A Digital Music Solution Made for Musicians, Designed by Musicians

OUR STORY

MatchMySound came to life with a few innovators, passion for music education, and a bit of serendipity.

About ten years ago, Kristo Kao, a renowned Estonian guitarist, theorist, tutor, and researcher, authored a guitar method book. Kristo offered a unique opportunity for any and all students who read the book: If they sent him their MP3s, he promised to listen and respond.

The book was a success. It was so successful, in fact, that Kristo found himself flooded with student MP3 submissions. As luck would have it, Margus Niitsoo, a classmate at the University of Tartu, had purchased the book, sent in his MP3, and was waiting for a response. When Margus realized Kristo was doing the entire process manually, he took it upon himself to create an algorithm that would automate the process. The partnership of a brilliant developer and an equally brilliant musician brought MatchMySound to life.

Fast-forward a few months, and the duo – now known as Music Education OÜ – sent word of their innovative music technology out to educators and publishers across the globe. David Smolover, music business entrepreneur and lifelong musician and music educator, heard the message loud and clear from 4,000 miles away. He immediately realized that Kristo and Margus had created a solution that would disrupt the music education ecosystem. They formed a partnership in 2014 and, five years later and with the help of an investor team that believed in the technology, David’s company Accelerando acquired the company.

Musicians and professionals in the industry of music education quickly came on board to join the revolution. Today, MatchMySound is a vibrant and passionate company whose mission it is to change the world of music, one musician at a time.

OUR TEAM

Music Technology is Our Jam

David Smolover
Founder & CEO

Dave is a career musician, music educator, and serial entrepreneur whose lifelong mission has been to find ways to make it easier for more people to bring music into the world. He has founded several innovative and successful businesses in pursuit of that dream, including the National Guitar Workshop, DayJams, Workshop Arts Publications, and WorkshopLive.

Steve Freeman
Business Development Director – USA

Steve is an accomplished Jazz guitarist and career educator. After serving on the faculty at Musicians Institute, he founded the Atlanta Institute of Music, an accredited school for guitar, bass, drums, voice, brass, and production. After many years as CEO, Steve joined the Camp Jam team as their VP of Operations. Steve has authored several books and continues to compose and record his original music. His music can be heard at stevefreemanguitar.com.

James Kimberley
Business Development Director – EMEA

James, the latest addition to our management team,  is responsible for developing the MatchMySound name globally outside of the USA. Prior to joining us, James was building business development capabilities for music technology startups, focusing on Europe’s education and publishing markets. James is passionate about disability equality, having supported thousands of people into work by developing policies and programs with FTSE 100 businesses in the UK. Though James may not hold any professional music qualifications, he is a “world-renowned” very bad and loud singer of rugby songs.

Andres Traumann
Software Engineer

Andres worked as a software developer for a robotics company and as a research assistant in a computer vision research group before joining MatchMySound. This prepared him for working with MatchMySound’s automatic feedback algorithms, as well as for doing regular software development. Andres graduated with an MSc in computer science, focusing on machine learning, computer vision, and signal processing. He stands out as the only person on our team who cannot play a musical instrument.

Raul Taremaa
Design & UX Director

Raul has studied biology, guitar, and art at various institutions, recently graduating from the Estonian Academy of Arts in the media graphics department. For the last eight years, Raul has worked as a Web and UX designer and dabbled in front-end programming.

Tish Merwin
Customer Relations Director

Tish is a classically trained guitarist with over 17 years as a music educator in both private and classroom settings teaching guitar, bass guitar, and theory. She has also been recording and performing with award-winning children’s performer Terry “A La Berry” Hall for over a decade, entertaining young audiences all over New England and beyond. Tish has extensive IT experience, having served as Systems Administrator/Support Manager for WorkshopLive, as well as a Technical Support Supervisor for Apple, Inc.