A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya, a startup founded by former Spotify innovation chief Máuhan M Zonoozy, is building music apps that let people experiment with sound without relying on AI prompts.
The company has raised a $5.5m pre-seed round from investors including Mantis VC, SV Angel, Boxgroup, Quiet Capital, ERA, Common Metal, Gold House, Liquid 2 Ventures, Breakers VC and Systemic Ventures. Former Spotify executive Dawn Ostroff joined as an advisor. Zonoozy left Spotify in 2024 after previously founding Bubbl, a video clipping and remixing startup acquired by Cricket Media.
A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya releases its experiments as “singles” in an album. Speed Surfer changes audio speed and filters in Chrome, while Usersound turns letters in an audio username into notes. Stacks uses a 3×3 grid for mixes, Drops creates notes by deflecting marbles, and Sampler turns YouTube videos into beat-based samplers.
Its main product is bop, an iOS app for placing instruments and effects in a grid, adjusting tempo, adding one-time effects, and exporting mixes to TikTok or Instagram. The company is also developing multiplayer remixing. It plans to release a musical sandbox mixer this year. Zonoozy said the company may use AI for development and infrastructure, but is not treating AI song generation as the future of music.
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