Over the course of Music Ally’s history, we’ve reported on a number of startups trying to find business models in selling soundboard-quality concert recordings to fans – but most have fallen by the wayside. Could Set.fm be the company to prove there’s a demand?
Tag: Startups
Posted inNews
Emoticast raises $1.2m for ‘world’s first music emoji store’
As you’ll know if you’ve been sending the new middle-finger emoji to friends, family and hated ex-colleagues, emoji are an increasingly popular mode of digital communication.
Now a startup is trying to turn them into a music/tech business. UK-based Emoticast has raised $1.2m of seed funding from a range of music-connected investors to launch an app called TuneMoji, which it’s pitching as “the world’s first music emoji store”.
What that means is a collection of emoji images accompanied by music clips, which people can buy and then use in their conversations with friends on the Facebook Messenger app – TuneMoji is one of the apps using its API.
Posted inNews
Soundsgood Music launches app for cross-platform streaming
Here’s good timing for you: no sooner does Bop.fm shut down, then similar cross-platform streaming service Soundsgood Music launches its iPhone app.
“Create and discover playlists across all streaming platforms with Soundsgood.co — the elegant music curation service used by the world’s first community of DJs, artists, record labels, festivals, journalists, bloggers, and music lovers,” explains its App Store listing.
Posted inMarketing, News, Startups
Feedlamp helps artists combine social streams into ‘walls’
British startup Feedlamp is the latest firm trying to help musicians bring their various social and content feeds into one place.
The company’s dashboard technology pulls in content from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, SoundCloud, Vine and Spotify, then publishes it in one place as a “social wall” for fans to visit.
Posted inNews, Startups
Tunepics raises $2m and says it’s in talks with Spotify
Music messaging apps continue to have plenty of sceptics: Music Messenger disappeared from the app stores not long after its $30m funding round, while hard data on the popularity of startups like MSTY and Rithm remains thin on the ground.
Now British startup Tunepics says it has some momentum, claiming 5m users as it raised a $2m funding round from angel investors. The app enables people to add 30-second music clips to their photos before sharing them online – so it’s more an Instagram-with-music than the rivals’ listed above’s WhatsApp-with-music model.
Posted inNews
Turn First Artists launches JV with Access Industries
Management firm Turn First Artists, which includes Iggy Azalea, Ellie Goulding, Rita Ora and Zayn Malik in its roster, is setting up a joint venture with WMG parent company / Deezer investor Access Industries.
The new firm is called First Access Entertainment, and will be operating beyond music.
Posted inMarketing, News
Apple teams up with Chris Milk’s Vrse for U2 VR video
Apple’s future ambitions in virtual reality have been the topic of some discussion in the tech world, but the company is already exploring VR with a music angle.
Having sponsored a 360-degree video for The Weeknd’s latest single, Apple Music is also ‘presenting’ a new VR video for U2’s ‘Song for Someone’.
The video was produced by Vrse, the company founded by interactive-video specialist Chris Milk. Watchable within its mobile app, it mixes footage of the band playing the song in an empty stadium with fans singing along around the world.
Posted inNews
Soundrop reappears as independent playlists brand
Soundrop.fm was a well-regarded social listening service that got people streaming music with friends and strangers alike.
It shut down in November 2014 as its team focused instead on promotional platform Show.co. Today, though Soundrop is returning in a new form: as an independent streaming playlists brand.
Posted inNews, Startups
Roli buys social music-creation service Blend
We’ve written before about Roli, the UK startup whose innovative Seaboard instruments are backed by investment from Universal Music Group.
Now Roli is putting that funding to acquisitive use, buying social music-collaboration startup Blend for an undisclosed amount.
The US firm’s service helps musicians share their work with others for collaboration and remixing, and launched in 2013 – with users including Moby and Erasure among other artists.
Posted inNews, Startups
Abbey Road reveals plans for its startup incubator
‘Red’ is definitely the theme of the day, with YouTube Red’s announcement and also news of recording studio Abbey Road’s plans for a music/tech startup incubator called Abbey Road Red.
It’s kicking off this month, with plans to host three music-related startups every six months.
Posted inAnalysis, News
Electric Jukebox targets TVs with £179 music device
There are a growing number of ways to stream music through the television, from Google’s Chromecast dongle and YouTube’s app for smart TVs through to Apple TV, Spotify on Sony’s PlayStation consoles and beyond.
Now Omnifone founder Rob Lewis is joining the battle with Electric Jukebox, a startup whose device of the same name is pitched as a “plug-and-play” streaming service for mainstream music listeners.
It’s a stick that plugs in to an HDMI port on a television, then streams music over Wi-Fi, accessed using a dedicated controller with gesture and voice input. The likes of Robbie Williams and Sheryl Crow are on board as playlist curators.
Launching in the UK and US, Electric Jukebox will cost £179 / $229 including a year’s access to its entire catalogue of music, before reverting to a £60 / $60 annual subscription – although anyone declining to pay will still get the free radio stations element.
Posted inMarketing, News
Audio-sharing service Byta gets artist account beta
Startup Byta was designed for music-industry pros to privately send and receive digital audio, with a choice of Free, Freelancer and Team accounts offering different features.
Now it has a new tier: Artist. “We feel artists and everyone working alongside them – producers, engineers, managers, and A&Rs have been neglected. Stuck with free tools which weren’t designed for their needs, or forced to consider over-priced services with features they’d never use,” claimed the company in a blog post.