have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . april 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message this article possibly contains original research . please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations . statements consisting only of original research should be removed . april 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . april 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message mixman type private founded april 1994 founder eric almgren chairman josh gabriel director and musical and product contributor headquarters san francisco california united states area served worldwide key people richard appelbaum ceo director website mixman.com mixman is an american interactive music company which produces computer software that allows for creation and manipulation of music files . 1 in 1996 mixman released the first interactive cd that allowed music fans to perform in real time with zero latency and utilizing auto beat matching . with patented synchronous technology and a flexible proprietary audio format mixman develops software to deepen the creative performing music experience . 2 3 4 5 6 7 contents 1 history 1.1 the early days 1.2 mixman the software company 1.3 merger and spin out 2 partnerships and licensing 3 music education 4 references 5 external links history edit the early days edit mixman technologies inc. was founded in 1994 by josh gabriel and eric almgren . 8 9 the mission was to create powerful but easy to use interactive music creation tools that enabled the user to make and perform the music with actual digital song elements of their favorite artist and musical styles of passion . gabriel s original concept came from a machine he developed performing dance music in clubs while in college . the machine generated light beams and as the dancer performer broke the light beams with his hands musical elements were triggered and played in a synchronized music mix . the real time performance nature of this original idea remains as the fundamental uniqueness of mixman software today . later gabriel built a prototype with a joystick sampler and computer that demonstrated the first user playable experience with popular dance songs . a team to develop the hardware device prototype that could work with music cartridges much like video game cartridges . within a year the prototype was built that consisted of a 4 x7 box which contained electronics and firmware a hardware controller and music cartridges that contained the music data for each song . the industrial designs of the hardware controller were designed by scott summit of summit id who had designed notable products for palm silicon graphics and apple . fundamental patents were also filed on the synchronization technology . early seed funding for the company was provided by almgren roger summit and dick asher . dr. roger summit founder and ceo of dialog corporation and electronic music enthusiast was the first board member and business advisor to the company . gordy davidson along with his law firm fenwick & west advised the company on its formation early corporate development facilitated patents filings and venture capital financing . dick asher former ceo of polygram music and president of columbia records now sony also joined the board and became an investor and consultant to the company to facilitate working relationships with major record labels . mixman the software company edit financing for consumer hardware at the time was very difficult . venture investors at the time in the consumer space were looking more for software companies that carried higher margins and didn t have the high marketing and inventory costs of consumer hardware . mixman began developing a software prototype and was able to obtain its series a financing to develop and sell software and music content via licensing to oem s and record companies and via the internet . the financing was led by donald mckinney who was founder and ceo of international networking devices and ex sequoia venture capital and several angel financiers . mixman developed and released several software skus to retail licensed its software to oems and record companies and developed its on line self publishing community . mixman had a retail hit with mixman studio pro and licensed software to several oem brands including sony creative labs and intel . mixman also developed software sku s in collaboration with major labels with notable titles as george clinton s greatest funkin hits captiol and tommy boy s greatest beats tommy boy warners . mixman also created an apple macintosh version . mixman software won keyboard magazine software awards and won demo god at the 1997 1998 demo conferences . to fund further development and expand its retail presence mixman raised a series b financing led by tdf capital with partner thomas ng now of ggv capital and seed and series a investors participating . merger and spin out edit in 1999 looking to expand its internet presence and further development mixman looked to raise a series c venture financing . beatnik an internet audio company was founded and led by thomas dolby a popular music artist and technology entrepreneur and was of similar size in terms of people to mixman . beatnik had recently hired lorraine harriton as ceo to raise financing and run the company . beatnik had a web based audio technology platform that provided an interactive audio experience to web sites . the two companies were brought together by mayfield fund led by mayfield partner alan morgan with the idea that mixman could be the killer application that ran on the beatnik web audio platform . with mixman s revenue and products combined with beatnik s internet story mayfield would fund the combined company with a 12m financing and take the company public shortly thereafter . tony fadell who later went on to create the ipod and iphone was hired as a consultant to work with eric almgren to write the combined company business plan . the plan was approved by both boards and the company merged with the subsequent financing following shortly thereafter . other investors also included zomba music later acquired by bmg who also held a board seat . the combined company quickly ramped up to 140 people and prepared its s1 sec filing to go public . in march of 2000 market conditions were not conducive to taking internet companies public so the ipo was postponed however in the ipo process the company raised a 35m mezzanine round of financing led by mtv . as the lead revenue generator the company continued to invest in develop and market the line of mixman software and content and continue partnerships with oems and music content companies . josh gabriel left the company to start a career as a recording artist producer and formed gabriel and dresden now an internationally known electronic music act . eric almgren left the company to start vivcom inc. now vmark.tv a video search company and remained on the beatnik board . mixman product development and business was then led by richard appelbaum the now current ceo of mixman technologies inc. in late 2002 beatnik spun out mixman to a stand alone company with new ownership including original founders and current ceo . partnerships and licensing edit mixman software has been licensed for distribution with hardware and software products . 10 music education edit mixman is used extensively in education . mixman donates products and has assisted with programs with the miracles foundation zeum boys and girls clubs and many other institutions in the us and canada . 11 references edit taub eric 21 december 2000 . basics ; homemade music with a professional sound new york times . retrieved 7 july 2013 . mixman studio performance remixing software sound on sound . retrieved 9 july 2013 . mixman studio pro music software reviews . retrieved 9 july 2013 . mixman studio pro and p mix hardware controller computer active . retrieved 7 july 2013 . mixman available for mac pc downloads internet news . retrieved 7 july 2013 . mixman remix contest 2000 stereo society . retrieved 9 july 2013 . mixman dj megamix 1.0 pc mag . retrieved 10 july 2013 . artist of the week josh gabriel armada music . retrieved 10 july 2013 . mixed up metroactive . retrieved 8 july 2013 . mixman studiopro datapicks . retrieved 10 july 2013 . strother eric spring 2003 . beatnik mixman studiopro 4.0 remix software dm 2 digital music mixer johns hopkins university project muse . retrieved 8 july 2013 . external links edit mixman official site retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title mixman & 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