It's both an exciting and a scary time to be working in music.
Any musician with some talent (and luck) can build a digital fanbase from scratch, but breaking through the noise can feel daunting, especially with millions of AI-generated tracks spreading across social media.
The opportunities for artists to get discovered without the backing of a major label are greater than ever before as platforms like TikTok have democratized discovery, and there are also more tools to help artists and their teams save time on tasks like marketing, mastering tracks, and collaborating with other creators.
“You go from being a monolithic record label that controlled everything to now being able to basically do everything yourself: recording, distributing, collaborating,” Jordan Bradley, founder and CEO of audio collaboration platform Highnote, told Business Insider.
Tech platforms are making it easier for different parts of the music industry to work together, for example with tools like RoEx's Automix using artificial intelligence to mix and master tracks, or building matchmaking platforms like Surf Music to connect songwriters with industry buyers.
“There's a huge demand for better tools that help musicians connect in the creative process,” Sam Hamad, CEO of music file-sharing platform Offtop, told BI. “Musicians want easier workflows.”
But while technology is beneficial to the industry, it also threatens to cause major headaches for artists and disrupt how they make money.
Subtle changes to algorithms or remittance policies on platforms like Spotify could disrupt the industry.
The rise of generative AI also raises existential questions about how artists and other creators will get paid for their work in a world where AI can spit out songs in seconds. Industry experts (and their lawyers) are scrutinizing how AI models are trained and considering new ways to pay creators for derivative works. Entertainment lawyers are busy devising ways to prevent AI companies from misusing their clients' intellectual property.
“People are scared of AI,” Greg Larman, CEO of music production platform Output, told BI. “Like any uncharted territory in any industry, some people will jump on the technology to express themselves artistically and do cool things, while others will feel infringed.”
And yet the music industry has benefited from the technological revolution in many ways, raking in billions of dollars in revenue from streaming apps and other platforms.
For our third annual list of influential music tech startups, BI looked for companies that will change the way music is produced, distributed and consumed in 2024. We asked industry insiders and readers for their thoughts on which companies we should consider, and our own coverage determined the companies that made the list. Companies previously featured in this series are not included.
Here are 14 music tech companies to watch, listed in alphabetical order:
