interactive access to some of the greatest music teachers in the world. ArtistWorks’ patented Video Exchange® Learning Platform connects master teachers with enthusiastic players in an innovative social online learning environment where each interaction becomes a learning experience for all. Their goal is to provide the most comprehensive music education destination available online by expanding into formal education to provide instruction to aspiring young players in high school.
Audiobridge
CEO: Matt Miller
Nashville, TN and San Francisco, CA
audiobridge is working towards putting the full studio experience in users’ pockets. Users at any level of musical ability are guided through creating full multi-track recordings on their mobile device and can invite anyone from anywhere to instantly collaborate. Audiobridge is challenging the world to imagine recording a full professional song, with collaborators, by simply opening an app, hitting record and being guided through the rest of the process.
beatdapp
Co-Founders: Andrew Batey and Morgan Hayduk
Vancouver, CAN
beatdapp helps music labels and artists authenticate and validate song play counts on digital service providers (DSPs). Royalties are going uncollected due to poor tracking of plays, and streaming services are losing millions to fraudulent stream farms and bad actors. Beatdapp’s patented technology provides accurate and immutable tracking for every song as it’s played in real-time. Their technology reduces the audit costs and frequency incurred by music labels and streaming services by providing accurate usage reports for every song played. Their protocol is capable of handling throughput exceeding 1 million transactions per second, giving them the ability to handle the peak volume of all global streaming services simultaneously.
FanFlex
Co-Founders: Erik Nelson and Gian Perugini
Los Angeles, CA
FanFlex allows venues to upload their concert calendar and availability dates, while connecting performers to those open time slots. Artists are able to book their own shows and get paid by their own fans in a way that creates lasting relationships with all involved. By booking performing musicians that bring a paying crowd into the open time slots, the platform provides an indispensable tool that connects the dots between Artists, Venues, and Fans.
Hear Not There
CEO: Kevin Amundson
Nashville, TN
Hear Not There is a software platform that allows musicians to earn more from what they’re already doing by selling tickets to a live, high-quality audio stream of their performances. Concerts, soundchecks, studio sessions and more can be streamed from soundboard to phone to fans, wherever they are.
The Labz
CEO: Farah Allen
Atlanta, GA
The LABZ is a collaborative workspace that provides automated tracking, rights management and protection of your music files during and after you create. Collaboration data is calculated and transformed into ownership data and memorized on a blockchain for future proof then automatically placed in prefilled song ownership documentation for a one-click pain-free experience.
Music Tech Works
CEO: Jarrett Hines
Atlanta, GA
Licensing popular music for TV/Film/Video Games etc. is a complex process. Music Tech Works is creating a system to make this much less time consuming, frustrating, and expensive. Their online platform, Rightsholder.io, connects music rights holders with those who want to use their music. It helps them research the song ownership information, then quickly request, execute, and pay for a license in a simple and transparent manner.
Musician’s Council
CEO: Micah Johnson
Cookeville, TN
Musician’s Council connects aspiring musicians to experienced, vetted industry experts to share knowledge about how to succeed in the music industry.
Playlist
CEO: Karen Katz
Palo Alto, CA
Playlist is connecting the world with music. Our fully licensed, ad-supported music streaming platform enables social music and generates 10 times the user engagement of Pandora and Spotify. On mobile, people spend more time listening to music than any other application and they message most frequently. Playlist combines music and messaging for unprecedented engagement. On Playlist, people listen together at the exact same time and chat while they listen, follow one another, collaborate on playlists, and discover music through friends. Their community describes Playlist as “Instagram for Music”.
Secret Chord Laboratories
CEO: Scott Miles
Virginia Beach, VA
Secret Chord Laboratories uses insights from neuroscience to unlock the mysteries behind the transformative power of music. By understanding the science underlying how their songs are received, they are uniquely positioned to provide decision-makers across the music industry more targeted, actionable data to help inform their decisions. Secret Chord has spent years gaining an understanding of the neural mechanisms behind music preference formation.