Interview: Jeff Sloan & Con Raso Discuss Tuned Global’s Partnership With FanLabel

Con Raso, Co-Founder and Managing Director at Tuned Global, and Jeff Sloan, Founder and CEO at FanLabel, connected with NxtNow Music for an in-depth interview to discuss their partnership, how Tuned Global's music cloud platform supports FanLabel’s SongPicks, and the future of music gamification and interactive fan experiences.

The partnership between Tuned Global and FanLabel began in 2021 when Tuned Global took over music ingestion, delivery, and royalty reporting. How did that relationship start initially and why was Tuned Global chosen to migrate the platform in just 10 days using the INTAGA system?

CON: The relationship began at a point where FanLabel had already proved there was something compelling in the idea of combining music discovery with competition. What they needed was a backend partner that understood the realities of licensed music and could support that concept without forcing them into a traditional music streaming model.

That was the interesting part for us. FanLabel’s requirements were not standard because the product was closer to a game than a normal DSP. It needed fast access to catalogue, new releases and metadata, but also flexibility around how that music appeared inside the experience.

The 10-day migration was possible because we were not starting from scratch. Our systems were already built to ingest catalogue, process metadata and rights information, and deliver content at scale. INTAGA, our automated music catalogue ingestion and delivery system, helped make that process much faster and more controlled, which was critical for FanLabel because continuity was just as important as speed.

JEFF: By 2021, FanLabel had to prove there was a real business behind the app. We had seen fans make picks around songs and take those choices seriously. The next question was whether labels, investors, and commercial partners would see that behavior as something bigger than a fun consumer feature. For us, the partnership helped show that FanLabel was being built like a music company with a long runway.

That 10-day turnaround gave us a useful proof point at the right moment. We could make a major platform move without losing momentum, which mattered when we were still earning trust in the market. From my seat, it helped the team stay focused on the bigger job, which is building products, growing label relationships, and finding new ways for music knowledge to create value.

FanLabel has now expanded from FanLabel Classic to the paid-entry game of skill app known as SongPicks and MusicMarkets. How has the long-term collaboration with Tuned Global enabled this evolution, and what made extending the partnership to SongPicks a natural progression?

JEFF: Keeping SongPicks connected to the Tuned Global framework made sense because the strategy is the same at every level of the larger FanLabel roadmap: build around real music judgment and make sure the industry has a role in the value that comes from it.

FanLabel Classic gave us a lot of time to watch how people behave when they think they know what will happen next in music. Fans do not wait for the final chart result to have an opinion. They hear a song, sense movement, and want to test whether their ‘read’ is right. SongPicks brings that behavior into a cash-prize product, while MusicMarkets takes FanLabel's experience with music outcomes into CFTC-regulated prediction markets.

CON: The long-term collaboration gave FanLabel continuity. When you are building different experiences around the same core idea of music prediction and fan participation, it helps to have one trusted infrastructure layer behind the scenes.

What changed with SongPicks was the expression of the idea, not the need for a solid music foundation. FanLabel was moving into a more advanced product format, but they still needed licensed catalogue access, dependable metadata and the confidence that usage could be reported properly.

Because we had already solved many of those backend requirements together, extending the relationship to SongPicks was less about starting again and more about supporting the next stage of their product vision.

Tuned Global powers the licensed music layer for FanLabel SongPicks, including API access for metadata and previews, catalogue ingestion, CDN and backend infrastructure, and rightsholder reporting. How does Tuned Global's music cloud platform specifically support the demands of a skill-based, paid-entry contest app such as SongPicks?

CON: When music is used in a contest environment, the backend has to do more than simply make new tracks available. The music information needs to be reliable because the fan experience depends on people recognising songs, understanding artists and making choices based on real market activity.

Our platform supports that by giving FanLabel a structured way to access catalogue data, previews and the music assets required for the product experience. But the more strategic

value is that we reduce the operational burden behind that access. Catalogue ingestion, metadata updates, delivery performance and usage reporting are all handled through systems built specifically for licensed music.

That allows FanLabel to stay focused on game mechanics, fan engagement and product growth instead of having to manage the complexity of music operations internally.

You mentioned using automated systems like INTAGA for rapid catalogue delivery and enriched metadata with territorial rights management. What technical or operational advantages does this provide to FanLabel as they scale SongPicks and ensure compliance with labels, publishers, the MLC, and PROs?

CON: The biggest advantage is that it removes a lot of manual friction from a process that can otherwise slow innovation down. In music, a catalogue is never static. New tracks arrive, metadata changes, rights can vary by territory, and reporting obligations remain ongoing. When a product is trying to move quickly, those operational details can become a blocker and a risk if they are not managed properly.

Our automated catalogue ingestion and delivery system, INTAGA, helps make catalogue delivery and updates more repeatable, more accurate and easier to scale. For FanLabel, that means they can focus more on building the fan-facing product while relying on a music infrastructure that can keep pace with catalogue changes and rights requirements.

It also gives the relationship with rightsholders a stronger operational foundation. Labels, publishers, the MLC and PROs need confidence that usage can be tracked and reported. That is not the most visible part of the user experience, but it is one of the reasons products like this can be built responsibly.

Can you explain what FanLabel SongPicks is and how it works? How does this paid-entry, skill-based music contest—where fans rank songs and predict streaming performance—create a new way for enthusiasts to engage with the music they love?

JEFF: SongPicks is for fans who have confidence that they know music and can pick the hits before the public does. You enter a contest by paying an entry fee in exchange for a chance to win cash prizes, consider the selected tracks by sampling them, and make a call on how those songs will perform commercially. The outcome is based on streaming results, so the game comes down to judgment, timing, and a good sense of a song’s likely success in pop culture today.

The formats are intentionally easy to understand. In “Ranker” style contests, you place tracks in the order you think they will perform commercially. In Best of Five, you pick the strongest performer from a small group. The fun is in everything that happens before the pick: sampling the songs, weighing the artist's audience, noticing a surge, trusting your ear, and deciding whether the real-world market will validate your picks or not.

The fan is doing more than just saying they like a song. They are making a call. That turns an opinion into a form of commitment, and it gives the player a reason to care about the result in a much more intentional way. And, if the fan’s pick or picks are right, they gain bragging rights that make clear that they know music!

SongPicks joins FanLabel Classic and MusicMarkets in turning streaming and chart data into interactive fan experiences. How does SongPicks elevate the overall music fan experience, drive discovery and consumption, and create new monetization opportunities for the music industry while remaining fully licensed?

JEFF: SongPicks captures a kind of conviction that usually disappears before it can be measured. People have early opinions about songs all the time, but those opinions are scattered in private conversations, group chats, and gut reactions. With SongPicks, that belief becomes something structured.

For labels and artists, that’s useful in a different way than just another stream or social post. A player is choosing a song with something at stake, and that choice says something about how fans are reading the market around a release. Over time, that can add another layer of intelligence around music momentum.

The licensing approach is what makes the opportunity feel real to us. FanLabel wants products built around music performance to grow with a clear commercial path for the people and companies behind the songs. SongPicks is the consumer-facing piece of a larger strategy, but the principle is the same. We want to create new value without asking the music industry to catch up later.

CON: From my perspective, the biggest change is that music becomes something fans actively participate in, rather than something they simply consume. A product like SongPicks gives fans another reason to listen closely, follow trends and discover tracks they may not have paid attention to otherwise.

For the industry, that is valuable because engagement is no longer limited to the stream itself. The game layer can create additional moments around a song: before people listen, while they compare their choices, and after results come in.

That creates a different kind of relationship between fans and music. It is not just about whether

someone heard a song, but whether they felt strongly enough about it to rank it, follow its performance and compare their instinct with the wider market.

Looking ahead, what does this milestone in the Tuned Global–FanLabel partnership mean for the future of music gamification and interactive fan experiences?

JEFF: It shows that the category is starting to move into a more serious phase. Music gamification cannot just be a clever wrapper around songs. It has to have a business model, reliable data, and enough industry alignment to support something durable. If successful, we will create a dynamic new way to monetize music that is entirely additive to current music monetization.

For FanLabel, the goal is to make music knowledge useful. Fans have always had instincts about what will break. The opportunity is to turn that judgment into products that can be measured, licensed, and connected to real commercial outcomes.

The window right now is about getting the right people involved early. If labels, data partners, apps, and market operators help shape the category now, music has a better chance to avoid the usual pattern where a new market forms first and the industry negotiates after the fact. We want FanLabel to help build the version where the music business has a seat from the beginning.

CON: What is exciting to me is that this partnership points to a broader shift in how people experience music. Fans do not only want to press play anymore. They want to debate songs, back their instincts, compare their taste with others and feel closer to the momentum around artists and releases.

That is where music gamification becomes interesting. It can give fans a more active role in music culture, while also giving the industry new ways to understand attention, taste and engagement beyond the stream itself.

I think we will see more music experiences built around participation, prediction and community. The challenge will be making those experiences exciting for fans while still respecting the complexity of the music ecosystem behind them.

About Con Raso

Con Raso is a music and technology entrepreneur and the CEO and Founder of Tuned Global, the unique Music Cloud Platform that helps organisations build and scale digital music experiences within their products and services. Throughout his career, Con has focused on shaping the future of the music industry through technology and innovation, helping organisations design scalable, intelligent music experiences that create real business impact.

With decades of experience across the music industry, Con has worked across the full lifecycle of streaming and music-powered products, spanning supply chains, rights management, recommendation systems, and monetisation. He has applied this expertise across industries including telecommunications, media, fitness, gaming, aviation, and consumer technology. A respected industry voice, Con regularly speaks on how AI, data, and platform thinking are reshaping music discovery, engagement, and monetisation.

About Tuned Global

Tuned Global is the data-driven music cloud platform that empowers businesses to integrate commercial music into their apps and launch complete streaming experiences using advanced APIs, real-time analytics, licensing solutions, rights management systems, Ai-enabled music discovery, and customisable white-label streaming apps.

Our turnkey solutions for music, audio, and video — coupled with advanced AI capabilities and a broad ecosystem of third-party music tech integrations — make us the most comprehensive platform for powering any digital music project.

We streamline complexities in licensing, rights management, and content delivery, enabling rapid innovation and bringing new ideas to life. Since 2011, we’ve supported 40+ companies in 70+ countries — across telecom, gaming, fitness, health, media, aviation, and more — to deliver innovative music experiences faster and more cost-effectively.