Meet the latest startups entering the music tech world. These companies are finding new ways of supporting artists and connecting people through music with various services.
Tunetrax is a new concept of music discovery where musicians build successful careers. The platform helps artists publish, distribute, and promote audio and other assets; automatically update their socials; and interact with and sell directly to fans, via one simple dashboard. Founded by a French entrepreneur turned club owner/festival producer, Tunetrax sprang directly from the struggles CEO Rémi Jourdan witnessed from both the talent buying and musician perspective. To save artists time and increase their chance to succeed, he developed a one-stop music platform that lets artists upload and share their songs, videos, photos, blogs, newsletters and upcoming shows, all shareable instantly onto 80 social networks. It also provides tools to help musicians connect with fans, agents, venues, and other industry figures.
The last thing you want to worry about on stage is where the hell your t-shirts are. Merch Cat makes sales, inventory, and other aspects of live show merchandise management easy for artists and their teams, thanks to features like real-time inventory tracking, payment processing and analytical reports. Founded by Vanessa Ferrer, a CPA with a strong background in business and artist management, Merch Cat puts musician experience at the center of a platform designed for seamless use on the go by both artists and soon to be fans, with the coming of the virtual merch table Merch Cat FAN.
Every concert is a community, and Live Music Loyalty amplifies the power of the people in the audience to improve fan experience and artist reach. The app (iOS and Android) helps identify who’s at the show and connects them directly with artists and their teams, musicians from Bassnectar to Bruce Springsteen. Users sync concert or festival photos from events like Bonnaroo or Coachella, offering a window into who is in the crowd, a step forward for a business that has relied solely on ticket barcodes and social searches to track purchasers. Artists can then offer these fans special perks and rewards, much like other loyalty programs, via post-event custom email campaigns and other marketing efforts.
Massive Act unites all the tools artists need to find gigs and work with venues in a professional, frictionless way. Founded by powerhouse Colombian entrepreneur Carolina Castilla, the platform removes numerous pain points for touring artists, venue and festival management, and live sound engineers by automating, standardizing, and centralizing assets like tech riders, line up and sound-checks, press materials, live performances, sound settings, and other crucial aspects of the live experience.
Melodics puts an electronic music master teacher on your desktop, giving you all you need to know to learn how to play MIDI keys, pad controllers, and drums. With new lessons added weekly, Melodics gives audio previews, carefully crafted player instructions (including fingering), and real-time feedback as you play your assigned piece. Students get color-coded analytics showing their accuracy and timing, in a way that helps them track their progress--while having fun. From established stars (DJ Jazzy Jeff, John Tejada) to underground DJs, producers, and drummers, Melodics brings together top talent to crafts its uniquely engaging lessons. Melodics is free to download and includes 20 lessons to get students started.
Social apps are at their most powerful when melded with exciting, real-life events. Radiate concentrates that energy: the app (iOS and Android) helps people meet and interact around music festivals or other large live events. Users can exchange advice, obtain detailed information about the event (set times, lineups, etc.), and most importantly socialize, building long-term connections based on shared experiences. Founded by a former Google engineer and a 2nd-time startup founder, Radiate has already created over 2,000,000 connections between attendees of the 200+ festivals listed on the platform. With festival partners worldwide, Radiate has been used as the official standalone festival app for more than 40 music and art events like Secret Solstice in Iceland, Dancefestopia in the US, and Escapade Music Festival in Canada.
You’re at a social event, on an epic road trip, or at a nightclub. Requestify (on iOS and Android) allows you and your friends to connect to the music playing and listen to your favorite songs, no matter where you are. You can use your music profile, powered by artificial intelligence, to discover new music, events, and venues according to your music taste. Hosts (venues or DJs, say) can decide what tracks make the cut and users can purchase credits that allow them to up/down vote songs or to request that special party anthem. This ecosystem, along with a blockchain solution for payments and incentives for ad engagement in the form of user credits, makes for a truly unique and exciting social music environment for all.
Tunetrax provides digital media publishing and promotional tools to artists, and a platform for fans and music professionals to discover new talents.