LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Music Mastermind today announced it has appointed James Mitchell chief technology officer (CTO), reporting to Matt Serletic, Music Mastermind’s co-founder and CEO. Mitchell joins the management team from executive positions at Muve Music and Napster, where he served as CTO. In his new role, Mitchell will oversee the continued development and cross-platform expansion of the company’s proprietary cloud-based music rendering and rights engine, which powers far-ranging entertainment products.
Music Mastermind’s patented technology eliminates barriers to music creation, giving anyone the means to easily make and share great music. The company unveiled its flagship product, Zya, in a “First Look” beta exclusively for PC earlier this year, amassing more than 300,000 users. With Zya, players are able to incorporate famous hooks from hit songs, re-imagining some of the world’s most popular music. Zya is currently open to users on an invite-only basis while it is optimized to launch on mobile platforms in early 2013.
“We are honored to have James on board at Music Mastermind,” said Serletic. “His deep roots in the music and technology industries and track record of seeing complex projects to success aligns perfectly with Music Mastermind’s mission to give everyone the ability to experience the joy of making and sharing music.”
At Muve Music, Mitchell served as vice president of technology and engineering, delivering innovative, integrated digital music services to wireless carrier customers in the U.S. as well as international markets. Prior to Muve, Mitchell served as CTO at Napster, where he drove service availability, customer satisfaction and scalability to millions of potential users, while significantly reducing hardware footprint and infrastructure support costs. He also aided in the development of the Napster music app across mobile and home entertainment platforms, which eventually became the leading consumption medium for the service.
“I’ve been involved in many startups in the music and gaming space, but Music Mastermind is the first one to successfully combine immersive gameplay with powerful music creation technology,” said Mitchell. “It is with great pleasure that I join Matt and Bo and their team of passionate and experienced professionals to continue to build products that eliminate barriers to music creation.”
Mitchell previously held technical and engineering positions at IGN Entertainment and Ephemera Digital Solutions, respectively, and is a graduate of the University of London, England, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in mathematical economics, with honors.
About Music Mastermind
Founded in 2008 to give everyone the ability to experience the joy of making and sharing music, Music Mastermind creates artist-friendly digital entertainment experiences that are addictively fun to play. Part music creation engine, part social game and part discovery platform, Zya, the company’s flagship product, gives fans a totally new way to engage with music and collaborate with the world’s most beloved artists, from Lady Gaga to CeeLo. The company was co-founded by Grammy Award-winning producer/songwriter and former Chairman/CEO of Virgin Records Matt Serletic and former Managing Director and Global Head of Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Trading at JP Morgan Bo Bazylevsky. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Music Mastermind is a venture-backed startup whose investors include Intel Capital and Liberty Global.