Sonos Challenge: University of Washington

October 9th, 2018 | In partnership with Sonos and the University of Washington | University of Washington, Seattle

Sonos Challenge:

University of Washington

October 9th, 2018

On Tuesday, October 9th, over 100 University of Washington students came together for a kickoff event in partnership with Real Industry and Sonos to answer this question: How do we design or build an experience that delivers the right sound, at the right moment, into people's lives?  The Real Industry team was thrilled to join Sonos in Seattle for the second year in a row.

“Last year, over 100 University of Washington students, with different and complementary levels of skill in digital signal processing, computer science, and machine learning, got together and shared a fine set of experiences. These students were able to apply the concepts that they learned in usual classroom and lab instruction. It was really nice to watch them experience the importance of their creativity in their work. Moreover, they were also able to bring some exciting new concepts back as future research and class projects.”

— Professor Les Atlas, Signal Processing and Machine Learning Researcher, University of Washington

Smart speakers are transforming how we enjoy music, access information, and interact with our homes. Industry mentors from Sonos are facilitating a challenge in which university students design smart speaker experiences that improve the moments in our daily lives. Over the course of two weeks, students will use Sonos hardware and software to explore this prompt, build something, and communicate the engineering and business value behind their accomplishments.

“I enjoyed the Real Industry-Sonos events last year in Boston and Seattle. For me, the fact that the students were exposed to a broad cross section of the development process, including ideation, product management, and design, as well as the actual coding, was particularly appealing. I’m excited to see what students do this year with our open developer platform.”

— Matt Welch, Product Manager, Sonos

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“Today’s university students are the future leaders of industry...By partnering with Sonos and the University of Washington, we’re able to give students unprecedented access to real-world challenges, technologies, and career opportunities. ”

— Jay LeBoeuf, founder and Executive Director of Real Industry

The Sonos Challenge empowers university students to get experience with technology and innovation in an industry they’re passionate about, all while receiving mentorship from professionals in the field. This partnership between Real Industry and Sonos provides students with opportunities they would not have otherwise accessed.

Team Feel.io won the UW Sonos Challenge. In their words: “Express and embrace your feelings, fill the room with your energy and your emotions with Feel.io & SONOS. Together, we deliver the right music, at the right moment, in….to your life. As soon as you say the magic wake-word: ”Feelio!” The embedded microphone will turn on and our artificial intelligence algorithm will listen to your humming, go through the music library in the cloud, and locate the particular song. At the same time, we identify songs with a similar vibe or in the same genre and play them back to you through your SONOS speaker. It is the best way to celebrate your current mood, discover and explore music.”

Congratulations to the Feel.io team: Xu Yan, Computer Science, Zoe Zou, Master in Science and Technology Innovation, Hal Zhang, Electrical Engineering, and Padraic Casserly, Technology Innovation, Bio-Chemistry. Check out their video below!

Sonos Challenge: Boston

October 4th, 2018 | In partnership with Sonos | Sonos Headquarters, Boston

“Today’s university students are the future leaders of industry...By partnering with Sonos and Boston-area universities, we’re able to give students unprecedented access to real-world challenges, technologies, and career opportunities. ”

— Jay LeBoeuf, founder and Executive Director of Real Industry

On Thursday, October 4th, students coming from universities across the Greater Boston Area came together for a kickoff event in partnership with Real Industry and Sonos to answer this question: How do we design or build an experience that delivers the right sound, at the right moment, into people's lives?  These students hailed from Tufts University, Northeastern University, Harvard University, Boston University, Boston College, Emerson College, Wellesley College, Berklee College of Music, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Clark University, and more.

Smart speakers are transforming how we enjoy music, access information, and interact with our homes. Industry mentors from Sonos are facilitating a challenge in which university students design smart speaker experiences that improve the moments in our daily lives. Over the course of two weeks, students will use Sonos hardware and software to explore this prompt, build something, and communicate the engineering and business value behind their accomplishments.

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“I enjoyed the Real Industry-Sonos events last year in Boston and Seattle. For me, the fact that the students were exposed to a broad cross section of the development process, including ideation, product management, and design, as well as the actual coding, was particularly appealing. I’m excited to see what students do this year with our open developer platform.”

— Matt Welch, Product Manager, Sonos

The Sonos Challenge empowers university students to get experience with technology and innovation in an industry they’re passionate about, all while receiving mentorship from professionals in the field. This partnership between Real Industry and Sonos provides students with opportunities they would not have otherwise accessed.

A team of 3 Tufts University students won the Boston Sonos Challenge. Chris Markus, Electrical Engineering  ‘20, Katie Elliott, EE ‘20, and Allie Lam, Applied Math/Music Technology ‘20, created OurSound, a group listening solution.

Their project was an integrated, collaborative music recommendation solution, built upon the Spotify and Sonos APIs. The app allows groups of listeners to enjoy a music playlist creating based on their shared listening preferences, easily controlled by intuitive controls, on a Sonos system.

The team received $1,200 in Sonos speakers and a chance to present their submissions to Sonos leaders.

A huge congrats to Chris, Katie, and Allie! Check out the OurSound video below.

New York University Pandora Challenge with The War on Drugs & GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition

September 26th, 2018 | In partnership with The War on Drugs and the GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition, presented with New York University #PandoraChallenge 

“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”

— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora

On Wednesday, September 26th, New York University students came together for a kickoff event in partnership with The War on Drugs and the GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition for the Pandora Challenge. The GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition is a non-profit collective dedicated to building universal music education participation in elementary and secondary schools nationwide.

At this event, students formed teams to create music marketing and playlist campaigns to support the GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition in positively impacting the lives of young people. This is the power of music and technology powering social impact.

“The program educates, empowers, inspires thousands of students for careers in music, media, marketing, and business. Students make a dent in the universe, while gaining the real-world experience and professional networks they need to secure future employment.”

— Jay LeBoeuf, Founder and Executive Director at Real Industry

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The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drive awareness to the mission of GRAMMY™ Music Education Coalition. The playlists will include an introduction from The War on Drugs and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the non-profit’s mission. The student teams have four weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around the power of music in transforming lives and access to music resources for all.

The New York University Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 24th! Congratulations to the winning teams!

The Comedown

Carmen Lustik - Music Composition for Film and Multimedia - Class of 2021

Elizabeth Croteau - Music Composition for Songwriting and Production - Class of 2021

Akua Amponsah - Journalism Class of 2022

Raised by Radio

Emily Knesevitch - Music Business - Class of 2019

Aranyaka Verma - Music Business - Class of 2019

Paul Sergent - Music Business - Class of 2019

Stephanie Goldberg - Music Business - Class of 2019

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

University of Michigan Pandora Challenge with Bryce Vine & Barn Sanctuary

September 25th, 2018 | In partnership with Bryce Vine and Barn Sanctuary, presented with the University of Michigan #PandoraChallenge 

“We are so excited to host the Pandora Challenge: Music and Social Impact here at the University of Michigan. The Department of Entrepreneurship and Leadership (in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance) is committed to catalyzing pathways for passionate, creative students who believe in the potential for music to make the world better...the chance to work with rising star Bryce Vine to support a local organization like Barn Sanctuary is exactly the kind of experiential learning platform our students need as they develop their professional voices...all while applying the UM traditions of leadership, innovation, and social responsibility.”

— Jonathan Kuuskoski, Chair, Department of Entrepreneurship and Leadership, Director, EXCEL Lab, School of Music, Theatre & Dance - University of Michigan

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Photo Credit: Sam Goldin

On Tuesday, September 24th, Real Industry and Pandora took the Pandora Challenge:Music & Social Impact tour to Ann Arbor, Michigan! University of Michigan students came together for a kickoff event in partnership with Bryce Vine and Barn Sanctuary. Barn Sanctuary is a hands-on animal sanctuary dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and caring for farm animal refugees. This includes any animals that have been abused, abandoned, sentenced to death or are victims of natural disasters. Bryce grew up with Dan McKernan, the Founder and Executive Director of Barn Sanctuary, making this organization and program especially significant to him and everyone involved.

At this event, students formed teams to create music marketing and playlist campaigns to support Barn Sanctuary in it’s mission to better the lives of farm animal refugees. After receiving instruction from the Pandora team, students got to work on creating their campaigns.

“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”

— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora

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Photo Credit: Sam Goldin

The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drives awareness to the Barn Sanctuary. The playlists will include an introduction from Bryce Vine and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the non-profit’s mission. The student teams have three weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around the power of music in transforming lives and access to music resources for all.

The University of Michigan Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 16th! A big congratulations to the students on the winning team.

Andrew Reed - UX Design and Business - Class of 2020

Naman Gupta - Business Administration - Class of 2021

Tiana Colovos - Economics - Class of 2020

Sanjit Johri - Business - Class of 2022

Muskaan Bajoria - LSA Undecided - Class of 2021

On November 13, 2018, Pandora’s executive team invited the winner team for a half-day mentorship session with:

Tony Calzaretta, VP Listener Product & Design, Bill Crandall, VP Editorial Content, Shamal Ranasinghe, VP Catalog & Creator Product, Lauren Nagel, VP Executive Creative Director, Beckie Wood, VP Content Programming, Catalog & Insights and Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing.

In addition, Pandora shared the team’s winning playlists across its social media outlets.

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

University of Hartford Pandora Challenge with Andrew McMahon & Dear Jack Foundation

September 17th, 2018 | In partnership with Andrew McMahon and the Dear Jack Foundation, presented with University of Hartford #PandoraChallenge 

“The University of Hartford is thrilled to participate in the 2018 Real Industry Pandora Challenge. This event presents the real-world intersection of music, marketing and social advocacy to our students as an exercise that will better prepare them to enter the workforce career ready. This is truly an educational experience that cannot be had any other way...The opportunities for innovative teaching and critical thinking are truly endless and we can’t wait to see our students grow from this collaboration.”

— Gabe Herman, Assistant Professor of Music Industry,University of Hartford

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Photo Credit: Jonathan Olson

On Thursday, September 20th, University of Hartford students came together for a kickoff event in partnership with Andrew McMahon and the Dear Jack Foundation for the Pandora Challenge. The Dear Jack Foundation provides impactful programming that directly benefits adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer in order to improve quality of life and create positive health outcomes from treatment to survivorship for patients and their families.

At this event, students formed teams to create music marketing and playlist campaigns to support the Dear Jack Foundation in positively impacting the lives of young people. This is the power of music and technology powering social impact.

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“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”

— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora

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Photo Credit: Jonathan Olson

The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drives awareness to the Dear Jack Foundation. The playlists will include an introduction from Andrew McMahon and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the non-profit’s mission. The student teams have three weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around the power of music in transforming lives and access to music resources for all.

The University of Hartford Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 11th! Congratulations to the winning team.

Sarah Watts - Music Management - Class of 2019

Gianna Bielenda - Music Management - Class of 2019

On November 13, 2018, Pandora’s executive team invited the winner team for a half-day mentorship session with:

Tony Calzaretta, VP Listener Product & Design, Bill Crandall, VP Editorial Content, Shamal Ranasinghe, VP Catalog & Creator Product, Lauren Nagel, VP Executive Creative Director, Beckie Wood, VP Content Programming, Catalog & Insights and Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing.

In addition, Pandora shared the team’s winning playlists across its social media outlets.

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

Carnegie Mellon University Pandora Challenge with Jon Batiste & Sing for Hope

September 17th, 2018 | In partnership with Jon Batiste and Sing for Hope, presented with Carnegie Mellon University #PandoraChallenge 

“We’re very excited to host the Pandora Challenge this year at Carnegie Mellon University. At CMU, we continually look for ways to bring together the best minds from across campus and expose them to real-world challenges and opportunities. The Pandora Challenge is a perfect fit. Our students will have a great chance to collaborate, innovate and launch a new initiative out into the world.”

— Lance LaDuke, Assistant Teaching Professor of Euphonium, Director, Modern Musicking Lab, Carnegie Mellon University

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On Monday, September 17th, Carnegie Mellon University students came together for a kickoff event in partnership with Jon Batiste and charitable non-profit Sing for Hope for the Pandora Challenge. At this event, students formed teams to use the power of music to create social impact. Teams will create a music marketing and playlist campaign to support the support Sing for Hope in their mission to transform individuals and communities by leveraging the power of the arts to create a better world.

“Powering transformation through the arts is at the core of Sing for Hope’s mission. That’s why we are proud to join our dear friend and Sing for Hope board member Jon Batiste to partner with Real Industry and Pandora, tapping the great minds at Carnegie Mellon University to amplify our message for a broad audience.”

— Monica Yunus Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder of Sing for Hope, and Faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, and Camille Zamora, Co-Executive Director and Co-Founder of Sing for Hope

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The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drives awareness to Sing for Hope. The playlists will include an introduction from Jon Batiste and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the non-profit’s mission. The student teams have three weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around the power of music in transforming lives and access to music resources for all.

“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”

— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora

The Carnegie Mellon University Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 7th! Congratulations to the winning student team!

Shane Killen - Vocal Performance - Class of 2022

Kyle Collins - Vocal Performance - Class of 2022

Lucy Altus - Vocal Performance - Class of 2022

Julia Timmons - Vocal Performance - Class of 2022

Olivia Gesualdi - Vocal Performance - Class of 2022

On November 13, 2018, Pandora’s executive team invited the winner team for a half-day mentorship session with:

Tony Calzaretta, VP Listener Product & Design, Bill Crandall, VP Editorial Content, Shamal Ranasinghe, VP Catalog & Creator Product, Lauren Nagel, VP Executive Creative Director, Beckie Wood, VP Content Programming, Catalog & Insights and Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing.

In addition, Pandora shared the team’s winning playlists across its social media outlets.

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

University of Miami Pandora Challenge with Phora & Yours Truly

September 13th, 2018 | In partnership with Phora and Yours Truly, presented with University of Miami’s Frost School of Music #PandoraChallenge 

“The Real Industry Pandora Challenge events give students a look behind the curtain into real-world artist marketing technologies and scenarios. This is the type of work they can put on resumes during future internship and job searches.”

— Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing at Pandora

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On Thursday, September 13th, over 100 University of Miami students came together for a kickoff event in Partnership with Phora (Warner Bros. Records) and his social impact initiative Yours Truly to inspire young people to rally around the message and vision of Yours Truly.

“We are very excited to participate in the Pandora Challenge: Music and Social Impact at the University of Miami Frost School of Music. It is very important that, as future leaders of the music business, our students understand not only how music can drive commerce, but also how music can drive social change.”

— Serona Elton, Director of the Music Business and Entertainment Industries Program

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The assignment is to create, launch, market, and optimize playlists that drives awareness of Phora’s foundation. The playlists will include an introduction from Phora and student-created voice messages that educate listeners about the mission of Yours Truly. The student teams have three weeks to grow their listenership and influence their audience to become activated in the conversation around mental health.

“The program educates, empowers, inspires thousands of students for careers in music, media, marketing, and business,” said Jay LeBoeuf, Founder and Executive Director at Real Industry. “Students make a dent in the universe, while gaining the real-world experience and professional networks they need to secure future employment.”

— Jay LeBoeuf, Founder and Executive Director at Real Industry

The University of Miami Pandora Challenge wrapped up on October 9th! Congratulations to the winning team!

Michelle Boursiquot - Music Business and Entertainment Industries - Class of 2019

Justin Pack - Motion Pictures - Class of 2019

Avery McGee - Music Business and Entertainment Industries - Class of 2019

Miles Cowans - Masters of Music Business and Entertainment Industries - Class of 2019

Isabella Leroy - Motion Pictures: Screenwriting Track - Class of 2020

Jordan Craft - Management and Marketing - Class of 2020

Courtney Hamilton - Business Marketing - Class of 2020

Timothy Thomas

On November 13, 2018, Pandora’s executive team invited the winner team for a half-day mentorship session with:

Tony Calzaretta, VP Listener Product & Design, Bill Crandall, VP Editorial Content, Shamal Ranasinghe, VP Catalog & Creator Product, Lauren Nagel, VP Executive Creative Director, Beckie Wood, VP Content Programming, Catalog & Insights and Heather Ellis, Manager, Artist Marketing.

In addition, Pandora shared the team’s winning playlists across its social media outlets.

For more on the Pandora Challenges, check out Pandora’s article: http://blog.pandora.com/us/pandora-real-industrys-second-annual-university-challenge/

Real Industry's 2018 Fall Events

“These programs educate, empower, and inspire thousands of students towards creative industry careers. Students make a dent in the universe, while gaining the real-world experience and professional networks they need to secure future employment.”

— Jay LeBoeuf, Founder and Executive Director at Real Industry

On September 13th, the Real Industry Design Workshop circuit will kick off, with 13 design challenges taking place at amazing university campuses and cities across the United States. Real Industry is thrilled to partner with our amazing colleagues at Pandora, Bose, Sonos, and Turtle Beach to bring our third year of experiential learning to the future leaders of the arts and technology industry.

As an educational non-profit, Real Industry developed these hands-on workshops ("design challenges") to create the opportunity for students to work with expert mentors at industry-leading companies to tackle real-world product, technical, and business problems. As a result, students are exposed to new career paths in industry, develop new skills, and rapidly expand their professional networks. Our partner organizations stand to benefit as well; companies receive invaluable product insights, employer branding, and talent access, while supporting the future leaders of our industry.

Pandora Challenge

University of Miami - Sept. 13th

Carnegie Mellon University - Sept. 17th

University of Hartford - Sept. 20th 

University of Michigan - Sept. 25th

Sonos Challenge

Greater Boston Area - Oct. 4th

University of Washington - Oct. 9th

Bose Challenge

University of California, Berkeley - Oct. 16th

Carnegie Mellon University - Oct. 18th

Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Oct. 22nd

Turtle Beach

Game Industry Night

University of Michigan - Oct. 12th

Check out the Real Industry mission video below for a closer look at our organization’s guiding goals in educating, inspiring, and empowering university students in the arts and technology industry.

To stay up to date on all things Real Industry and gain access to our world-class network of industry leaders, join our community by signing up with us below!

Real Startup 2018 In Review

“The teams come with great ideas, fresh perspective, and enthusiasm, and the results are incredible. As a mentor I learn as much from them about where the world is going as they learn from me, it is a highlight of my year.”

— Mike Herring, VP, Business Finance Officer, Google

On June 19th, Real Industry welcomed five teams of university based startups to San Francisco for Real Startup 2018. Real Startup is an intensive two-week entrepreneurship program for student entrepreneurs pursuing ventures in music, media, and entertainment technology. The cohort spent each day of the program visiting industry-leading companies, connecting with world-class mentors, and progressing their ventures closer and closer to their next milestones. On the last day of the program, each team delivered final presentations, which included their pitches, their lessons learned from Real Startup, and their next steps as they move forward with their startups.

Here's some fast facts and figures on Real Startup 2018:

• 24 students hailing from universities all over the world

• 13 fantastic host companies during site visits, including Google, Dolby, Pandora, Eventbrite, Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, and more

• 84 mentors from various and diverse areas of industry

• Ventures across live ticketing, AR/VR for concerts, wearables for creative expression and performance, mobile music creation apps, and media distribution platforms for cultural institutions.

Real Startup is made possible thanks to our generous corporate sponsors. Thank you to LANDR, Reverb, Stashimi, iZotope, Pro Sound Effects, New York University Steinhardt, Jaunt, and Polsinelli, and to Olivann for supporting Real Industry through a philanthropic grant.

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Real Startup included visits to over a dozen amazing companies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our time spent with companies included facility tours, masterclasses, mentor Q&As, demos, and more. Keep reading for a day-by-day snap shot from our program. For even more detail on the daily activities of the cohort check out the full schedule here: https://realstartup2018.sched.com/

Day 1

Polsinelli

Intellectual Property for Startups; Marketing, Pitching and Storytelling with Dave Hill Jr.

Day 2

Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center and Eventbrite

Milestones Makers Program; Industry Insights with Marty Ringlein, Mentor Meetings

Day 3

Playgrounds and SUBPAC

Fireside Chat with Founders, Facility Tour, Product Demos, and Mini-Design Challenge

Day 4

Dolby

Masterclasses on Hardware, User-Generated Content, and the Music Ecosystem, Demos, and Mentor Sessions

Day 5

Google and Pyramind

Fireside Chat, Mentor Q&A, Masterclass on the World of Outside Investment, and a session with Tribe VR

Day 6

Sandbox Suites

Mentor Madness - Teams meet with 17 of our expert mentors back to back, both in person and virtually

Day 7

Pandora and Avid

Fireside Chat and Mentor Q&A; Masterclass on Avid's Path and Mentor Q&A with Ed Gray

Day 8

Sennheiser and Brilliant Corners

Masterclasses on How R&D Becomes Product, The Basics of Working with Artists, and an Artist Manager and Mentor Q&A Session

Day 9

CCRMA at Stanford University

Tour, Workshops, Mentor Meetings, and a Fireside Chat with Tim Westergren, Founder of Pandora

Day 10

Polsinelli

Final Reception with presentations from each team

Thank you to all of the fantastic hosts of Real Startup 2018!

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Real Industry was thrilled by the engagement and focus the Real Startup 2018 Cohort displayed, and our mentors were similarly impressed. For a full list of the amazing mentors who participated in this program, click here: https://realstartup2018.sched.com/directory/speakers

“The passion and drive of these guys is contagious. There is an atmosphere that we are about to be witness to something really big; the joy of being a mentor is getting to share that feeling and knowing you could help make it happen.”

— Mark Thomas, Researcher in Audio and Acoustics, Dolby

“I think we all went through the rocky transition from college to our first real job. Being a mentor for Real Startup allows you to make a huge impact with the next generation of professionals through your experienced guidance and feedback.”

— Brian Knauss, Experienced Professional at the Intersection of Design, Product, and Electrical Engineering

The two-weeks of jam-packed experiential learning and networking went by fast, but this fantastic group of young entrepreneurs made every day count. Now it’s your turn to meet the cohort:

Curtain Call - New York University

Change the way you discover music. Curtain Call's unique access to last minute discounted concert tickets gives users the chance to ditch digital discovery and bring local bands and artists back to their roots—live music.

Quinn Robertson, Tanya Gupta, Laura Ahmetaj, Carissa Estilo

Website: http://www.curtaincall.us/

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Genki Instruments - Malmö University, University of Iceland, McGill University

Technology should feel natural. Their first product is Wave. Wave by Genki Instruments is a ring that lets you control sound, shape effects and send commands with the motion of your hand. Wave is a wearable MIDI controller that adds a creative layer on top of your musical instruments and enables you to do more with what you already have. Use Wave to express your musical intentions using motion in a visual and natural way.

Ólafur Bjarki Bogason, Jón Helgi Hólmgeirsson, Haraldur Hugosson, Daníel Grétarsson

Website: https://www.genkiinstruments.com/

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Playgrounds - New York University

Playgrounds is the hub for gamified art experiences for kids and families. A direct channel between homes and art and cultural institutions, Playgrounds gives users the opportunity to engage directly with art, culture, and one another, turning play into patronage. Unlike apps like Pokemon Go, Playgrounds fosters real-life experiences that are intellectually stimulating and built in partnership with art and cultural institutions.

Tyler Bisson, Andre Kostiw-Gill, Willie Payne

Website: http://plygrnds.co/

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Merciv - University of Southern California

Merciv is a musical content studio focusing on creating additional revenue streams in live music by integrating AR technologies with existing concert infrastructure. By creating immersive experiences for pre-show, during-show, and post-show consumption, Merciv enables any musical business or artist to differentiate themselves from the crowd and provide unique ways for their fans to interact with their brand. By pioneering the integration of immersive technologies with the live setting, Merciv is ushering in a new age of immersive musical performance and consumption that will fundamentally change how music is experienced in the generations to come.

Cam Lindsay, Bryce Matsumori, Jacob Fishman

website: www.mercive.com

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Cherrystems Music - Tufts University, Purdue University

Cherrystems is a tool that lets you turn simple musical ideas – tapped rhythms, hummed melodies, or recorded audio samples – into a complete song in under a minute. Our algorithm is packaged into an app which connects you with music enthusiasts to share inputs and collaborate with producers. Without extensive training, modern production tools are too complicated to use and previous solutions for this problem have come at the expense of creativity. Cherrystems is a musical community that empowers anyone to easily make, share, and listen to music with nothing more than their phone and a little imagination.

David Pearl, Ari Brown, Benson Cheng, Ge Gao, Jakub Walerstein

Website: https://www.cherrystemsmusic.com/

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On June 29th, the last day of Real Startup, each team delivered final presentations at our closing reception. You can watch each pitch here: https://www.facebook.com/RealIndustry/videos/1053482388161432/

The Real Industry team could not be happier with the results of Real Startup 2018. Supporting young entrepreneurs is a task we passionately pursue, and doing so with our network of world-class mentors and fantastic partner companies during this program was exceptionally rewarding.

Real Industry aims to bridge the worlds of industry and academia. Our community is always growing, and we’d love for you to be a part of it. Join us today as we continue to support the next generation of industry professionals and innovators.

University Startups Head to Silicon Valley for Real Startup 2018 Entrepreneurship Program

Real Startup, Real Industry’s two-week entrepreneurship program for university-based startup ventures focusing on media, entertainment, music, and technology, kicks off on June 18th in San Francisco. Teams experience a jam-packed schedule of mentorship and education from professionals at Dolby, Google, Pandora, Eventbrite, and many more. By leveraging Real Industry’s rich network of professionals in this niche sector of innovation, Real Startup accelerates the careers of young entrepreneurs.

Our 2018 Cohort includes five teams hailing from New York University, University of Southern California, Tufts University, Purdue University, McGill University, Malmö University, and the University of Iceland. These startups were selected from a pool of over 100 applications from across the globe. This cohort consists of teams working on ventures in various areas of media and technology, including innovations in live ticketing, AR/VR for concerts, wearables for creative expression and performance, mobile music creation apps, and media distribution platforms for cultural institutions.

Throughout the two week program, teams receive direct access to Real Industry’s network of corporate partners and over 300 expert mentors. Our 2018 schedule includes sessions with companies leading the way in industry-altering developments. We appreciate the support from all of our amazing hosts. With exposure to these organizations, plus the connections made with our fantastic community of mentors, teams complete the program with unparalleled professional networks. 

Check out what two of our mentors from Pandora and Pyramind had to say:

““Mentorship is an incredible way for students hoping to enter the industry to start building their network. My own mentors have been immensely helpful in shaping my career so far, and their support and guidance continue to help me become a better professional and person. A great entrepreneurial spirit has always been alive at Pandora, and we’re proud to support the brilliant young minds that Real Startup is introducing to the world of music tech.””

— Heather Ellis, Artist Marketing Manager at Pandora

““Pyramind is excited to host Real Industry’s Real Startup 2018 Cohort as part of their two week accelerator program...At the core of Pyramind’s music production training ethos is the connection between real-world experience and the value that mentorship provides in bridging the gap between education in the classroom and the professional workplace. Pyramind’s over fifteen-year history in music education and production was built on this dynamic equation and we value greatly our partnership with Real Industries and what we believe is the future of education and entrepreneurship.””

— Gregory J. Gordon, CEO and Founder at Pyramind

As we gear up for a phenomenal experience, we want to express our gratitude to our major corporate sponsors: LANDR, Reverb, Stashimi, iZotope, Pro Sound Effects, New York University Steinhardt, Jaunt, and Polsinelli. Real Startup is additionally funded through a philanthropic grant from Olivann. Without the generous contributions of these organizations, we would not be able to reach the level of impact we strive for through the Real Startup program.

“Stashimi was a founding sponsor of Real Startup back in 2017, and we’re happy to continue supporting the student accelerator program for the second year in a row, as we believe experiential education and mentorship is invaluable in the music and tech industries.””

— Kosta Elchev, Chief Marketing Officer at Stashimi

Not in the San Francisco Bay Area? You don’t need to miss out on all the fun! We will be posting regularly to the Real Startup 2018 Facebook Group throughout the program. We invite you to join the conversation, see updates from the teams, and share your own thoughts on the interesting crossroad of media technology and entrepreneurship. The Livestream link to the final presentations from each of the 5 teams, taking place on June 29th, will be available within this group and on Real Industry’s Facebook page by June 22nd.

Real Industry aims to bridge the worlds of industry and academia. Our community is always growing, and we’d love for you to be a part of it. Join us today.