Spotify Ex-Head of Innovation Raises $5.5M for Music App

A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya, a startup creating small apps for interactive music play, has secured $5.5 million in pre-seed funding. The company was founded in 2024 by Máuhan M. Zonoozy, who left his role as Spotify's first Head of Innovation that same year.

TechCrunch reported the funding round on September 14, citing it as the company's official announcement. The report did not specify when the round closed. Former Spotify Chief Content & Advertising Business Officer Dawn Ostroff is among the investors and has taken an advisory role at the startup. Zonoozy confirmed the raise in a LinkedIn post, stating the goal is to "design the future of music."

Investors and Funding

Zonoozy thanked 13 investors in his post but did not specify which participated in this round. The list includes RRE Ventures, SV Angel, BoxGroup, Liquid 2 Ventures, Quiet Capital, Gold House, Common Metal, Avex Music Group, Systemic Ventures, Remarkable Ventures, Breakers, Mantis Venture Capital, and Collaborative Fund. TechCrunch's report named all but two-RRE Ventures and Avex Music Group-as backers of this $5.5 million pre-seed.

A company recruitment listing on Wellfound, however, states total funding is over $9 million and names NFX and RRE Ventures as investors. Avex Music Group, the global music division of Tokyo-listed Avex, is itself a significant investor, having announced a $100 million commitment in April to acquire publishing catalogs. Avex also backs the AI remix app Hook.

The Company's Vision

Zonoozy describes the startup as a "music (software) label designing the future of music." In a March essay on X, he elaborated on this model, calling it "cultureware." He wrote, "a label that treats software like music: web apps as singles, native apps as EPs, essays as liner notes, prototypes as B-sides." The company is building a band, not only a team, and is headquartered in New York.

The founder's vision is centered on the convergence of music tech, AI, and gaming. "I was (and remain) super inspired by what's happening in music tech, AI, and gaming, and believe the 'next spotify' will be found at the convergence of the three," Zonoozy stated on LinkedIn. He started the venture to design products for a "post-streaming" era, use his fondness for toys and instruments as design principles to create new interfaces for creative musical expression, or "musicking."

Product Portfolio

The startup has released several interactive music apps. Its products include Stacks, a stem player built on a three-by-three grid, and Speed Surfer, a Chrome extension that alters playback speed and filtering for audio in an open browser tab.

Another key product is Bop, an iOS app that launched in beta in April. It allows users to arrange instruments and effects on a grid to create their own versions of songs and share the results to TikTok or Instagram. According to TechCrunch, a multiplayer version of Bop is in development, along with a sandbox-style mixing product slated for release this year that would let users create their own instruments.

Approach to AI

The company has a nuanced stance on artificial intelligence. Zonoozy told TechCrunch the startup has made an informed choice not to build AI into every part of its apps and does not "necessarily believe that the future of music is simply generation." He is, however, open to using AI for product development and infrastructure.

This position followed an earlier project. After leaving Spotify, Zonoozy built an AI music tool called Hugging Bass but ultimately walked away from it. He reflected, "For a minute, it felt like the obvious path. AI music infrastructure. Picks and shovels. Cool, sure. But not the vibe."

Following TechCrunch's testing last month, the company added a prompt-based feature for creating sounds to its apps. This addition prompted the publication to revise its September 14 headline, which had originally described the apps as free of AI prompting.

Zonoozy has also been an entrepreneur in residence at investor Collaborative Fund since earlier this year. His prior venture was Bubbl, a video clipping and remixing company acquired by Cricket Media in 2018. The founder ended his LinkedIn announcement with a note that the company is hiring.