Public Funding for Secret Sessions Limited

Secret is a UK-based music SME with a core project team of Harriet (Music Entrepreneur/CEO), John Stanners (Technical Lead) and Arman Soni (Data Scientist/Developer). The transformation of the music industry with the rise of digital streaming has meant that many of the UK's 160K musicians and songwriters struggle to make a living from traditional sources of income. Only a small proportion (0.4%) earn enough to live on from digital streaming platforms, and the major labels only sign around 50 new artists every year, leaving around 158K artists looking for new ways to make a living. A major obstacle is that artists do not have easy access to their audience data and are therefore unable to connect and build relationships with their fanbases, through which they could create additional revenue sources from activities such as live events or selling merchandise. To address this need, Secret is building an AI-based direct-to-fan marketing platform to help musicians build engaged fanbases, dissolving the traditional barriers between artists and fans. Musicians will be able to engage their fans and generate revenue from their music online. Secret predicts that independent musicians could increase their income by up to 50% using its platform.