Music Tectonics 2022’s Startup Competition Winner Announced: Audioshake Wins Jury Choice and Audience Choice Awards from Swimming With Narwhals

It’s official: Audioshake swept the Swimming with Narwhals competition, winning over both the jury and the audience. The third annual Swimming with Narwhals Music Tech Startup Competition Final was held on October 26, 2022 in Santa Monica, CA as part of the annual Music Tectonics Conference. This year’s conference boasted three days of carefully curated programming and more than 500 attendees.

As part of the competition Final, four promising startups from music tech, tackling important challenges in live music, generative AI, video monetization, and stem creation, gave their pitches in front of a packed ballroom and a three-person jury of investors and experts. The audience members voted on their favorite pitch, while the jury came to a decision and that decision was announced the following morning at the final day of Music Tectonics, held at Santa Monica’s Expert Dojo.

“All of our finalists were impressive. They are all addressing urgent needs in the music business, many vital to a better, more sustainable future for artists,” explains Dmitri Vietze, Director of Music Tectonics and founder/CEO of Rock Paper Scissors, the music innovation PR firm. “However, Audioshake’s pitch and business model truly stood out.”

Using proprietary AI, Audioshake creates stems, the separate instrumental and vocal tracks that make up a musical recording. Audioshake has taken stems beyond the technical basics and helped partners turn them into inspiring building blocks for new music experiences. The company’s technological excellence, paired with this vision for a new, more interactive musical future, sets Audioshake apart. Audioshake has already managed to partner with major rightsholders such as Hipgnosis Song Fund and with large music distributors such as CD Baby, as well as with a number of emerging artists who use stems to fuel their creative projects.

Founded by Jessica Powell (ex-Google), Audioshake is the third winner of the Music Tectonics Startup Competition and coincidentally all three winners have been women-led companies. The inaugural winner, Fave, founded by Jacquelle Amankonah Horton, has already managed to raise millions and win support for its fan community hub from major music industry players, including HYBE. The second year’s victor, Xann Schwinn of The Choral Hub (now Biiah), unites singers online for learning and fun in a unique, game-like framework.

“We want everyone to apply who qualifies and want everyone to face the same scrutiny,” explains Vietze. “However, we’re thrilled that so many compelling female-founded companies have risen to the top, as finalists and winners. We’re all aware of how few women compared to men received investment,” around 2% of VC in 2021, “and our winners make an undeniable statement about the high-caliber tech talent and ideas out there. It’s time these founders and innovators were given the attention they deserve.”

Powell is pleased to join this group of women building groundbreaking music tech. "We started AudioShake to help power the next wave of music experiences and help artists make more money for their work, and we've been overwhelmed by the positive response and customer adoption," says Powell. "I also hope Audioshake's Swimming with Narwhals win also encourages other female founders to apply to start-up competitions."  

The Swimming with Narwhal startups may be the cream of the crop when it comes to innovation in music, but they reflect the growing energy of the music community as a whole, as music weaves into visual media, games, real-life experiences, branding, and just about everywhere else you can think of. “Music Tectonics works to capture some of this incredible creativity and energy, to bring it all together so that the movers and shakers from across industries can trade ideas and make connections they might struggle to forge otherwise,” says Vietze. “We’re here to support innovators, big and small, as they race toward the future of music.” 

About Music Tectonics

The Music Tectonics Conference is designed to rally music innovators of all stripes: startups, major labels, indie labels, Web3 disruptors, streaming services, distributors, social media platforms, investors, accelerators, legal experts, live event execs, gear makers, music software developers, consultants—in short, everyone who works where music and tech meet.

PR firm Rock Paper Scissors, Inc. explores the new terrain at the epicenter of music and technology through their Music Tectonics Conference, podcast, media services, and online events. Learn more at MusicTectonics.com