A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya is a startup from a former Spotify leader for making music apps

Details

A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya, founded by Máuhan M Zonoozy (ex-Spotify head of innovation, previously founder of Bubbl acquired by Cricket Media), has raised $5.5M pre-seed from Mantis VC, SV Angel, Boxgroup, Quiet Capital, Remarkable Ventures, and others. Former Spotify CCO Dawn Ostroff joined as advisor. The company releases music interaction tools as 'singles' — standalone apps or websites, each exploring a different facet of sound creation. Current releases include Speed Surfer (Chrome extension for audio speed and filter adjustment), Usersound (audio username generator), Stacks (stem mixer), Drops (marble-deflection musical pattern generator), and Sampler (YouTube-to-sampler converter). The flagship iOS app, bop, lets users remix songs using a grid of instruments, adjust tempo, and export directly to TikTok or Instagram. Zonoozy is deliberately selective about AI use — applying it to infrastructure and product development but not forcing it into every user interaction, a notable stance against the all-AI trend. A multiplayer remix feature for bop is in development. The target audience is younger creators accustomed to gaming and filter culture rather than passive consumption.