Latest news with #Hangout
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Read the pitch decks 6 music and audio startups used to raise millions
Audio startups are changing how we listen to and discover music. A new crop of companies has emerged to help artists and other audio creators build businesses. We spoke with six audio-startup founders who shared the pitch decks they used to raise funds. Innovation in music tech is on the rise. Startups are building new ways for artists and creators to make and distribute songs and other audio. Some companies, including social-entertainment apps like TikTok and YouTube, are making it easier for artists to get discovered. Platforms like Roblox and Discord have added new formats for artists to reach fans. And generative AI tools like Suno have created a tidal wave of new music while raising new questions about artist compensation in the age of AI. One area of focus among audio startups is finding ways to help artists interact with their most loyal listeners, sometimes called superfans. Sesh built a platform that lets users add "fan cards" of their favorite artists to their smartphone wallets, for example. Hangout created a group-listening platform that enables music fans to stream songs together. "Even with a hundred superfans, you're going to be able to make a living instead of needing to do extra jobs for you to be able to pay for your instruments or your music career," Sesh's CEO, Iñigo-Hubertus Bunzl Pelayo, told Business Insider. Other upstarts are focused on building internal tools for artists and their teams. Offtop built a Dropbox-style platform to help music collaborators share files, for instance. And RealCount offers data analytics for artists on their ticket sales. Read BI's list of 14 promising music startups Investors have poured millions of dollars into audio startups over the last few years. The category has drawn funding from institutional firms like SoftBank Ventures Korea and record labels like Sony Music. BI spoke with six audio-startup founders who've raised money in the past few years about their fundraising process. They each shared the pitch decks they used to win over investors. Note: Pitch decks are sorted by investment stage and size of round. Slipstream Music, a music and sounds library for creators: $7.5 million (13 pages) Hangout, a social-listening platform: $8.2 million (26 pages) Sesh, a fan-engagement platform: $5 million (13 pages) Chartmetric, a music data startup: $2 million (46 pages) Supercast, a podcast subscriptions platform: $2 million (20 pages) Spoon, a live audio streaming platform: $60 million total (15 pages) Geoff Weiss, JP Mangalindan, Nhari Djan, and Michael Espinosa previously contributed reporting. Chartmetric Chartmetric is a data-and-analytics tool that enables music-industry professionals to track the digital performance of songs. The company created a platform for customers like record labels and artists to review streaming and social-media data all in one place. "There is more and more data that artists and record labels measure and that they care about, and the importance of the data changes over time," Chartmetric founder and CEO Sung Cho told Brazil-based Magroove helps independent musicians distribute music on global platforms like Spotify and iTunes, and runs a music-discovery app. A prime selling point for artists on the platform is its affordable distribution services. The company is also testing features to help artists earn more, including a digital-store offering. "I had my history as trying to make it as a musician, knowing absolutely nothing to now being in the position to help other artists and serve them with things that I didn't have back then," cofounder Vítor Cunha told built a subscription service for creators that opens up access to a library of royalty-free music and sound effects. Roughly 40% of its clients are livestreaming gamers, the company told Insider. The company raised in June a $7.5 million Series A in a round led by Sony Music Entertainment. "The 'majors' were not our first target – we initially wanted to go the classic VC route," CMO Jesse Korwin told Insider at the time. "We realized that having one of the major music companies as a backer provided a ton of validity and support for our vision."Spoon Radio Spoon Radio is a live audio platform founded in South Korea that expanded to the US in late 2019. The platform's users tune into different audio rooms, similar to the Clubhouse app, where creators host listening sessions. Users can also tip livestreamers with virtual tokens called "spoons." Read the 15-page pitch deck for Spoon, which has raised more than $59 million in funding Supercast Supercast built a subscription platform designed specifically for podcast creators. The company launched in September 2019 and raised $2 million in seed funding from investors like Form Capital and Table Management. "The world of podcasting is sitting on a goldmine, and they don't even know it," said CEO Jason Sew Hoy. "They've done the hard work of building up the audiences that they may be monetizing by ads. But they have an entirely new additive revenue stream that they can switch on with listeners' subscriptions."Ultimate Playlist Ultimate Playlist is a music-marketing platform that incentivizes users to listen to and rate songs in exchange for daily cash prizes. Each day, the company features a new set of 40 songs on the app. Eventually, the company plans to charge rights holders around $200 to $300 for a song to be included. "There's not a lot out there for this middle-class artist," cofounder Shevy Smith told Insider. "One key component of Ultimate Playlist is that it isn't anchored by superstars." Read the 9-page pitch deck that the company used to raise $2 million JP Mangalindan and Michael Espinosa contributed additional reporting. This story was originally published in January 16, 2023. Read the original article on Business Insider Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ella Langley Talks Full-Circle Sand in My Boots Set and 'Living Her Biggest Dream' with Miranda Lambert (Exclusive)
Ella Langley opens up about her full-circle moment playing Morgan Wallen's Sand in My Boots Festival Langley says sharing the stage with Miranda Lambert at the 2025 ACMs was like "living her biggest dream ever" The "Weren't for the Wind" singer reveals what love smells like at Bath & Body Works' activation at the inaugural music festivalElla Langley is a country fan's dream girl! On Saturday, May 17, the "Weren't for the Wind" singer caught up with PEOPLE at the Scent x Sound Lab by Bath & Body Works after her rocking performance at Morgan Wallen's inaugural Sand in My Boots Festival. For Langley, who's an Alabama native, this was a full-circle moment. "I used to go to Hangout [Music Festival]. That was the thing I did for my senior graduation," Langley, 26, tells PEOPLE of the music festival, held at Alabama's Gulf Shores. "We didn't go on a senior trip. I went to Hangout, and every year I go on vacation down here." The "Hell of a Man" singer continues, "It's just cool to be included on this first year of Sand in My Boots. It's definitely going down in history what this festival's going to do." During her set, Langley performed a series of her songs including "Weren't for the Wind," "Country Boy's Dream Girl," "Nicotine" and "Hungover." Later that afternoon, she came out during Riley Green's set for a performance of their award-winning collaboration "You Look Like You Love Me" and "Don't Mind If I Do." Last week, Langley was the most-nominated artist at the ACM Awards. She took home five trophies for New Female Artist of the Year, Single of the Year, Music Event of the Year and Visual Media of the Year. She also took the stage with Miranda Lambert to perform her 2005 hit "Kerosene." Reflecting on that moment, Langley says Lambert has always served as an inspiration. "There's a ridiculous amount of highlights of that whole entire week," she says of the ACM Awards. She continues, "But performing 'Kerosene,' I already knew that I was going to do 'Weren't for the Wind' but when we got asked to do 'Kerosene,' God, I was like, 'It just made the night so much better for me because I got that initial fear out' — and that was our first time performing together. It felt like a 12-year-old kid living her biggest dream ever on stage." Growing up, Langley admired the "Bluebird" singer for her strength and independence. "She is who she is and she doesn't apologize for that," Langley explains of Lambert. "She stands up for herself, but she also stands up for others she believes in. And that's just always been apparent by watching her as a young artist. So I'm really grateful to get to work alongside her." On her collaboration with Bath & Body Works, Langley says the company's scents have always brought a feeling of memory and nostalgia. When asked what love smells like, Langley says "it depends on the day." "Sometimes it smells like mahogany tea, wood, kind of sexy. And then some days it smells like strawberry shortcake," she says. She concludes, "And let me tell you, some days it smells like rain. And that's just the truth." Read the original article on People
CBC
14-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
Safer supply clinic's move to Chinatown worries community
Social Sharing A controversial 'safer supply' clinic that prescribes opioids to fentanyl users through virtual consultations has moved from Hintonburg to Chinatown, and the local city councillor says it isn't welcome unless it makes changes. Neighbouring residents and businesses say the arrival of Northwood Recovery on Somerset Street W. has brought an upsurge in open drug use to their doorsteps. They fear drug diversion, street dealing and violence will follow. James Taylor, who owns the Hangout board game and bubble tea café directly across from the new clinic, said it was once relatively rare to see someone shooting up near his business, but it's now become a daily or even hourly occurrence. He said he routinely sees people heating up their drugs in front of his doors or loading up their needles in his back alley. He called it "a constant battle." "I've seen, personally, groups of individuals over here pulling out pipes and smoking pipes right on the sidewalk when groups of children are trying to walk," he said. Nick LePine, a member of the local Dalhousie Community Association, said he's heard the warnings coming from Hintonburg residents who've been through this before. "There were stabbings and robberies that were happening, and it seems inevitable that that stuff's going to come here as well," he said. What is safer supply? Safer supply is a harm reduction approach that aims to reduce the risk of overdose by helping users replace street drugs like fentanyl with prescription opioids, which are generally less dangerous because their potency is known. Dr. Suman Koka is the prescribing physician at Northwood Recovery, and he confirmed that the clinic does prescribe hydromorphone, also known by the trade name Dilaudid. The medication is dispensed on site, not in a pharmacy. Koka said hydromorphone is just one form of treatment the clinic provides, in addition to medications like methadone and suboxone. "We're here to treat opiate use disorder. We've been doing this for 10 years, my practice and our physicians' practice," he said in a phone interview with CBC. "We have university affiliations. We work in inpatient addiction medicine. We work in correctional facilities. We're pretty comfortable with our medicine that we deliver to patients." Koka said his clinic aims to reduce fentanyl use and the illegal drug supply. In his view, that will help resolve the very issues that are troubling the community. But that's not what Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper noticed during the clinic's time in Hintonburg. After it opened last September, he said an "open-air drug market" took shape as patients sold or traded their pills onto the black market to get stronger drugs like fentanyl, a practice known as diversion. Leiper said it attracted dealers and crime to the area. Now, Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster is afraid the same thing will happen in Chinatown. She said she has "serious concerns" about the way Northwood operates. "People are walking away and they're carrying large quantities of these medications, which leaves them vulnerable to being robbed and vulnerable to diversion, and so there are problems both with this private operator and with the way the safe supply program is structured," she said. Koka said Northwood takes diversion very seriously and has protocols in place to prevent it. He said the clinic does regular urine screens and has hired a security company. A guard could be seen doing rounds this week. "If we find somebody that is diverting and we have clear evidence that they're diverting, then we will discharge them from our program," Koka said. Even the suspicion that patients are diverting can prompt the clinic to require them to take their doses on site, according to Koka. City councillor calls telemedicine for narcotics 'unacceptable' Patients who spoke to CBC generally supported the clinic, saying it has helped them stay off street drugs. They said it does enforce rules and some people get kicked off the program for diverting drugs. Few wanted to provide their real name, citing the stigma of using hard drugs. One, Joseph Ladouceur, spoke to CBC shortly before the clinic moved from Hintonburg. "It's helped me quite a bit," he said. "It's cut my drug use down to a bare minimum. The program they run here, it's by far one of the best things I've had." He confirmed that Dr. Koka sees patients remotely, but does show up "from time to time." Northwood Recovery has several clinics across the province, and Koka is not based in Ottawa. He said he sometimes comes for on-site visits, but acknowledged that the majority of consultations at the Ottawa clinic occur remotely. Troster said that's not acceptable. She called it "an abuse of the system." "I support safe supply in principle. It is extremely important. It helps people with serious addiction stabilize their lives, but it needs to be done in a way with proper case management, proper support, not with an absentee doctor who's just prescribing narcotics from an iPad," she said. In her view, it's unfortunate that a for-profit clinic has stepped in to fill the gap left by the closure of the supervised consumption site at the Somerset West Community Health Centre. "They were forced to stop by the Ford government and literally within a few days this new operator is setting up shop in Chinatown," she said. "It's not a coincidence." Doctor and councillor plan to meet next week In Troster's view, part of the problem is the use of Dilaudid, instead of a stronger, longer-lasting opioid that fentanyl users actually want to take. "They're prescribing Dilaudid for a fentanyl problem, which means that in order to stave off addiction, people need to take the drugs six or eight times a day, which means consuming on site is impossible," she said. "You'd have to be sitting in the clinic all day." Troster said she has a meeting arranged with Koka next week. Along with incoming MPP Catherine McKenney, she plans to push the clinic to change its protocols to follow the guidance of the community health centre and Ottawa Inner City Health. She said the main issue, for her, is providing in-person supports instead of virtual care. "If they're not able to follow the very same protocols that every other safe supply provider in the city provides, then we don't want them in the community," she said. "We don't want them taking advantage of vulnerable people, and we don't want them causing potential security problems in the neighborhood." If Northwood won't agree to make changes, Troster said she and McKenney will write to the provincial minister of health and ask her to shut the clinic down. But Koka defended the use of remote medicine, saying it allows more patients to access treatment they need. He added that Northwood has brought on an on-site nurse since moving to Chinatown, and their clerical staff is a trained phlebotomist. "Remote addiction medicine or remote medicine in general has increased the number of people that you can treat as a whole," he said. "Whether it's through video conference or through in person, the interaction is the same." He would not provide the size of his caseload. "I don't know if I need to comment on that," he said.
