The last decade has made the music industry unrecognizable. Digital music is king and songs are purchased (and created) in the cloud. Faster computer processing and affordable hardware means everyone has access to professional recording tools. Artificial intelligence has produced albums, scored movies, and generated background music in games. So where does a historic recording studio like Abbey Road fit into this evolving industry?
Abbey Road Studios is making great strides in figuring this out. According to chief executive Isabel Garvey, they’ve spent the last year meeting with startups and talking to academics to fully understand the landscape and how they can get involved. The result was Abbey Road Red, launched at the end of October this year. Red is Abbey Road’s innovation department designed to support music technology entrepreneurs, researchers and developers.
As part of the Red programme, Abbey Road has unveiled what is billed as the only music technology specific incubator in Europe. While there are some traditional benefits to joining, much of the strength of this new program lies in the industry relationships and experience that Abbey Road and its owner Universal Music bring to the table: direct access to artists.
The first and only company to work with Abbey Road Red to date is reality titan. Their product, The Pulse, is a 3D controller designed to play any musical instrument.
“We found Titan at set-up before we really refined the idea. So they were part of our thought process. It was really a special case. What we’re usually looking for is a combination of a few things. They have to be between seed and Series A, that kind of range. Usually two to ten people. And obviously looking for the same thing as everyone else – an incredibly driven entrepreneurial spirit in the founding CEO or partners. It has to be more technology driven, not really service or agency driven. And it has to be music because that’s our specialty,” said Jon Eades, Abbey Road Red project manager.
Abbey Road’s iconic story itself certainly brings excitement to the mix. Abbey Road Studios is, of course, where the Beatles recorded over 100 songs. But it is also the home of The Dark Side of the Moonfilm music by star wars and celestial fall, and back to the 1930s the birthplace of stereo sound. Although the red team is pretty laid back about it, you feel the resonance of good music and creativity as you walk through the muted hallways.
Applications for Abbey Road Red Incubator First Class are due today. They will accept three companies into their inaugural program starting in February. If you miss it this time around, don’t worry, Red Incubator will host three startups every six months. And if you’re wondering about the financial side of it all, in exchange for the benefits of their program, Abbey Road asks for a 2% stake and the ability to invest in future towers at market value. After that, they assume all you need is love.
Comments are closed.