A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya is a startup from a former Spotify leader for making music apps
Former Spotify innovation head raises $5.5M pre-seed for A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya, a startup building playful music-creation apps with selective generative AI features.
A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya, founded by former Spotify head of innovation Máuhan M Zonoozy, raised a $5.5M pre-seed round from Mantis VC, SV Angel, Boxgroup, Quiet Capital and others. The startup ships small music-play apps including Speed Surfer, Usersound, Stacks, Drops, Sampler, and the iOS mixer app bop, plus a new prompt-based sound creation feature. Zonoozy says the company deliberately avoids infusing AI into every product, arguing human taste and participation become more valuable as AI-generated content grows abundant.
Behind the Blog: Endless Scam Parade
404 Media's behind-the-blog discusses Spotify tagging AI-generated artists as a tipping point in platforms algorithmically rejecting AI slop.
404 Media's weekly behind-the-blog post discusses Spotify's decision to tag artists as AI-generated and stop promoting them, arguing it signals a tipping point where platforms and users begin algorithmically rejecting AI slop. It also mentions the mainstreaming of Flock and media appearances. The post is partially paywalled for paid members.