The music and concert industries bring in more than $15 billion dollars a year collectively. In just the first half of this year, streaming services alone accounted for more than 30 million U.S. subscribers and over $2.5 billion in industry revenue.
It’s a space occupied by giants like TicketMaster, Live Nation, AXS, Spotify, Apple, Pandora and Google — a space that, to many, doesn’t appear to have a lot of room for the little guys.
But two young entrepreneurs saw an opportunity. What if they could create a platform that benefited everyone — music fans, artists, venues, streaming services, ticket sellers, and even the brands looking to engage with music consumers? What if they could monetize and reward the interactions people have with the music they love?
Ross Jason first got the idea for Sonotize when he was in school at Belmont University. He pitched the concept as a project for his music business class, proposing a music streaming service that rewarded users with points they could cash in on things like gift cards or promotional offers. The idea was a hit, and Jason quickly realized that he might just be onto something. But realizing he wasn’t quite prepared to launch a business on his own, so he partnered up with Jerry Caropolo after putting an ad on Craigslist.
In April of 2015, they launched the beta version of Sonotize as a gamified rewards app that integrated with music streaming apps — specifically, Spotify. After running their deck past Spotify’s execs, Jason and Caropolo had the green light to plug into the music giant’s API.
From there, things took off. Sonotize attracted some early investors. Caropolo and Jason began building partnerships with companies that wanted to offer rewards in order to reach and engage Spotify’s (and Sonotize’s) growing base of listeners. Within the first year, the app had garnered nearly 1,000 users.
Then in June of this year, things took an unexpected turn. Spotify came calling, and they wanted Sonotize to remove their API from the app. According to Caropolo, Spotify — which many expect to go public any day now — temporarily severed ties with the company in order to distance itself from any perceived risk.
Up to this point, the two companies had been on amicable terms. Sonotize’s integration with Spotify had been the backbone of the business. But despite the fact that the two twenty-something entrepreneurs now faced losing their primary source of users, Caropolo and Jason decided to temporarily pull the app from the store and pivot — a move that would shake even the most seasoned entrepreneur.
“The focus now is on live events and music festivals,” Caropolo said. “We want to get people rewarded rather than charged multiple service and convenience fees, which we see as a penalty for purchasing concert tickets.”
In August, Sonotize secured another small round of seed funding to build out the new platform, which is slated for release at the end of October. Caropolo and Jason are hard at work seeking partnerships with companies and exploring APIs through popular ticket providers like SeatGeek.
Though the focus has shifted, Caropolo isn’t ruling out the streaming platform for good. Sonotize hopes to rekindle relationships with Spotify down the road and also explore relationships with other streaming services.
Despite the challenges they’ve faced so far, Caropolo admits that one of the biggest has been getting people to look past their age and focus on the vision.
“A lot of people we meet are shocked by our age,” Caropolo said. “I remember reading a book called ‘You Only Have to Be Right Once: The Rise of the Instant Tech Billionaires,’ and it discusses how all throughout human history, whether you were pursuing a career as a blacksmith or a lawyer, you’d have to work your way up and then become an executive toward the end of your career. But nowadays, we see companies like Facebook and Snapchat and Instagram that explode overnight, and they’re being led by younger leadership.”
Whatever lay ahead for the Sonotize team, Caropolo and Jason remain committed to their vision and prepared to take it all in stride.
Photo via Sonotize.
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