A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya is a startup offering fun music apps without any AI prompting
Former Spotify exec's company releases experimental "singles" that involves users in music making.
In the age of AI-driven music creation, a novel startup in Shibuya, Japan, is taking a different approach. A Vinly Bar is a collection of small apps that allow users to experiment with sounds and vocals without the need for AI prompts. The company has secured a $5.5m pre-seed round from a range of venture capital firms, including Mantis VC, SV Angel, Boxgroup, Quiet Capital, ERA, Common Metal, Gold House, Liquid 2 Ventures, Breakers VC, Systemic Ventures, and Dawn Ostroff, the former chief content and advertising business officer at Spotify.
Máuhan M Zonoozy, the brains behind A Vinly Bar, was formerly the head of innovation at Spotify. He founded a previous startup, Bubbl, which specialized in video clipping and remixing, before leaving Spotify in 2024. Zonoozy's inspiration came from observing younger generations' growing interaction with music through games, filters, and creation tools. He aimed to empower people to create music in a similar manner.
A Vinly Bar's diverse lineup of apps includes Speed Surfer, a Chrome extension that alters sound speed and filter; Usersound, a platform to create unique audio usernames; Stacks, a stem player for mix creation; Drops, a marble-deflecting game that generates musical notes; and Sampler, a website that transforms YouTube videos into music samplers.
The company's flagship product, an iOS app called bop, allows users to arrange musical instruments and effects in a grid to produce various mixes of a base song. Users can adjust tempo and add one-time effects before exporting their creations to social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Additionally, A Vinly Bar is developing a multiplayer version for collaborative remixing.
Despite considering AI's potential, Zonoozy believes that the future of music lies in human perspective and interaction, making an informed decision not to integrate AI into every aspect of their apps. This year, the startup plans to launch a "musical sandbox mixer" to further enhance the music-making experience.
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