Exclusive: AudioShake raises $14M to make audio editable
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AudioShake has raised $14 million in Series A funding to grow its platform that splits audio into components, CEO Jessica Powell exclusively tells Axios.
Why it matters: The tech has supported major film studios, music labels, sports leagues and other content owners in improving their own audio usage such as through dubbing and remastering.
How it works: The platform lets content owners upload audio files and separate the elements, such as the vocals and the different instruments on a music track or the dialogue and background noise on a broadcast. It's available on desktop and as an API and SDK for other apps.
- "You're basically working on the image of audio, and you're seeking a particular kind of sound, and then you are isolating, extracting that sound," Powell says. "It's not generative AI. You don't have hallucinations. It's really about understanding frequencies and being able to separate it."
Zoom in: AudioShake has more than 40 enterprise customers, including Universal Music, Disney Music Group, Warner Music Group, Warner Bros. Discovery, BET and NFL Films. It charges an annual fee and by usage.
- Music labels BMG and Reservoir Media have used the tech to remaster and mix albums from Nina Simone and De La Soul, respectively.
- NFL Films and other sports clients have used AudioShake to enhance dialogue clarity and remove unlicensed music from footage.
Catch up quick: Powell, formerly vice president of communications and public affairs at Google, co-founded AudioShake in 2020 with Luke Miner, who previously worked as a data scientist at C9, Crowdpac and Plaid.
- The idea traced back to a karaoke bar in Tokyo, where they wished they could strip vocals from any song.
Follow the money: Shine Capital led the round, which brought AudioShake's total funding to $19 million. Thomson Reuters Ventures, Origin Ventures, Background Capital and existing investors Indicator Ventures and Precursor Ventures participated.
The big picture: The tech benefits content owners looking to unlock more value from their archives and ongoing productions by making their audio files more searchable and accessible.
- Cleaner and more structured audio also helps with training AI models and building products that rely on voice and sound.
- "If we're going to live in a world where the machines are going to help us with a wide range of tasks ... those machines are going to need to be able to hear like humans, and they can't today," Powell says.
- "My ideal world of AudioShake is we're giving humans the powers of the machines, and the machines some of the powers of humans," she adds.
What's next: Powell says AudioShake plans to expand the 18-person team by hiring more in sales and engineering.
