Mubert

Alexey Kochetkov had a background in both technical development and jazz music, which led him to work as a creative director for agencies serving Nike, Adidas, and BMW. The inspiration for Mubert struck during his hobby of running long distances—10 to 21 km weekly. He was frustrated by playlists with unstable tempo and mood, which disrupted his running rhythm. One day, a question crystallized in his mind: why couldn't thousands of samples and loops automatically mix into an unlimited stream with a specific tempo related to his pace? This personal pain point became the seed for what would become a generative music platform.

Immediately after the idea came to him in 2016, Kochetkov and his team began building the MVP. They started with a simple web interface offering a list of genres and endless generative streams. The first feedback came from friends and colleagues. To test the concept publicly, they launched at one of Russia's largest music festivals, where participants could influence the music stream in real-time by scanning their emotions. The positive response prompted Kochetkov to seek funding for proper product development, which led him to relocate to the US in 2017. Working as a team of music and tech professionals, they built the entire ecosystem in less than six months.

Mubert's first public app launch came in late 2017, featuring three channels of functional music. However, the breakthrough moment occurred in mid-2018 when the app earned the App of the Day award in Japan. Rather than asking users to pay upfront for an innovative, unfamiliar concept, the team chose a freemium model. Though early versions were completely free, they later limited access to additional channels on a subscription basis. This approach allowed users to experience the product before committing financially.

Kochetkov identified the primary challenge: being first meant having to explain what generative music even was. Most people didn't know they needed it until they tried it—then the reaction was "WOW!" To overcome this education barrier, Mubert leaned heavily on partnerships and community-driven marketing. They collaborated with companies like Sensorium, SkillBox, Restream, and DepositPhotos, all sharing similar values. Product Hunt became a key instrument for lead generation and validation; Mubert launched on the platform six times, once for each new product. The last launch (Mubert Render in September 2021) resulted in Product of the Day and Product of the Week. Beyond partnerships, the company employed SEO-focused articles, influencer campaigns, and PR. The arrival of competitors, rather than hurting Mubert, actually helped validate the market and clarify the value of generative music. Kochetkov's multiple pivots—which he half-jokingly attributed to being "Chief Pivot Officer"—weren't failures but rather evolutionary steps that expanded the ecosystem.

By the time of this interview (October 2021), Mubert had achieved substantial milestones: 2+ million downloads worldwide, 282K active app users, App of the Year on Google Play in 2019, App of the Day in the App Store across 170 countries in November 2019, and 40 API clients. After successfully pivoting to B2B with an API offering, the company moved further into the creator economy by launching an AI music stock specifically for content creators, agencies, and brands. Operating as a fully distributed team, they used Asana for task tracking, Notion for data storage, and Slack for communication—tools that enabled their global operations.