Turntable returns as Hangout a decade after flameout with $8.2M funding

Turntable Labs has closed a $8.2M seed round before launching the social listening app Hangout later this year. After a promising start, the original Turntable.fm app failed, becoming a poster child for “How Not To Launch A Music Tech Startup.”

Turntable returns as Hangout

The new Hangout app allows music fans, coworkers, and other communities to gather, DJ together, and interact in a gamified virtual setting.

The startup is currently in talks with rightsholders, and the funding may be needed to be legal before the upcoming launch.

The rise and fall of Turntable

Turntable.fm gained traction in 2011 and raised $7.5 million. But infighting, stalled growth, no clear path to revenue, and battles with labels led to a shutdown. In the middle of it all, co-founder Joseph Perla split with Chasen and launched rival tt.fm.

“I love music, I’m still very passionate about it,” said co-founder Billy Chasen at the time, “but I don’t think I can launch something again in music until something changes.”

Perla believes now is the time to try again: “Hangout is the manifestation of the original concept the founder & CEO envisioned for the social listening platform over a decade ago.”

Making Music Social

Like Turntable, Hangout offers game-like features that “address the missing layer of excitement and connection most virtual social experiences lack.” Virtual DJ booths allow users to spin tracks for themselves and friends and in public-themed rooms. Custom avatars, upvoting tracks, and chat options are all part of the Hangout experience.

The latest iteration will add voice chat and mobile apps, making it easier for fans, artists, and influencers to gather and share music.

“We’ve created Hangout with a positive-sum approach in mind,” according to Perla. “People need joyful, meaningful social experiences online: music can facilitate that. And music needs more and more compelling ways to reach people and bring them together. Hangout accomplishes both, as one of the first truly participatory places online for music enjoyment and real-time social interaction.”

The $8.2 million seed round was led by Founders Fund, Elizabeth Street Ventures, 468 Capital, and ex-Facebook-led f7 Ventures and includes contributions from angel investor Michael Guimarin, CEO of WordOut.

Fans can sign up for the Hangout waitlist for its invite-only beta, with the full public launch coming later in 2024.

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.