tuner4music.com
Entrepreneurial journey told by two students
Story written by Ella Connor
“I always knew I wanted to pursue a career in the music industry”, ever since I attended my first music festival. My passion for music has motivated me throughout my life, directing me to the creation of Tuner, my new music venture.
I was inspired for the idea of Tuner after I started producing and releasing music through DJing, as Xorts. It was only through my own experience that I recognised artists weren’t generating a fair revenue on streaming platforms, “particularly for artists like myself who produce streaming releases”, and I immediately knew there was an opportunity to create a platform that creates more value for artists, listeners, and brands.
“The reason I got into start-ups was to fix an issue in an existing industry, as opposed to creating a start-up for money”. Producing music independently has provided me with an advantage, as I organically found that the market isn’t giving back to artists, and as a result, this led me to further recognising that listeners are unhappy with the lack of music discovery available on streaming platforms.
I’m always reimaging new ways to improve existing music platforms. But the idea for Tuner originated when I was writing a thesis about how Tik Tok is affecting music consumption, whilst I was studying a Bachelor of Audio Engineering at the University of Sydney.
Covid has also impacted the industry, and consequently, artists are looking for “new ways to invest” into their existing products. Tuner is going to “transform the value of music”, by eliminating the traditional processes of music production, and enabling artists and fans to interact directly, by providing artists with a new avenue to test music with fans.
My co-founder and I – who I connected with on Linkedin – are currently in the final stages of developing our minimal viable product, which has taken a lot of resilience, as “the final product has changed considerably over the last couple of months”.
I first started developing Tuner in December 2020, and I’m aiming to release the final product by the end of 2021. Throughout my journey, I’ve gained valuable insights from mentors, advisors, and investors, who have helped me develop a product with “great market fit”. One piece of advice I’d like to give aspiring entrepreneurs is “pursue what you feel passionate about, because if you’re motivated, no matter the ups or downs, you’ll keep momentum”.
Story written by Nigma Mehdi
‘Trust the process. Making music and being an entrepreneur is something I’ve learnt to love over time. Being able to share the music with their fans is the spark artists like myself live for. I started producing and releasing music during my undergrad. Back then, I had only released about three tracks on Spotify, and was getting over 200,000 plays and around $500. I realised the streaming royalty model wasn’t giving back to the artists they way they deserved, in terms on money and being able to form a connection with their fans. As a music lover, that pinched me. It wasn’t until I was working on my thesis in class one day that it hit me. I could either just make music and profit off the existing system or I could try to fix the issue in the existing market. After COVID struck, my realisation grew stronger whenever I saw promising artists struggling. I could see how badly it had impacted the income gap for the artists, especially those who relied on live music as a major source. That’s when Tuner came into being. Tuner was initially an idea of a start-up which gave back to the artists, the listeners and the brands; a platform that would fit all three markets. Since its inception, my aim of establishing a platform that creates value for the customer has remained constant. Tuner is such an opportunity for those artists to invest their time and energy in. Although I’ve hit quite a few bumps along the way while trying to climb the ladder of success, we’re still standing strong and hopefully will continue to do so. The push to get work done comes from how enthusiastic you are. At the end of the day, being deeply passionate triumphs the downfalls of what’s going on in the process. Being able to find or even create a fundamental problem and then sell the solution for it is what start-ups initially offer, an organic entry point into whichever industry. I believe in order to overcome uncertainty and barriers, we must focus on setting, achieving and celebrating the small goals in our life journey. New and different opportunities present themselves, its on us how we can recognise and then captivate them. Although it’s a skill that requires years of experience, what has helped me is staunch commitment to my idea, having trustworthy mentors and by writing down everyday goals on my little German diary.’ – Andrei Patrushev