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A founder aged 19 has raised £1 million to create Chaos – described as the first operating system for music.

Chaos, founded by Ruhan Verma, is a unified space for music creators to collaborate, communicate and create. It includes the sharing of files, feedback and lossless live writing rooms.

A self-taught musician and producer, Verma spent years watching creative work get fragmented across endless messaging threads, disconnected files and siloed software, making collaboration cumbersome and attributions an uphill battle. 

At the core of the platform is a provenance layer that fingerprints contributions and preserves a record of the creative process, ensuring creators have full visibility and control over their work, with every contribution recognised and attributed.

The pre-seed fundraise was led by Bridford Group, with participation from leading international music distribution company Amuse and a group of investors and high-profile operators across the global music industry.

Chaos plans to accelerate its expansion across the UK and the US ahead of its public launch this month. It said its waitlist exceeds 15,000 creators. 

The company has also opened its new London office, complete with an in-house recording studio for artists and producers. Its six-person team spans London and New York, with every member a musician or producer in their own right, bringing firsthand experience of the creative process to the product they’re building.

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“I started producing music when I was 13, and over the years I’ve been lucky enough to work with some incredible artists and producers,” said Verma. “So much effort that goes into the creative process gets lost purely because of disconnected tools and current creator tools felt outdated. 

“This investment will support our growth and ambition to be the single source of truth in the industry, just like Notion is for businesses. There is an opportunity here to improve tools available to creators and build Chaos, to replace music’s outdated and fragmented software. 

“We are grateful to our investors and industry leaders backing our vision.”

Amuse contributes its industry leading insights as a fast-growing, digital music distribution company, home to billion-streaming songs and independent artists and labels worldwide.

Giorgio D’Ambrosio, CEO of Amuse, said: “Amuse exists to help the next generation of artists and labels release music and build careers, effortlessly and on their own terms. 

“Chaos shares that belief and adds something the industry increasingly needs: provenance. A clear record of every contribution will not only facilitate releasing and managing catalogs, but play an increasingly bigger role in which music gets heard, and we’re proud to back Ruhan and the Chaos team building it.”

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