Mubert Advisers: Jeff Bacon

 

Jeff Bacon is one of Mubert’s advisers. Marrying his business development expertise with a love for the music industry and technological innovations, Jeff works with music technology companies and startups. At the same time, he handles Industry Relations for Family In Music and trades as 73Barrios for consulting with clients. In his LinkedIn bio, he explains his role as “helping business-people to understand music and music-people to do better business, ever since.”

Starting out as an artist and juggling his music career with sales roles in the telecom and business intelligence sectors, Bacon resolved to combine his passions. “I began working with music industry tech companies just as the digital music landscape was forming,” he says in an interview with Mubert. “I’ve taken a journey across the entire value chain, from music creation and creator-focused platforms through to distribution, rights management, royalties, sync and analytics market leaders.”

Knowing that Jeff is interested in artificial intelligence and what it means for the future of the human race, Mubert connected with him via Linkedin. Although AI generated music is, in his words, something he was yet to be convinced by, he was immediately impressed that Mubert was designed and positioned in such a way that it supports creators, rather than seeking to replace them.

“Additionally, functional music is an area I am fascinated by – how music can help to manage menstrual or post-operative pain; or make waiting in line in a store feel like it takes less time,” the entrepreneur adds. “CEO Alex [Kochetkov]’s assertion that functional music for fitness purposes ‘must be generative’ to truly be effective makes a lot of sense to me.”

While artificial intelligence has wide ranging applications in music from metadata tagging in vast catalogues to calculating royalties, what made Mubert stand out from other generative AI music companies for Bacon is that it has a creator focus. “Rather than existing as an alternative to humans, it’s providing another route for creators to passive income or creative inspiration,” he elucidates.

Jeff specializes in music tech businesses that are among the best in class, so when coming to the startup, he brought his experience, expertise and network to the table. He helps businesses navigate challenges, avoid common pitfalls, build their team and industry footprint, align their offering with the way the industry works and innovate in the space.

Talking about typical mistakes, the entrepreneur highlights not doing enough research, hiring errors and ill-advised expenditure. “Sometimes this is just part of the process,” he notes, advising to fail fast and fall forwards. “The difference often comes down to how you deal with those missteps.” Borrowing a phrase from an industry veteran he respects, Jeff also recommends not trying to “boil the sea,” since big changes in the business often are born out of smart, incremental adjustments.

When it comes to Mubert, Bacon wanted the startup to increase the emphasis on the creative possibilities of the system. “I think [it] aligns organically with the creator economy-oriented nature of the licensing side of the business,” he elaborates.

The industry itself will become further decentralized both economically and culturally, more local heroes will grow a global presence and creators and rights-holders will find new ways to engage with their community. “Live-streaming, the metaverse, NFTs and shifts in how rights and the digital supply chain works will be commonplace,” Bacon believes. With that, generative and functional music would feel like a natural fit in helping to create unique and engaging experiences there.

Looking into the future, Jeff is feeling optimistic. “I think Mubert is well-positioned to lead the way for ethical AI generative music and take full advantage of the innovations and infrastructure shifts coming down the line,” he concludes.

Interviews

AI Music Company

Mubert is a platform powered by music producers that helps creators and brands generate unlimited royalty-free music with the help of AI. Our mission is to empower and protect the creators. Our purpose is to democratize the Creator Economy.

Generate Track API for Developers