Category: Announcements

  • Press Release – Partnership Announcement: Lilly Era

    Press Release – Partnership Announcement: Lilly Era

    Oslo/London – 29 June

    Masterchannel partners with London-based record label Lilly Era, providing its roster of artists with studio-grade mastering. 

    Masterchannel aims to democratise the music production process, offering a premium service at an affordable price. This flexibility is hugely attractive to smaller labels with limited recording budgets, and also opens up opportunities for artists to supply studio-level sound enhancement in earlier demo versions of their tracks. 

    Christian R. Schultz, CEO & Co-Founder at Masterchannel states: 

    We have previously worked with some of the artists at Lilly Era so to get the whole label with us going forward shows great signs of trust in what we deliver. This partnership is a clear example of how labels can up their game with the technology Masterchannel delivers.

    About Masterchannel

    Music tech venture Masterchannel aims to democratize the music production process and help artists build sustainable careers in music, supporting them from initial idea to final release. Their first creator tool, a world-leading automated mastering service, offers premium AI mastering with studio-grade mastering results in less than ten minutes, at an affordable price and with zero-technical expertise required. Resolutions offered are Lossless, Hi-Res Lossless and Ultimate.

    About Lilly Era:

    London-based record label Lilly Era delivers the best new music in a variety of genres. Focusing on chill house and developing the sound in the house scene, Lilly Era continues to set new standards. Within its first 2 years the independent label, distributed via The Orchard, was able to amass over 100 million streams. 

    Lilly Era releases:

  • Press Release – Partner Announcement: LAAMP

    Press Release – Partner Announcement: LAAMP

    Oslo – June 7, 2022

    Masterchannel partners up with Los Angeles Academy for Artists and Music Production (LAAMP), Co-founded by production duo Mikkel Eriksen and Tor Hermansen of Stargate who holds accomplishments such as 4 Grammy awards, 10 x Billboard #1s and two-time “Songwriter of the Year” at ASCAP’s Pop Music Awards. 

    LAAMP offers a one-year high level Music Program with World Class mentors created for artists, songwriters and producers to refine their music production and songwriting skills. 

    “Each of our students create about 50 songs in our high-level one-year program. Many of these songs are released and promoted. Masterchannel is a great tool for them to get record quality mastering fast and cost effective.”

    – LAAMP

    By striking a partnership with a top-tier educational institution, Masterchannel aims to provide music students with the necessary tools to enhance their music production process. 

    Christian R. Schultz, CEO & Co-Founder at Masterchannel states: “We’re excited to be partnering up with LAAMP as they are nurturing the next generation of top talents. By enabling them with our state of the art technology, all LAAMP students can produce top quality music in a more efficient way.”

    About Masterchannel:

    Music tech venture Masterchannel aims to democratize the music production process and help artists build sustainable careers in music, supporting them from initial idea to final release. Their first product, a world-leading automated mastering service, offers premium AI mastering at an affordable price.

  • Remix competition with Matoma and A R I Z O N A

    Remix competition with Matoma and A R I Z O N A

    Below you will find all the necessary information regarding the remix competition. 

    Disclaimer

    The stems can only be used for remixing. You must not use the stem files for other purposes or monetize the stems on other platforms.

    The Process

    The contest period is from the 25th of April, 2022, 00:00 UTC to the 27th of May, 2022, at 23:59 UTC.

    The winner will be announced and contacted on the 10th of June.

    To enter the competition you must:

    1. Create an account on https://masterchannel.ai
    2. Press participate and download the free stems from your account homepage

    To submit your remix you must:

    1. Master your final mix through Masterchannel. All participants get one (1) free mastering session for submission
    2. Upload your song to SoundCloud with the tag #masterchannel

    Remember to tag us in your creation process: @masterchannelai 

    Prizes

    One (1) Entrant Grand Prize Winner will be selected by Team Matoma and Team Masterchannel. The Grand Prize Winner will receive the following.

    • Official remix release on Warner Music Norway / Downtown Records
    • Personal one-on-one digital feedback session with Matoma
    • 1 year Masterchannel Poweruser membership*

    In addition one (1) Runner Up will be selected by Team Matoma & Team Masterchannel. The Runner Up will receive the following:

    • Personal one-on-one digital feedback session with Matoma
    • 1 year Masterchannel Poweruser membership*

    * Poweruser membership includes free use of Mastering tool for 1 year, promotion through Masterchannels’ social media channels and early-access to new features and tools from Masterchannel.

    Guidelines

    The following guidelines apply:

    • The contest submission ends on the 27th of May, 2022 at 23:59 UTC.
    • A final mix has to be uploaded and mastered through Masterchannel. For information on how to best prepare your song for mastering, read our blog post “Matoma shares 3 simple steps on how to prepare your mix for mastering”.
    • Several entries per contestant is allowed. 
    • Employees of Matoma, Warner Music Group, Downtown Records & Masterchannel are ineligible. 
    • Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received, artistic and technical merit of entry judged by subjective criteria. 
    • Purchases of Masterchannel services will not increase your chances of winning. 
    • If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to support@masterchannel.ai and we will respond as soon as possible!

    Terms & Conditions

    The terms and conditions for this remix competition can be found here.

    Want to stay up to date with the latest news from Masterchannel and receive exclusive discounts, special offers and useful music production tips & tricks? Subscribe to our newsletter and get 30% off your next mastering session. 

  • Simon Eschholz newest addition to the team

    Simon Eschholz newest addition to the team

    With his unique background from both the creative and business side of the music industry, Simon Eschholz brings valuable experience to further strengthen Masterchannel’s marketing efforts.

    Simon has spent the recent years as Label Manager and A&R at independent deep house label Lilly Era, where he has marketed the label’s releases for artists such as Arpad, Ruffnux and Jacala.

    He is also a producer, songwriter and DJ under his creative alias Simon Ashwood, making him the perfect fit for Masterchannel’s mission to support artists by providing them with the tools they need. As a frequent user of Masterchannel in his previous work, Simon has unique user insight upon joining the team. 

    Alongside his work in the music industry, Simon has an entrepreneurial background as the founder of Marly, a spatial audio communication app.

    Masterchannel is scaling up the business and has welcomed three new team members in the last month. Masterchannel CEO, Christian Ringstad Schultz says: “Due to Simon Eschholz’s history with Masterchannel he is a great fit as he knows our story and what we can do. We’re happy to have him onboard in order to strengthen our marketing work and to provide artists with the audio tools they need”.

  • David Buverud appointed Head of Platform

    David Buverud appointed Head of Platform

    David Buverud is coming from the position of Software Engineer at the renowned Norwegian Scale-Up company Unloc. Prior to Unloc, he worked as a software engineer at Sopra Steria.

    David is a language-agnostic full stack developer and holds an MSc from Kings College in Advanced Computing with Management.

    In addition to David being a savvy full-stack developer, he also has a heart for music, both as a professional artist and an academic. He holds a BSc in Musicology from the University of Oslo, in addition to playing bass in the Norwegian Bluegrass band, Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra.

    Fun fact: Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra is in 2022 nominated for a Norwegian Grammy in the “Country”-category.

    Masterchannel CEO, Christian Ringstad Schultz, says: «We warmly welcome David to our team. His experience from Unloc and Sopra Steria, in addition to his music background, will be of great strengths when scaling this company further on.»

  • Press Release – Partner Announcement

    Press Release – Partner Announcement

    Oslo – March 2, 2022

    The AI-driven premium mastering service Masterchannel and bitbird have partnered up to provide world class mastering to all participants at the “Create Together” – Campaign hosted by bitbird.

    “Create Together” is a one-month long campaign where artists from all around the globe come together to share ideas and produce music. The campaign is in its third edition and the goal for artists is to showcase their talent and get the chance to be a part of the “Create Together”-compilation which will be released in June/July. During the campaign, there will be hosted several weekly Masterclasses from some of electronic music’s biggest acts, including the artist San Holo and AK, in addition to the renowned DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) Ableton.

    When finalizing their tracks, artists participating in this campaign will be offered premium mastering, using the studio-grade mastering tool provided by Masterchannel, for a $11 flat rate, no matter the resolution. This applies to all 3 of their resolutions from Lossless ($20.95) to Hi-Res Lossless ($25.95) and Ultimate ($30.95).

    Masterchannel aims to democratise the mastering process, offering a premium service at an affordable price, and per track instead of a subscription. This flexibility will be hugely attractive to smaller labels with limited recording budgets, and also opens up opportunities for artists to supply studio-level sound enhancement in earlier demo versions of their tracks.

    Christian Ringstad Schultz, Co-founder and CEO Masterchannel, says: «We’re happy to partner up with bitbird as they have immense experience working with indie artists with a diverse background, and their portfolio of artists is a great fit for us and our premium mastering tool.»

    About Masterchannel:

    Masterchannel is a Norwegian company founded in 2020 and offers a best-in-class AI-driven music mastering solution. The company recently raised over $350,000 in investment via StartupLab, the most active early-stage investor in Norway. StartupLab also additionally announced Masterchannel as part of its Accelerator batch 11 where selected companies receive extra support. Its co-founders are:

    – Simon Hestermann: Co-founder and CTO. Simon is a Mastering and Software Engineer and a former Lead DSP Engineer at Worldcoin. He was also an Audio Researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT and holds a patent in object-based spatial audio mastering.

    – Christian Ringstad Schultz: Co-founder and CEO. He is currently on leave from his position as a PhD in Data-driven business models. Christian was co-founder of the web-based gaming company Tiltspot.tv and the Irish gaming technology conference DGC. He has been a producer and DJ for 14 years.

    – Tom Stræte Lagergren: Better known as the world-famous DJ and music producer Matoma. Tom has achieved over 3 billion streams worldwide and collaborated with world-famous artists incl. Mike Posner, Becky Hill, The Vamps, and Dua Lipa. Tom holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Technology from the Norwegian University of Science & Technology.

    About bitbird:

    bitbird is an independent record label and creative company based in The Hague, Netherlands founded by Sander van Dijck in 2014. The label is jointly run by Sander van Dijck’s manager Budi Voogt and his longtime friend and associate Thorwald van den Akker, who is also the label’s creative director and co-founder.

    While bitbird is known primarily for releasing the electronic dance music subgenre future bass, they have also released a wide variety of genres including classical music, R&B, trap, and electronica. bitbird is most known for releasing music by artists such as San Holo, Droeloe, Taska Black, Duskus, and BeauDamian.

    Read more at bitbird.

  • Press Release – Partner Announcement

    Press Release – Partner Announcement

    Oslo – February 17, 2022  

    The Norwegian-based AI-driven mastering service Masterchannel and digital distributor Indigoboom have partnered up to provide world class mastering to all users of Indigboom. 

    Masterchannel aims to democratise the mastering process, offering a premium service at an affordable price, and per track instead of subscription. This flexibility will be hugely attractive to smaller labels with limited recording budgets, and also opens up opportunities for artists to supply studio-level sound enhancement in earlier demo versions of their tracks. 

    Innovative digital distributor Indigoboom will offer mastering to its users for a $11 flat rate, no matter the resolution. This applies to all 3 of their resolutions from Lossless ($20.95) to  Hi-Res Lossless ($25.95) and Ultimate ($30.95).

    Christian Ringstad Schultz,  Co-founder and CEO Masterchannel, says:  «We’re happy to partner up with Indigoboom as they have immense experience working with indie artists from all genres possible, and their portfolio of artists is a great fit for us and our premium mastering tool.»

    David Gjester, CEO Indigoboom, says:  «Mastering can often become an expensive, tedious and therefore under prioritized part of an indie release. Masterchannel provides a high quality and affordable solution to this, which helps Indigoboom in its mission to provide best possible support for our artists to achieve their artistic and commercial goals.»

    About Masterchannel: 

    Masterchannel is a Norwegian company founded in 2020 and offers a best-in-class AI-driven music mastering solution. The company recently raised over $350,000 in investment via StartupLab, the most active early stage investor in Norway. StartupLab also additionally announced Masterchannel as part of its Accelerator batch 11 where selected companies receive extra support. Its co-founders are:

    – Simon Hestermann: Co-founder and CTO. Simon is a Mastering and Software Engineer and a former Lead DSP Engineer at Worldcoin. He was also an Audio Researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT and holds a patent in object-based spatial audio mastering.

    – Christian Ringstad Schultz: Co-founder and CEO. He is currently on leave from his position as a PhD in Data-driven business models. Christian was co-founder of the web-based gaming company Tiltspot.tv and the Irish gaming technology conference DGC. He has been a producer and DJ for 14 years.

     – Tom Stræte Lagergren: Better known as the world famous DJ and music producer Matoma. Tom has achieved over 3 billion streams worldwide and collaborated with world-famous artists incl. Mike Posner, Becky Hill, The Vamps, and Dua Lipa. Tom holds a bachelor degree in Music Technology from the Norwegian University of Science & Technology.  

    About Indigoboom: 

    Indigoboom distributes music for independent artists and small record labels to streaming services as well as distributing royalty payments for streaming and other uses of music. In addition, Indigoboom offers consultant services and advice to artists and companies within the music industry. This is the big differentiator from other companies in the field – a very tight dialogue with its customers. Indigoboom’s mission is “to make the process of releasing music as an independent artist less lonesome”.

    CEO David Gjester has worked within digital distribution since 1999. First in Freetrax.com, then in Telenor internationally. Some later stints at American companies led to the founding of Indigoboom in 2011.

    Indigoboom is an awarded gazelle company three years in a row by Norwegian newspaper DN.

    Read more at indigoboom.com.

  • Press Release

    Press Release

    • AI music tech company Masterchannel announces deal with amuse
    • Masterchannel is now fully launched at: https://masterchannel.ai
    • Masterchannel’s co-founders include the Norwegian superstar DJ Tom “Matoma” Stræte Lagergren.

    Oslo / Stockholm / London – January 13, 2022  

    The Norwegian-based AI-driven mastering service Masterchannel has announced its full launch and a partnership with the digital music company amuse.    

    The partnership is the first time amuse has engaged in a music tech partnership. It will see amuse marketing Masterchannel’s revolutionary technology to their user base of thousands of musicians and artists at a discounted price. 

    Masterchannel soft-launched in the summer of 2021, offering industry-grade audio mastering powered by the latest AI research. Masterchannel’s proprietary algorithm mimics the thought processes of a human mastering engineer to deliver superior results. A fully autonomous solution, it takes the quality of a mixed song to studio grade quality in less than ten minutes. Other AI-driven products on the market compare the tracks users upload to existing songs and genres which Masterchannel believe is too limiting. 

    Masterchannel was co-founded by the superstar DJ Tom “Matoma” Stræte Lagergren – himself one of the most popular producers in the world, with over three billion streams amassed of his tracks – alongside German Mastering Engineer and Audio Researcher Simon Hestermann and Norwegian serial entrepreneur Christian Ringstad Schultz. The three share a burning desire to be a positive change to the music industry. 

    Masterchannel aims to democratise the mastering process, offering a premium service at an affordable price, and per track instead of subscription. This flexibility will be hugely attractive to smaller labels with limited recording budgets, and also opens up opportunities for artists to supply studio-level sound enhancement in earlier demo versions of their tracks. 

    Since announcing itself, Masterchannel has attracted attention from around the world. It recently completed a $350,000 round of pre-seed funding led by StartupLab, the most active early stage investor in Norway, with angel investors including the world-renowned Norwegian artist Ane Brun. The team is now further expanding its team and new services to attract a wider mass of creatives.

    Tom “Matoma” Stræte Lagergren says:  ”Democratising the industry and high-quality audio is something I feel very strongly about, so I’m so proud to be involved with Masterchannel. Its unique AI achieves a different and, in my opinion, superior result to anything else out there, and enables new and upcoming artists to achieve studio-quality recordings at a low cost which levels the playing field for them.”

    Erik Ljungqvist, Director of Product at amuse, says: ”We are very happy to partner up with Masterchannel and provide our artists with tools that will help them elevate their work to an even greater level. amuse is all about simplifying and democratising the process of releasing your music to the world, and this partnership adds another dimension to that mission.”

    Christian Ringstad Schultz,  Co-founder and CEO Masterchannel, says:  ”When we founded Masterchannel, one of our main goals was to allow artists to focus on the creative part, and not technicalities like mastering, while still getting premium sound quality at an affordable price. Supporting independent artists’ careers is something we strive for and a value we share with amuse, as both our companies work towards democratising the music industry.” 

    Simon Hestermann,  Co-founder and CTO Masterchannel, says: “The shift we see in the creative industries is that creators are becoming aware of the powerful potential AI-driven tools can unleash for them. It’s not about whether they will become mainstream, it’s about what those tools will look like and who they will benefit when they do, and our mission is to tailor them to every artist’s true needs.”

    About Masterchannel: 

    Masterchannel is a Norwegian company founded in 2020 and offers a best-in-class AI-driven music mastering solution. The company recently raised over $350,000 in investment via StartupLab, the most active early stage investor in Norway. StartupLab also additionally announced Masterchannel as part of its Accelerator batch 11 where selected companies receive extra support. Masterchannel is now also part of the King’s 20 Accelerator in London.  Its co-founders are:

    – Simon Hestermann: Co-founder and CTO. Simon is a Mastering and Software Engineer and a former Lead DSP Engineer at Worldcoin. He was also an Audio Researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT and holds a patent in object-based spatial audio mastering.

    – Christian Ringstad Schultz: Co-founder and CEO. He is currently on leave from his position as a PhD in Data-driven business models. Christian was co-founder of the web-based gaming company Tiltspot.tv and the Irish gaming technology conference DGC. He has been a producer and DJ for 14 years.

     – Tom Stræte Lagergren: Better known as the world famous DJ and music producer Matoma. Tom has achieved over 3 billion streams worldwide and collaborated with world-famous artists incl. Mike Posner, Becky Hill, The Vamps, and Dua Lipa. Tom holds a bachelor degree in Music Technology from the Norwegian University of Science & Technology.  

    About amuse: 

    Changing the game since 2017, amuse gives free music distribution and empowering tools to artists and their teams across the globe. By using music consumption data, amuse finds, licenses and builds cutting-edge services for tomorrow’s platinum-selling independent talent. Based out of Stockholm, Sweden, amuse was founded by music industry executives with a collective vision to redefine artist discovery and label deals. 

    Read more at amuse.io.