What happened
Former Spotify Head of Innovation Máuhan M. Zonoozy raised $5.5M pre-seed for A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya to build a portfolio of music apps without generative AI prompting.
Former Spotify Head of Innovation Máuhan M. Zonoozy has raised $5.5M pre-seed for A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya, a studio that treats software like music and skips AI prompting.
Backed by Mantis VC, SV Angel, BoxGroup and others with advisor Dawn Ostroff, the startup has already shipped six apps including Bop, Speed Surfer and Sampler.
Bop lets users place instruments on a grid, tweak tempo, add effects and export mixes to TikTok or Instagram, with a multiplayer mode and a new sandbox mixer planned for 2026.
Zonoozy says the future of music is not just AI generation — as AI makes songs abundant, human taste and playful interaction become more valuable.
What is Bop?
Bop is the studio's flagship iOS app — a grid where you drop instruments and effects onto a base song to build your own mix, then export it to TikTok or Instagram.
- Place instruments and effects on a grid to remix a song
- Adjust tempo and add one-time effects
- Export mixes directly to TikTok or Instagram
- Multiplayer version in development; sandbox mixer coming in 2026
Why no generative AI?
Zonoozy argues that as AI makes generated songs abundant, taste and human participation matter more. The team will use AI to build and secure apps, but not to replace playful interaction with music.
Why it matters for me
Backed by Mantis VC, SV Angel, BoxGroup and advisor Dawn Ostroff, the studio has shipped 6 apps and will launch a multiplayer Bop and a sandbox mixer in 2026.
Daily Life
Music Fans · Creators
Music fans and young creators get simple, tactile apps like Bop to play with music instead of prompting an AI to generate a full song.
Work
Startups · Product Managers
Founders and PMs get a clear signal: a human-first, anti-generative-AI positioning can still raise institutional pre-seed in 2026.
Money
Vc Investors · Developers
Investors and developers see a portfolio bet — 6+ small apps shipped as singles and EPs rather than one monolithic platform, with a sandbox mixer coming in 2026.
What to remember
Human taste and play over AI generation.
Ex-Spotify leader raises $5.5M for A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya — playful music apps like Bop where you play with music, not prompt AI to make it.
Verified sources (4)
A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya is a startup offering fun music apps without any AI prompting
↗A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya reveals a music-making app called Bop
↗A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding
↗A Vinyl Bar in Shibuya — official site
↗Claims and linked sources
7 claimsA Vinyl Bar in Shibuya raised a $5.5M pre-seed round announced on 14 Sep 2026.
The pre-seed was backed by Mantis VC, SV Angel, BoxGroup, Quiet Capital, Common Metal, Gold House, Liquid 2 Ventures, Breakers VC, Systemic Ventures, Collaborative Fund and others, with Dawn Ostroff joining as advisor.
Founder Máuhan M. Zonoozy was former Head of Innovation at Spotify and founder of Bubbl (acquired by Cricket Media); he left Spotify in 2024.
Zonoozy says the company deliberately avoids generative AI in every app, believing the future of music is not just AI song generation, but values human taste and participation more as AI content becomes abundant.
The startup describes itself as a label treating software like music — web apps as singles, native apps as EPs — and has shipped Speed Surfer, Usersound, Stacks, Drops, Sampler and Bop.
Bop is an iOS app where users place instruments and effects in a grid to build mixes, adjust tempo, add one-time effects and export to TikTok or Instagram; a multiplayer version is in development.
In 2026 the company plans to ship a musical sandbox mixer that lets users create instruments and remix music elements.