Boris But: Giving Everyone an AI DJ for Their Favorite Music

Mixonset’s mission is to give everyone an AI DJ for their favorite music. We’ve created a fully automated DJ that shortens songs and mixes them together with smooth transitions. Our iOS app mixes songs from anyone’s playlists on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes & Tidal.

You can learn more about our company’s mission here: (https://www.mixonset.com/)

Tell us about yourself?

My background is in social entrepreneurship, having worked at award-winning startups like Fair Employment Foundation and MealCare. I’ve also had a lifelong passion for music, hustling as a street singer for years. After completing my B.A. at McGill, I cofounded Mixonset with our CEO, Zeyu Li.

If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?

At the best of times, starting a company is difficult. Launching a product during a pandemic is a whole different story. I’d tell myself that there are no shortcuts in life. I need to learn to become headstrong enough to get the difficult tasks done. That I am capable of so much more than I believe, and that the more I try and fail, try and succeed, I will learn to trust myself. Company building is also a long game. It’s essential to keep chugging along and push for your goals.

What problem does your business solve?

The problem is that people skip half of the songs they play. 500 billion songs were skipped in 2019 in the US alone. People skip songs because: 1) songs are too long, 2) playlists get boring, 3) shuffle mode is too random.

Mixonset’s innovation comes from the proprietary AI DJ technology that we’ve developed. Our AI technology creates music mixes comparable to the quality of a professional DJ’s mixes, while making the app simple enough for anyone to use. As a result, people skip songs 70% less on our app compared to Spotify.

What is the inspiration behind your business?

Mixonset’s Founder and CEO, Zeyu Li is a music extraordinaire who spent years building complicated software for investments banks in the daytime, and DJed at Toronto clubs at night. It was really on a frigid Canadian ski slop that Zeyu had his “a-ha” moment. He’d always found it annoying to skip songs while he’s wearing all that skiing gear. But what if you could have a personal DJ that curates, mixes, and suggests songs all instantly?

We did some research, and turns out there’s tens of millions of music power listeners who want to be able to mix tracks, but also want the simplicity of streaming.

What is your magic sauce?

DJ apps are not designed for listeners. MixCloud’s pre-recorded mixes aren’t based on your playlists. Spotify doesn’t shorten songs or create seamless transitions. Mixonset is the only solution that is made for listeners, as it automatically mixes your playlists, shortens songs, and creates seamless transitions. It’s simple and seamless.

What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?

In 5 years, instead of finding the right song to play, people will simply press our Smart Mix™ button on their phones, car players, or smart wearables, then sit back to enjoy a smooth mix.

To accompllish that, we will either expand the Mixonset app to every available music service, so that anyone can mix music whenever they want. We are also open to B2B technology licensing, so that streaming platforms can bring the magic of music mixing directly to their own listeners. (https://www.mixonset.com/licensing/)

What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?

The biggest challenge is launching our product a couple of weeks before a global pandemic. People party less, socialize less, have fun less. As a result, our product became less geared towards how we can mould Mixonset into a party music app. We began to think about Mixonset in universal terms: could normal people doing everyday things also use Mixonset? Does music mixing improve the listening experience for everyone, even in a pandemic setting? And given our success with growing installs and users, the answer is a resounding yes.

How do people get involved/buy into your vision?

If you want to have an AI DJ for their Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL or iTunes playlists should download our app for free. (https://apps.apple.com/app/id1477282813)

Website: https://www.mixonset.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixonset/