Tuned Global is expanding its technical team in Europe, with, what the company says will be “a strong focus on music AI”.
According to the B2B music and streaming solution provider, it has announced the hire and strategic promotion of six team members to “supercharge” its business in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and to “push its AI strategy forward”.
The news comes shortly after Tuned Global’s acquisition of Swedish AI music tech company Pacemaker for an undisclosed sum, Tuned Global’s first acquisition since it was established in 2011.
As part of the company’s expansion in Europe, Tuned Global has named Pacemaker co-founder Jonas Norberg as its first-ever Head of Artificial Intelligence.
He will report to Tuned Global’s Managing Director Con Raso.
Norberg will also bring along his team including Pacemaker co-founder Daniel Wallner and Product Development Director Victor Garcia to Tuned Global.
“This expanding European team is an exciting milestone for Tuned Global and part of our global strategy to grow and lead our industry.”
Con Raso, Tuned Global
Prior to joining Tuned Global, Norberg was the former CEO of Pacemaker, where he created music apps that won design awards including Apple Design Award, Red Dot “Best of the Best,” Designpreis Deutschland “Gold”, and Design Prize Switzerland.
According to Tuned Global, in his new role, Norberg will continue developing Pacemaker’s technology.
Wallner, who co-founded Pacemaker and was the latter company’s former Chief Technology Officer, will join Tuned Global’s data science team, while Garcia, who was part of the team at Pacemaker that developed the first AI-enabled DJ app for Spotify, was named Senior Engineer at Tuned Global.
“My mission is to get Tuned Global to use its data and other relevant assets in combination with the latest AI developments to strengthen its platform and grow our customers,” said Norberg.
He added: “I’m very excited about the opportunity I see for Tuned Global to become the operating system for music, the platform developers use to create engaging music experiences.”
Tuned Global also appointed another Pacemaker alumna, Mateus Moura, to join Tuned Global’s Europe-based team under SVP Head of EMEA Rick Gleave, who joined the company in September.
Moura spent two years at Pacemaker helping develop the AI DJ app. He was named Customer Success Manager at Tuned Global.
“Adding additional customer support, technical, and marketing power to the mix will let us thrive and serve more clients not only as the leading B2B music and streaming tech provider worldwide for music streaming companies but also fitness, gaming, social, media and telcos.”
Rick Gleave, Tuned Global
Apart from the hires from Pacemaker, Tuned Global named Daniel Kirby as Presales Technical Consultant, reporting to Gleave. Kirby will assist prospective customers with technical questions about the company’s turnkey music and streaming technology services.
Kirby most recently served as Head of IT at Octave Group (PlayNetwork/Soundnet/TouchTunes).
Meanwhile, Virginie Chelles, who first joined Tuned Global’s Australian team in 2014, has been promoted to VP Head of Marketing & Communications. Chelles has relocated to France to help speed up the company’s growth in the territory, Tuned Global said.
Chelles will report directly to CRO Spiro Arkoudis.
The expansion plans come as Tuned Global claims that its EMEA business has grown over 300% in the past three years.
Gleave plans to expand Tuned Global’s customer base in the EMEA region by building on the company’s existing roster of clients including background music service Rehegoo, fitness and health music providers PureEnergy, MediMusic and METALWORKOUT, music for gaming solution Reactional Music, audio story app for Sony Music Germany and African music streaming services Waw Musik, Tieme and Sewasew.
“This expanding European team is an exciting milestone for Tuned Global and part of our global strategy to grow and lead our industry. We’ve worked to develop and acquire new technology from web3 to AI, and now we’re bringing on the right people. I can’t wait for this dynamic team to deliver great outcomes for our clients,” said Con Raso, Tuned Global’s Managing Director.
Gleave added: “Europe, Africa and the Middle East are proving extremely important to Tuned Global’s ongoing growth as a company, and we needed a dedicated team with deep regional knowledge on the ground to maximize our momentum.”
“Adding additional customer support, technical, and marketing power to the mix will let us thrive and serve more clients not only as the leading B2B music and streaming tech provider worldwide for music streaming companies but also fitness, gaming, social, media and telcos.”
Tuned Global provides B2B music streaming services for companies and brands like UFC (for its UFC Ultimate Sounds app), Line Music, Warner Music (on a custom Ed Sheeran app), Universal Music, Sony Music, True Digital Group, Pizza Hut, GMM Grammy, FanLabel and Psycle, as well as other partners in the fitness, gaming, media, telecommunication and medical industries
