‘The next major music platform should give people something to do with the music’: Spotify’s former Head of Innovation on his plans to launch an interactive music service, and whether AI features will help or hinder streaming

Mauhan M. Zonoozy, the former Head of Innovation at Spotify, is actively working on his own music software label called A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya. The label aims to create digital music playgrounds with different ways for users to create new sounds even if they only use them for a couple of minutes. Mauhan believes that the next major music platform should empower people to express themselves with music, rather than just passively consuming it.

He sees this as a way to engage a generation that grew up interacting with music through various mediums and devices in a more participatory manner. One of A Vinyl Bar's projects, Bop, is a pocket DJ app currently in beta that allows users to mix, mash, and experiment with music by dragging and dropping effects and sounds onto its grid.

Mauhan envisions this as just one step towards building a larger music platform that competes with the current streaming giants. He believes that the future of music platforms should be more interactive, playful, and user-focused, rather than merely serving as a background for the music.