Moodagent Hits ‘Pause,’ Shutters Australian Office (EXCLUSIVE)

Music streaming service Moodagent, which opened an Australian office last May, has closed its local operations and shared a cryptic post on social media about its future.

In a post titled “We’ve pressed pause,” published on Thursday the company confirmed it has switched off the “user-facing aspects” of its operations as it looks to pivot.

The Australian business was led by former Spotify executive Tom Mee.

The company has also hired former Nova Entertainment staffer Toni Pipicelli as director of music and editorial, and Bushra Abel as regional marketing director.

Sources told TMN on Thursday that the local team are no longer with the business, with reports that about 70% of its workforce has this week been let go.

TMN also obtained an email sent by Moodagent to its global stakeholders,  in which a company executive apologised for the lack of communication in recent days and confirmed it was terminating “all partnerships effective immediately.”

The company was founded in Denmark in 2001. Its point of difference was its desire to improve music discovery, expose listeners to more music and connect artists to new fans.

Moodagent also said its patented technology combines machine learning, audio analysis and tens of thousands of hours of human musicology.

Read the full statement below:

“You may have noticed that the music’s no longer playing on Moodagent. Our passion for music discovery is still on full blast, but we’ve turned down the user-facing aspects of our operations. In technical terms, Moodagent is under what in Denmark is known as ‘reconstruction’.

“In practical terms, we’re scaling down and refocusing our resources so we can soon again offer uniquely personalized music streaming – brought to you through partners and brands you already know and love.”

More to come…