Collabhouse

Overview

Collabhouse is a music licensing and promotion platform, targeting primarily unsigned artists. Their services enable music makers to distribute tracks to major streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music, monetize and market through a network of influencers, and directly engage their fanbase by minting NFTs linked to royalty payments.

Joining and Transforming

I joined Collabhouse in April 2023 with the mission of transitioning the development team in-house to bolster long-term sustainability and bring critical knowledge back within the company. Despite the high caliber of our external agency's developers, the growing demands of the startup necessitated that core knowledge and skills be anchored within our team. As the first technical hire, my responsibilities extended beyond coding to include assembling and leading this new in-house team.

Strategic Pacing

After evaluating our situation, I advocated for a gradual transition rather than a rapid shift. The complexity of our platform and my positive assessment of the agency's team led me to this conclusion. Building an effective team involves more than just gathering skilled individuals—it requires cultivating a group, building good habits, and learning to work together. Recognizing the immediate needs to address bugs and enhance features, we decided to adjust our timeline for full in-house integration.

During the first six months, I served as an unofficial technical product owner, bridging gaps between the internal and external teams. This role allowed me to gain direct insights into delays and challenges, facilitated by git commit histories, pull requests, and personal dialogues. This period wasn't just about technical oversight. It was also about building trust and mutual understanding. Meanwhile I immersed myself in the music industry, exploring everything from royalties and rights management to influencer marketing and the implications of AI and smart contracts.

Building the In-House Team

In the latter half of the year, we successfully expanded our internal team by bringing on three new developers, steering Collabhouse towards greater self-reliance and innovation.

Key Achievements

Over the year, our team achieved significant milestones:

• We integrated Cyanite, an AI tool for tagging music by mood and genre, enhancing our search functionality for song similarity.

• We stabilized our integration with a major digital distribution aggregator, ensuring smoother operations.

• We launched in-app messaging using Bird to improve communication within the platform.

• We implemented PayPal Payouts to efficiently transfer collected royalties to rights holders.

• We streamlined user registrations and simplified account permissions, enhancing overall user experience.

These efforts have not only improved our platform's functionality but have also set a solid foundation for future growth and development at Collabhouse.