The MTH Unboxing is a monthly format. One startup from the portfolio of the MediaTech Hub Accelerator will be presented in each issue. This time, you will learn more about the musictech startup SongPush.
As a result of digitization, it has become increasingly easy for musicians and bands not only to record music, but also to publish it. At the same time, social media platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok can help make music accessible to an even wider audience. When content creators and influencers use a particular song for their story or reel, or for a video on YouTube or TikTok, this can in turn have an impact on the popularity of the song or even on the visibility of the musicians themselves.
The team from SongPush has made it their mission to connect the music and social media worlds even more closely. Markus Cremer, who is the founder of SongPush along with Stefan Kling and Zoltan Morvai, answered a few questions for this edition of MTH Unboxing. He also told us what mission the team is working on, what big challenge they have already mastered, and what learning they would like to share with other founders.
MTH Accelerator: What did you do before SongPush?
Markus Cremer: We’d already been able to gain experience in the fields of music and marketing before setting up SongPush. Stefan is himself a musician and a platinum songwriter with several million streams. In addition, he has already been able to realise projects with larger creators, including the integration of songs into the YouTube series “Krass Klassenfahrt”.
I completed my Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering at the Technical University (TU) of Berlin and founded an agency for music marketing (releazy.com) during my studies to offer digital marketing for musicians, labels and creators.
MTH Accelerator: What triggered the idea to establish SongPush?
Markus Cremer: SongPush was a logical consequence for us since we had both experienced the problems in the music industry first hand. There was still a lot of room for improvement particularly in terms of collaboration between musicians and creators! We had the idea validated in a few weeks by stakeholders from music and social media, specified the biggest problems & challenges and then made a start! Fortunately, we received a lot of praise from both industries very quickly, which of course strengthened us even more in our resolve!
MTH Accelerator: What is SongPush anyway?
Markus Cremer: With SongPush, we now give users on social media the opportunity to earn money with their passion and musicians the chance to make their music accessible to a wider audience.
Our app is the access to our music marketplace which is an automated interface between music and social media, and TikTok, in particular. Musicianss and labels can make their songs available through SongPush and pay to be included in thousands of TikTok videos. This allows them to introduce their songs to a new target audience, win potential new fans and advance their careers through targeted marketing!
On the other hand, creators and music fans can sign up to SongPush within a few clicks and discover new songs to use in their TikTok videos (and later in videos on other social media platforms). This is how they can earn money with their creativity and content and support talented musicians in the process. Best of all, everyone can earn money with their creativity on SongPush, no matter how many followers they have!
MTH Accelerator: What is your mission?
Markus Cremer: We want to bring the worlds of music and social media closer together and create added value for musicians, creators and music fans. Music is the lifeblood of every social media platform that contains moving images and harmonises ideally with all different kinds of content. We are working in the long term on a precise matching engine that will be even better at bringing music together with the right content and make it possible for musicians to distribute their music even more effectively.
MTH Accelerator: What has been your biggest challenge so far?
Markus Cremer: Bringing a marketplace to life with no activity on either side was definitely a challenge! Fortunately, after some trial and error, we were able to tap into the right channels for the acquisition of musicians and creators and solve the cold start problem. But neither we nor our servers were prepared for the in part explosive growth at the beginning.
MTH Accelerator: Is there a learning you would like to share with other founders?
Markus Cremer: Show passion for what you are doing and don’t give up! This energy can work miracles and open really important doors, especially at an early stage.