SXSW Splashdown: B2B Unreleased Music Marketplace SURF Music Lands in US

A SXSW Innovation Award finalist, the Tokyo-based platform for music dealmaking has its big American debut and launch.

SURF Music (discover.surf) has been selected as a finalist for this year’s SXSW Innovation Award, one of only four companies in the Media category. This moment marks the global launch of this game-changing B2B platform and marketplace, which allows creators to sell their unreleased music to buyers across the global entertainment industry. It provides both sides of the equation with tools to find each other, organize tracks, collaborate, and close deals.

SURF will take part in the SXSW Innovation Awards ceremony on March 13, 2023 in Austin. Full details here.
 
In quasi-stealth mode, SURF Music has been making waves in Japan and South Korea for the last three years, though its business and vision are truly global. SURF currently works with every major record label in Japan and Korea, and more than 200 vetted A&Rs. A&Rs and music buyers can filter and discover songs using SURF’s fine-tuned AI-powered search, can put holds on cool tracks, and can place these tracks with their artists and in their projects.

SURF allows them to discover unreleased demos by hundreds of invited songwriters, producers, and music creators from across the planet, a number poised to grow quickly after launch. These creators can access creative briefs from labels, ad agencies, and film/tv production companies, can manage their catalog via AI song tagging, organize playlists, and submit songs that fit the brief. 

SURF’s highly organized and intuitive marketplace makes what has traditionally been a chaotic process manageable and beneficial for everyone involved. Music buyers can find what they need, and creators can make meaningful connections with others like them, as well as with the music industry pros they used to have to cold call or DM. The platform plans to regularly roll out new features that improve dramatically on existing tools for creators and buyers.

“We want to connect creators in a way existing marketplaces simply can’t. SURF will offer AI to help surface the right tracks and creators, and analytics to help creators see who is listening and how,” explains founder and CEO Ken Kobori, a songwriter and producer with charting hits under his belt, “Behind our platform are very real people from different parts of the world with networks and experience in the industry. Though we’ve established ourselves in Japan and South Korea, we’re here to let the industry know we’re jumping into this market. We’re thrilled to be at the starting line, ready to run.”