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Top Music Startups to Watch (and Work for) in 2023

July 14, 2023
      |      Kieran Ryan
Lady on couch listening to music with over the ear headphones

My Background

Hi, I'm Kieran! I worked in startups for five years at On Deck and Wefunder. Some of my favorite things that I've worked on during my career include:

  • Wefunder Workaway: 12 founders working on a new idea, 7 days, 1 mansion in Hawaii. One of the teams we picked raised a Series A from Andreessen Horowitz, and two people who met during the trip got married...
  • On Deck: As employee #15, I contributed to the startup's growth from no revenue to a $20 million run rate in less than a year. I led the team that built the admission infrastructure to support and scale ~20 fellowships for founders, capital allocators, operators, and creators.
  • XX: Worked on a pre-YC accelerator program that invested $125K on an MFN SAFE into 8-10 teams per cohort.
  • ODX: Worked on a $100 million accelerator program that invested $125K for 7% into 100s of startups. We partnered with leaders like Flexport to build vertical industry tracks around supply chain & logistics, etc.
  • Ryan Marketing: Created an influencer marketing startup (2 million+ Instagram followers) during college with my twin brother and realized early that monetization for creators was broken. I learned a lot, and it paid enough to cover my schooling, rent, and meals.

The Methodology

I considered several data points to arrive at the startups selected on this list, including company traction, funding raised, valuation, and investors. From my initial list, I then referenced each startup with my personal network to narrow down the list to the one you see below. I take my credibility seriously, so I do not take any money from startups who want to be included on this list to remain impartial. If you want to understand my analysis of startups and prefer long-form content, read my research on the top startups of 2023 afterward.

Royal Logo

Royal

Invest in music.

Headquarters

Austin, Texas

Industry

Music, Creators

Founded

2021

Funding

$71 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Royal has $156,000+ earned by collectors, $2.5 million raised for artists, and $7.5 million in music rights traded.
Splice Logo

Splice

Royalty-free sounds, effects, presents, and more.

Headquarters

New York, New York

Industry

Consumer, Music

Founded

2013

Funding

$159.7 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

Songtradr Logo

Songtradr

Music licensing services for brands and agencies.

Headquarters

Santa Monica, California

Industry

Music

Founded

2014

Funding

$101.2 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • Songtradr customers include Sony, Nike, Unilever, TikTok, Heineken, and The North Face.
  • As of June 2021, Songtradr hosted songs from 600,000+ musicians, right holders, and songwriters.
  • In 2020, Songtradr reported 100% YoY revenue growth.
Zebra Labs Logo

Zebra Labs

Brings virtual avatars to the metaverse.

Headquarters

Beijing, Beijing, China

Industry

Music, Metaverse

Founded

2020

Funding

$5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of October 2022, Zebra Labs has six artists on the platform and has garnered 40 million clicks across its online channels.
Rapchat Logo

Rapchat

Make music on your phone.

Headquarters

Columbus, Ohio

Industry

Music, Creators

Founded

2015

Funding

$4 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Rapchat has 10 million+ users and 200,000+ free beats, up from 7 million users and 100,000 free beats in April 2021.
  • As of July 2023, Rapchat has rated 4.7/5 stars from 70.3K reviews on the Apple App Store and 4.6/5 stars from 61.8K reviews on the Google Play Store.
  • As of July 2023, Rapchat has 5 million+ downloads.
  • As of April 2021, Rapchat reported 500,000 monthly active users and 35 mins of average daily engagement.
Breakr Logo

Breakr

Creator marketing solution.

Headquarters

Oakland, California

Industry

Music, Creators

Founded

2019

Funding

$5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • Breakr customers include Rolling Loud Music Fest, Made in America, United Masters, Billboard, and SEEHER.
  • As of July 2021, Breakr reported 12,000 people applied for influencer accounts, and between 3,000-4,000 had been approved.
mayk.it Logo

mayk.it

Your virtual music studio.

Headquarters

Santa Monica, California

Industry

Music

Founded

2020

Funding

$4 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, mayk.it has rated 4.7/5 stars from 4.5K reviews on the Apple App Store.
Uppbeat Logo

Uppbeat

Free music for creators.

Headquarters

Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom

Industry

Music, Creators

Founded

2020

Funding

$6.15 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Uppbeat has rated 4.7/5 stars from 763 reviews on Trustpilot.
  • As of March 2022, Uppbeat’s annual revenue run rate was $718K.
  • As of March 2022, Uppbeat has 3,000+ tracks on its platform, up from 1,000 in January 2021.
BandLab Logo

BandLab

Make music online.

Headquarters

Singapore, Singapore

Industry

Music

Founded

2015

Funding

$90 million

Valuation

$425 million

Traction

  • As of July 2023, BandLab has 60 million users, up from 40 million in April 2022.
  • As of July 2023, BandLab has rated 4.8/5 stars from 174.9K reviews on the Apple App Store and 4.6/5 stars from 350,000+ reviews on the Google Play Store.
  • As of July 2023, BandLab has been downloaded 50 million+ times on the Google Play Store.
Highnote Logo

Highnote

Audio collaboration built for musicians.

Headquarters

New York, New York

Industry

Music

Founded

2020

Funding

$1.7 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Highnote has 1,000+ customers, including Dim Mak Records, White Sea Studio, and Nicki Minaj’s mixing engineer.
HYPH Logo

HYPH

Music made social.

Headquarters

New York, New York

Industry

Music

Founded

2022

Funding

$26 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, users can reserve their HYPH usernames.
  • As of October 2022, HYPH was targeting a Spring 2023 launch.
Authentic Artists Logo

Authentic Artists

A generative AI music technology company.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Music

Founded

2019

Funding

Undisclosed

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • In April 2021, Authentic Artists reported an average watch time of 35 minutes for its test concerts on Twitch.
Audius Logo

Audius

A streaming platform for musicians.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Consumer, Music, Creators

Founded

2018

Funding

$13.6 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • In September 2022, Audius reported 250,000 artists on the platform, up from 40,000 in August 2020, and 7.5 million monthly fans, up from 250,000 in August 2020.
Boomy Logo

Boomy

Make generative music with artificial intelligence.

Headquarters

Berkeley, California

Industry

Music, Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Founded

2018

Funding

$4.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Boomy artists have created 16,137,255 original songs, up from 2 million in May 2021.
  • As of July 2023, Boomy has 4,433 members in its Discord community.
Turntable Logo

Turntable

Play music together.

Headquarters

New York, New York

Industry

Music

Founded

2011

Funding

$21.5 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • Turntable shut down in 2013 but relaunched in 2021.
Smores Logo

Smores

Discover new music.

Headquarters

San Francisco, California

Industry

Music

Founded

2022

Funding

N/A

Valuation

N/A

Traction

  • As of July 2023, Smores has rated 4.7/5 stars from 198 reviews on the Apple App Store.
EVEN Logo

EVEN

Helping artists sell directly to their fans.

Headquarters

Los Angeles, California

Industry

Music, Creators

Founded

2022

Funding

$2.2 million

Valuation

Undisclosed

Traction

  • As of April 2023, EVEN has a waitlist of 4,000 artists looking to join the platform.

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