Selling Sheet Music 64. Building “Shazam for Sheet Music”: Songscription CEO Andrew Carlins
Sep 2, 2025
Andrew Carlins, CEO and co-founder of Songscription, discusses his mission to revolutionize music education with AI-powered music transcription. He explains the innovative two-step model that converts audio to MIDI and then to sheet music, highlighting the importance of tailored instruments and diverse genres. Andrew addresses ethical issues, artist control, and the impact of his technology on the music industry. He also shares insights on how musicians can leverage AI and engage with the evolving landscape of music transcription.
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AI As A Productivity Tool Not A Creator
- SongScription's mission is to empower musicians to play, share, learn, and create the songs they love.
- They position AI as a productivity tool for creators, learners, and educators rather than generative music replacement.
Two-Step Audio-To-Score Pipeline
- SongScription uses a two-step model: audio-to-MIDI, then MIDI-to-sheet music.
- This specialized pipeline is different from LLMs and requires training models from scratch.
Piano Models Lead Due To Data Quality
- Piano models perform best because piano data is abundant and easier to isolate.
- Other instruments like violin and guitar need cleaner solo recordings and more training to reach piano quality.