A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya, a startup founded by former Spotify innovation head Máuhan M. Zonoozy, is developing interactive music apps aimed at empowering users to actively create and play with sound rather than just consume music. The company recently secured a $5.5 million pre-seed funding round led by several venture capital firms, including Mantis VC, SV Angel, and BoxGroup, with ex-Spotify executive Dawn Ostroff joining as an advisor. Zonoozy, who left Spotify in 2024, is motivated by the idea of blending music with playful, game-like interactions, inspired by how younger audiences engage with culture through creation tools and filters.

The startup rolls out its musical experiments as app "singles," which are compact, playful tools allowing users to manipulate music elements in creative ways. Examples include Speed Surfer, a Chrome extension that modifies playback speed and filters, YouTube Usersound which turns usernames into musical notes, and Stacks, a grid-based mixer for combining sound stems. Another app called Drops turns marble patterns into melodies, while Sampler converts YouTube videos into beat-driven music samplers. These offerings showcase A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya's focus on fun, tactile engagement with music through digital interfaces.

Their most advanced product, an iOS app named bop, lets users mix musical instruments and effects on a grid, adjust tempo, and apply one-time effects, with easy sharing options for TikTok and Instagram. A multiplayer version is also in development to allow collaborative music remixing. Recently, the company integrated a prompt-based sound creation feature powered by AI, though Zonoozy is cautious about overusing AI. He believes that while AI is powerful for infrastructure and creative assistance, music’s future lies in human taste and participation, ensuring AI enhances rather than replaces user interaction with music.

Looking ahead, A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya plans to launch a "musical sandbox mixer" later this year, providing users with an expanded playground to experiment with music elements and create custom instruments. The startup’s vision is to redefine how people experience music by making music creation accessible, playful, and social, contrasting with traditional streaming services focused mainly on passive listening. Through these innovative apps, Zonoozy hopes to foster a more immersive and interactive music culture for the next generation of listeners and creators.