Brisbane AI specialists SuperRes selected for tech startup ‘class of 2019’ in U.S.
Everyone’s talking about AI and its upsides (and potentially-hideous downsides) for the music and creative communities. SuperRes, the Brisbane startup which uses AI for advanced audio search and analysis, is looking up and flying the flag right now in Los Angeles, after tech leaders tapped the company for its Techstars Music Accelerator programme.
Led by its CEO Meaghan White and her co-founders Lindsay Watt and Christopher Gage, the Fortitude Valley-based team is showcasing their bag of tricks to reps from some of the music’s world’s biggest companies, from Warner Music Group to Sony, Concord, Bill Silva Entertainment, Silva Artist Management, RecoChoku, Royalty Exchange, Q Prime Management and more.
SuperRes is one of just nine new companies selected for the programme, which was announced a six-month global search.
Now in its third year, the mentorship-driven accelerator program began Monday and ends May 2, 2019 with a special demo day, when the 2019 class will present their products to a room of investors, music executives and disruptors.
The current crop also includes applications of on-demand manufacturing, augmented reality, music-assisted learning, interactive video, and online music creation.
The Aussie team got the nod for their knack at using AI to separate, classify and up-res audio “for the purpose of audio search, discovery, recommendation, personalization, and quality enhancement,” which works with studio, UGC audio and, maybe, live mobile communication, a statement from Techstars Music reads.
Software engineer and chief of Mawson and Popgun Stephen Phillips paid tribute to his fellow Brisbanites with a tweet.
Big news! Two more AI startups from Mawson are ready for take off. Both Replica and SuperRes have joined the Techstars Music 2019 program in LA. Congrats to @shreyasnivas @unmeg @riccardo_grin @kenimardira @linzwatthttps://t.co/TB8tVsPQP1
— Stephen Phillips (@mawsonguy) February 4, 2019
White says she’s “excited and super grateful” to be a member of Techstars’ 2019 class of music-based startups.
For those that don't know, I'm the CEO of SUPERRES, an AI startup specialising in audio analysis and enhancement. We're part of the 2019 cohort for Techstars Music. Super excited and super grateful! ???? https://t.co/9g0BXnyfUp
— ǝʇıɥʍ ɓǝɯ (@unmeg) February 4, 2019
SuperRes is in fine company. According to organisers of the annual gathering, its highlighted startups have raised more than $40 million in follow-on investment to-date, with the combined valuation of the Techstars portfolio now exceeding $300 million.
The AI genie isn’t going back into the bottle. It’s been some years since François Pachet, a Sony veteran with world-leading expertise on Artificial Intelligence and its application to contemporary music, led a team which went out and created a bunch string of pop songs using AI. The computer scientist is now director of Spotify Creator Technology Research Lab, where he’s tasked with designing the next generation of AI-based tools for musicians.
Organizers of the Techstars Music summit also point out, “In addition to helping create new audio and music, artificial intelligence will also revolutionize the way audio is processed, compressed and delivered and reconstructed.”
Read more here.
This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.