Hello world, we’re here to help independent musicians get discovered!
“How can we help independent musicians get discovered?”
Who are we? Three dudes: Jonathan with startup tenure, SiPo with software development savvy and Opher with music industry know-how — united by their passion for music — want to answer it.
Combining our knowledge experience and passion added up to one mission- we are here to grow musicians audience and connect them with real, relevant fans who will love and share their music – their potential superfans.
We understand, first hand, what works, what doesn’t and why – when it comes to growing musicians fan-base with engaged fans. These fans are the driving force behind every musician and will not only share the music but also support the artist by attending concerts, purchase music and merchandise.
With our mission in mind, we went on a business pilgrimage together: spending mornings in startup cafes, evenings on Jonathan’s rooftop, nights in clubs listening to music we love and further developing our idea. We realized that it was our dream to help artists live their dream. We wanted to make artists’ music pay for them, so that they can do more of what they love.
So we developed an algorithm to grow the musicians audience and connect them with their superfans. For obvious reasons we selected SoundCloud as the initial platform.
It was a real sprint from then. Planning and designing a basic algorithm to test our assumptions
Genesis: July 2014
After an intense effort, we completed a working version of the algorithm. Cheers and high-fives all round. With the initial feedback we received we realized that our principles, ambitions, and our creation, could work.
Alpha: September 2014
Nothing like a solid, challenging milestone to focus a business: Introducing Soundudes to the world at the Berlin Music Festival and recruiting excited musicians to our Alpha. Totally bootstrapped startup and powered by our passion, we nailed it: our algorithm goes live on time, seriously impressing 70+ SoundClouders. These initial alpha users were impressed with the results and provided us with valuable inputs and positive feedback.
Beta: Feb 2015
We went on to perfect our product through three rounds of fine-tuning and we were ready to launch our Beta. An updated product version that we were content with, one that could deliver even better results: growth in fans and engagement that even SoundCloud veterans would be impressed with. We invited users to join our closed beta and an amazing 1000 musicians came forward.
Most of you went out of your way to support us with our mission, showing us that you really care with feedback and testimonials that came from the heart. We want thank you: This is much more than any company can expect, let alone ask for.
We came out of our beta with three fundamental assets: 1: Bags of data to guide us and tweak our algorithm. 2: Insights on how users want to use our product. 3: The knowledge that Soundudes works and that artists love it. In short, we knew that Soundudes was sound.
Launch: September 2015
Now, we’ve taken all this data, feedback and intuition, and realized a full, action-oriented and hands-on Soundudes release. We know you’ll like it—because we were guided every step of the way by indie artists like you.
Thank you to everyone who talked to us and their friends about Soundudes, forging new connections and helping us reach so many people. We connected with 500 people in our beta—there are millions of indie musicians to reach, but, with backers like you, that will be no sweat at all.
We hope that you’ll keep spreading the word about Soundudes and let us know what you think. We got here by listening to artists, and will grow through the years by listening a whole lot more.
Now we’re standing, head high, confident with what we offer the tens of millions of indie musicians out there in the world: helping indie artists live their dream. Hello World!