Australia-born AI music company Splash has appointed former SoundCloud, Twitch and Spotify executive Tracy Chan as its new CEO, effective immediately.
Chan’s appointment as CEO at Splash means that he has exited his role as Chief Content Officer at SoundCloud, where he has overseen music content, licensing and intelligence, and Creator strategy at the platform.
He also led key product launches at the platform including a new Fans tool for artists, direct messages on mobile, a comments tool, member benefits expansion and a global licensing deal with Merlin.
Chan joined SoundCloud in 2022. According to his LinkedIn profile, he is still a Strategic Advisor at SoundCloud as of March this year.
Backed by investors including the Amazon Alexa Fund, Khosla Ventures, Bitkraft Ventures and King River Capital, Splash develops AI-based tools and games for music creation and performance.
The company raised $20 million in Series A funding in 2021. It is led by ex-Twitter alumni Stephen Phillips and Richard Slatter.
Powered by an AI model trained on what the startup says is “a self-created and owned music library”, Splash’s Roblox game “Splash” has 400 million all-time visits, averages 3 million plays a month and 2.8 million performances.
Prior to joining SoundCloud, Chan was Head of Music at livestream platform Twitch.
Chan joined Twitch from Spotify where he was the Director of Product Management, leading product strategy and development for Creator platforms and building analytics tools for artists and labels, including Spotify for Artists.
Chan’s startup CrowdAlbum, a social, photo, and video aggregator that created a “visual history” of musical events from around the world, was acquired by Spotify in 2016.
Chan began his career as a product manager at YouTube, where he designed and launched YouTube Insight, the company’s flagship analytics platform for Creators.
At Splash, Chan succeeds Stephen Phillips who resigned from his position as CEO and will assume the role of Chairman.
“His experience working across Tech and Music, always with an eye on creating value for Creators and Fans is going to be a huge accelerant for Splash.”
Stephen Phillips, Splash
“I’m absolutely thrilled Tracy is joining the team,” said Phillips. “His experience working across Tech and Music, always with an eye on creating value for Creators and Fans is going to be a huge accelerant for Splash.”
“Tracy has a unique ability to see what’s coming next in Tech and Music and to anticipate and build future-facing, culture-shifting products.”
Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures
Vinod Khosla, founder of Khosla Ventures added: “Tracy has a unique ability to see what’s coming next in Tech and Music and to anticipate and build future-facing, culture-shifting products. His leadership, coupled with Splash’s experience developing AI and immersive music experiences for fans and artists fills me with excitement for the next chapter in the company’s story.”
“Music is ultimately about connection. I’m inspired by Splash’s vision to make music fun and accessible to anyone.”
Tracy Chan
Tracy Chan said: “Music is ultimately about connection. I’m inspired by Splash’s vision to make music fun and accessible to anyone, and the momentum they’ve built within Roblox, using AI to power music experiences for over 400 million players.
“Across my career, I’ve seen that the best way to help artists make a sustainable living is by engaging and co-creating with fans. Bringing that strategy together with Splash’s talent, tech and audience is an unbelievably exciting opportunity.”
In January, SoundCloud confirmed that it may sell itself this year, but only if its board can find the right “long-term” buyer.Music Business Worldwide
