A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya Secures $5.5M Pre-Seed Funding for Music Creation Apps
A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya, a music app startup founded by former Spotify executive Máuhan M Zonoozy, has raised $5.5 million in pre-seed funding from multiple venture capital firms and industry experts including Dawn Ostroff, ex-Spotify chief content officer. The company is developing a series of experimental apps that allow users to interact with music through creative tools like filters, sound manipulation, and collaborative features. The startup’s approach focuses on making music creation more interactive rather than purely AI-generated. It has launched several products such as Speed Surfer (a browser extension for altering audio speed), Usersound (audio usernames based on musical notes), Stacks (stem-based mixing app), and Drops (music through marble patterns). The company is also working on a multiplayer iOS app called bop, which allows users to remix songs with others. Zonoozy emphasized that while AI can enhance infrastructure, the future of music should prioritize human interaction. A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya plans to release a more advanced musical sandbox mixer this year and has recently added prompt-based sound creation features.
Tickers: $SPOT
Topics: AI generative AI investment music technology startups