Have You Heard?, a Cambridge, MA-based startup co-founded by Harvard Law School students Joey Seiler and Adam Gottesfeld, has won the Genesis Project music industry startup competition sponsored by Rethink Music, Berklee and Babson College.
Have You Heard? leverages data from music streaming platforms like Spotify to make music listening and sharing more rewarding for fans and, in turn, more lucrative for artists and brands. The app combines the classic street team promotional model with online games.
Users are awarded points when they listen to or share the music. When the user reaches a certain level of points, they are awarded an interaction with the artist, which could range from discounted music or concert tickets to a special recording from the artist or backstage passes.
The Genesis prize which includes $10,000 in legal services from Duane Morris, consulting services, and at least three meetings with venture capitalists was awarded during this weeks second Rethink Music conference, presented by Berklee College of Music and midem, in association with Harvard's Berkman Center.
Top left photo – from left: Rethink Music Genesis Project startup competition winners Adam Gottesfeld and Joey Seiler, co-founders of Have You Heard?; Allen Bargfrede, executive director, Rethink Music; and Christopher Bavitz, assistant director, Berkman Center. Photo by Phil Farnsworth.
