We’re delighted to announce our investment in Songscription, the AI-powered music transcription platform, joining a $5M seed round led by Reach Capital alongside 10x Founders and Dent Capital – plus former Guns N’ Roses lead guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal as angel and advisor.
Songscription does something musicians have wanted for decades: upload any recording and get editable sheet music, guitar tabs, piano roll or MIDI back in moments. Most musicians can’t find notation for the songs they actually want to play, and transcribing by ear takes years to learn. Since launching in June out of Stanford’s StartX accelerator, the platform has reached more than 150,000 users in 150 countries, from bedroom guitarists to professional teachers.
For CEO Andrew Carlins, the mission is personal – he grew up with a stutter, and singing was the one place words came fluently – while co-founder Tim Beyer published the academic research that the company’s model architecture is built on. Our first calls with this team had that special, ephemeral quality we’re always looking for and rarely find: deep expertise worn lightly. They understand music at the level the problem demands, they’d already cracked the hardest parts of transcription, and when they needed specialist talent they flew to Seoul to find it. Humble, brilliant, fast.
“Playing an instrument is one of the oldest forms of human creativity there is, and learning these kinds of skills will only become more important as humanity navigates this AI era. But the sheet music supply chain has barely changed since the photocopier. Andrew and the team have built something musicians will grab with both hands, from pros to music teachers to keen amateurs and enthusiastic beginners – 150,000 users in five months tells you everything. We’re delighted to be backing them.”
Mario, Emerge
This funding will expand the platform’s instrument library, add auto-levelled arrangements matched to player skill and build towards real-time performance feedback: a music coach in your pocket.
Andrew, Tim and team – welcome to the band. Let’s shred!
Featured in Billboard, Music Business Worldwide, Music Ally, Digital Music News
