Aayats Aims to Pioneer Change in Music Collaboration
Atlanta is a vibrant city for artists and music professionals. With renowned names like Outkast, Gladys Knight, Future, and Usher all originating from Atlanta, the music scene here is constantly growing, reinventing itself, and brimming with opportunities. Keylem Ayat Collier, a current Georgia State student and audio engineer, has honed his skills in recording, mixing, and mastering music for various artists across the city. Working at studios such as Street Execs and Kolab Studios, he has gained firsthand insight into the music industry’s dynamics. While in the studios, Keylem also discovered a recurring frustration among artists and industry professionals – career stagnation due to a lack of connections and gatekeeping.
Like many other industries, music heavily relies on who you know and connect with. For example, a talented singer-songwriter can have a unique sound and several tracks or even an album released under their name. Still, despite all of this, they may struggle to gain significant traction in their career due to a lack of access or connections to things like:
Beats from Producers
Mixing & Mastering from Audio Engineers
Recording Equipment from Studios
Distribution from Digital Service Providers
Royalty Collections from Performing Rights Organizations
Management and Promotion from A&Rs (Artists and Repertoires)
Performances at Live-Venues
“Despite an artist’s talent, dedication, or resume, their career can still hit a plateau. Without a good network, the industry can prevent someone from breaking through to the next level of their career. This is why I founded Aayats.”
L-R: Hao (Lucas) Jin, Aaron Kelly, & Keylem Collier
Aayats is the name of Keylem’s startup, meaning a sign of a miracle in Arabic, and also happens to be his middle name. Its goal is to revolutionize the music industry by providing a platform where aspiring recording artists can connect with industry professionals, whether they need an audio engineer, producer, beat maker, producer, songwriter, or even another artist for a collaboration. Aayats will serve as a web of connections, allowing everyone in the music industry to connect, network, and collaborate easily.
Keylem and his cofounders have tirelessly pitched Aayats at various competitions, including Georgia State’s First Pitch Friday, where they won first place, Startup Runway, TIE Atlanta, and Atlanta Tech Village’s Pre-Accelerator Program. Following their recent acceptance into Techstars Atlanta, they will present Aayats at Venture Atlanta.
In addition to Keylem, Aayats has two other cofounders. Keylem met his CTO, Hao (Lucas) Jin, through Y-Combinator’s Co-Founder search over a year ago and his COO, Aaron Kelly, at Georgia State University. All three connected over their shared interests and appreciation of music, tech, and changing the music industry. Through Tech Square events like TSQ Tuesday, they have also connected with other startup founders to grow their network, find talent, and better position themselves for longer-term relationships, projects, and collaborations.
With the platform set to cater to various music professionals ranging from audio engineers to producers to venue owners, Aayats aims to be synonymous with the music industry by providing comprehensive solutions to every musical need.
Currently in its beta phase, Aayats is gearing up for a full-scale launch before the end of the month and has recently secured new office space at Ponce City Market, a significant milestone for the startup. Music professionals can now join the waitlist and look forward to a platform where they can showcase their skills or find job opportunities.
Aayats also strongly emphasizes connecting aspiring artists to the perfect music industry professionals for their sound. Users can describe their dream single or album in a text box and instantly get recommended beats, studios, engineers, and writers that align with that vision. By leveraging AI technology in this recommendations format, the platform promises to enhance how music professionals and creators connect and collaborate, ultimately fostering greater innovation and success within the industry.
Keylem Collier’s vision for Aayats is ambitious yet attainable. With its comprehensive marketplace and user-friendly design, Aayats can become an essential tool for anyone involved in music by facilitating connections and propelling careers.
“Our goal at Aayats is two-fold. We want to give everyone the ability to make professional quality music. And we want to help music industry professionals earn more revenue.”
Written by Neema Tavakolian