As a company, Endel \u2014 which counts Amazon\u2019s Alexa Fund, Japanese conglomerate Avex Inc and Major Lazer\u2019s Jillionaire among its investors \u2014 actually focuses on creating tailor-made \u201ccustom sound frequencies\u201d based on personal user inputs such as time of day and location, as well as biometric details such as heart rate. \u201cWe want to understand the context of your day and rearrange the whole environment around you,\u201d Oleg Stavitsky, co-founder and CEO of Endel, tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. Endel\u2019s core algorithm takes thousands of sounds and assembles them into different templates based on the user inputs. The company launched a feature within Amazon\u2019s Alexa Skills Store this week that allows users to receive custom sounds through Alexa-enabled devices, and its ultimate ambitions are even bigger: Stavitsky says he envisions an interconnected hardware-software ecosystem through which Endel can keep tabs on the rhythm of users\u2019 daily lives via metrics like their driving patterns and the number of events on their calendar, then automatically creates a custom soundscape at the end of the day that helps them best unwind.<\/p>\n The team at Endel<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The record deal is just a nice side gig. \u201cWarner approached us and we were hesitant at first because it counters what we\u2019re doing here,\u201d Endel\u2019s co-founder and sound designer Dmitry Evgrafov tells Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cOur whole idea is making soundscapes that are real-time and adaptive. But they were like, \u2018Yeah, but can you still make albums?\u2019 So we did it as an experiment. When a label like Warner approaches you, you have to say \u2018Why not.’\u201d The other 15 records on the contract are themed around focus, relaxation and \u201con-the-go\u201d modes and will roll out over the course of the year. All 20 albums will come out of Endel\u2019s core algorithm, so they were technically, as Evgrafov says, \u201call made just by pressing one button.\u201d<\/p>\n In a press release earlier this year, Warner\u2019s Arts Music president Kevin Gore said he first learned of Endel through Techstars Music, and was immediately interested in having the team work on something for Warner. \u201cTheir innovative compositions provide unique listening experiences that will be introduced to a larger audience through the extensive reach of the Arts Music division\u2019s marketing and distribution resources,\u201d Gore said.<\/p>\n That an algorithm served as the \u201cartist\u201d on the tracks presented some unique challenges for both Warner and the Endel team. \u201cWe had to hire a copyright lawyer to answer all these questions they were asking, like, \u2018Who\u2019s going to collect the mechanical royalties for you\u2019 and \u2018Whose names do we put on the copyright,’\u201d Stavitsky recalls. \u201cWe are a collective of designers and sound engineers. We didn\u2019t know these terms! We ended up putting in all the names of the software engineers as the songwriters.\u201d<\/p>\n As AI technology grows more sophisticated \u2014 companies from IBM to Sony have debuted algorithm-based songwriting or music-making projects<\/a> in the last few years \u2014 its presence in the music industry<\/a> is increasingly a topic of intrigue, and, in some cases, worry. But Stavitsky wants to reassure musicians that his company won\u2019t take their jobs. \u201cWe don\u2019t see ourselves as competing with artists, or a replacement,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s flattering that Warner wanted to release our work as albums \u2014 but most of our sounds are not designed to be consciously listened to. They\u2019re supposed to help you by blending with the background.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Endel](\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Endel-TeamPhoto-Rooftop-2019.jpg?w=1024\")
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