Soundworks

What Soundworks does

Soundworks Media Inc. is a privately held, Oakland-based company (founded 2021) that operates a subscription mobile meditation application under the Soundworks brand, distributed globally on iOS App Store and Google Play Store. The app delivers audio-first mindful listening experiences, including a new daily sound meditation, extended sessions, multi-session courses, and recorded conversations, all produced by electronic music artists (e.g., Grand River, Rrose, Antenes, Vril, Eliane Radigue) and grounded in psychoacoustic and neuroscience research. Its proprietary technical components include a spatial audio conversion pipeline developed with the Spatial Sound Institute and 4DSOUND that translates 64-channel 4DSOUND compositions into stereo ambisonics for headphone playback, and tracks engineered at 96bpm to align with adult breathing rates while using alpha, beta, and gamma neural frequency bands. The company explicitly rejects AI-generated audio in favor of human composers.

Soundworks operates a pure direct-to-consumer subscription model: $7.99/month or $59.99/year with a 7-day free trial, billed through Apple's App Store and Google Play, with no advertising or data resale, and revenue directed toward compensating the artists and producers featured in the app. Its customer base is primarily individual mindfulness and meditation seekers, with a secondary audience of electronic music enthusiasts drawn to the artistic sound design, and anecdotal traction among healthcare practitioners who use the app personally with patients. Distribution is product-led through app stores, augmented by earned media coverage in Resident Advisor, Ars Electronica, Mixmag, and Orbmag, and brand partnerships with cultural institutions including the MUTEK festival, the Spatial Sound Institute, and Monom at Funkhaus Berlin. The company also runs the Endzeit live event series, extending its presence into in-person electronic music experiences.

Name

Soundworks

Legal name

Soundworks Media Inc.

Website

https://soundworks.app

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Soundworks is a subscription mobile meditation app that delivers daily audio meditations, courses, and extended sessions composed by electronic music artists using spatial and psychoacoustic techniques, targeting individual mindfulness seekers and electronic music enthusiasts on iOS and Android.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Meditation and Mindfulness App

NAICS

Sound Recording Industries (5122)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Sound Meditation & Sound Bath Sessions (HSADAJAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Audio Learning Content (Podcasts, Audiobooks, Listening Programs) (EDAGALAM)

Keywords

• Meditation app
• Audio mindfulness
• Spatial audio
• Psychoacoustic sound design
• Electronic music meditation

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Subscription (iOS): Annual and monthly auto-renewing subscriptions sold through iTunes/App Store. Revenue primarily supports producers and artists featured in the app. No advertising, no data selling.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Soundworks is a subscription-based mobile mindfulness application available on iOS and Android that delivers daily sound meditations, extended listening sessions, multi-session courses, and conversations created by electronic music artists. Content is grounded in psychoacoustic research and uses spatial audio and binaural techniques, with new sounds released daily and partnerships providing immersive 4DSOUND-derived compositions for headphone playback.

Product overview

Soundworks is a subscription-based mindful listening mobile application (iOS and Android) centered around audio-first meditation experiences created by electronic music artists. The core offering is the Soundworks App, which provides four main content types: Daily Sounds (new audio meditation daily), Extended Sessions (longer immersive compositions by collaborating artists), Courses (multi-session programs on scientific, artistic, or philosophical themes), and Conversations (discussions with artists, scientists, and thinkers). The company also hosts the Endzeit event series. Key partnerships bring unique technology and content: a partnership with the Spatial Sound Institute (SSI) and 4DSOUND delivers 64-channel spatialized audio converted to stereo ambisonics for the app; a partnership with MUTEK festival produces co-presented meditative works and panel discussions; and a partnership with Monom/Funkhaus Berlin hosts in-person sound meditation events. Content is exclusively human-created — the founders explicitly reject AI-generated sound, choosing artists over algorithmic compositions. Revenue supports producers and featured artists. The app costs $59.99/year or $7.99/month with a 7-day free trial.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Soundworks Mobile App A subscription-based mindful listening mobile application available on iOS and Android that delivers daily sound meditations, extended sessions, courses, conversations, and events created by electronic music artists. Users subscribe monthly ($7.99) or annually ($59.99) with a 7-day free trial to access the full content library.
• Endzeit Event Series A recurring live event series produced by Soundworks that creates space for avant-garde and experientially-oriented electronic music, presented both independently and in partnership with music festivals and spatial sound venues.

Quantifiable outcome

• Tracks working at 96bpm aligned with average adult breathing rate of 12bpm
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered secondary, core and flagship.

• Monom (Funkhaus Berlin)secondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 June 2022Partnership with spatial sound center Monom at Funkhaus Berlin for Summer of Music program. Each session preceded by Soundworks sound meditation presented in 4DSOUND. Program ran June 11 to August 20, 2022.
• Spatial Sound Institute (SSI)coreTechnology or Integration · 23 December 2021Partnership focused on tech research, conversations on the role of spatial sound, and creation of mindful sonic experiences. SSI and Soundworks developed technology to convert 64-channel 4DSOUND compositions into stereo ambisonics format for app playback without losing spatial resolution.
• 4DSOUNDcoreTechnology or Integration · 23 December 2021Spatial sound technology provider used for recording and performing compositions that are then adapted for the Soundworks app. Over a hundred creative productions have used 4DSOUND technology.
• MUTEKflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 30 June 2021Partnership with Montreal-based digital creativity festival to elevate the role of listening in society. Includes co-presentation of meditative works from artists, panel discussions at MUTEK Forum, and artist contributions for the app.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Calm: Calm is the category-leading meditation and sleep app with a subscription model very similar to Soundworks. It competes directly for the same mindfulness-seeking consumer, though Calm leans on celebrity narrators and nature sounds rather than artist-designed electronic soundscapes.
• Headspace: Headspace is a direct competitor offering guided meditation, sleep, and focus content via a mobile subscription app. It targets the same primary persona as Soundworks (mindfulness seekers), though with a more mainstream animated and human-narrator style rather than Soundworks' electronic music design.
• Insight Timer: Insight Timer is a large free/freemium meditation app with a huge library of teacher-led and ambient content. It directly overlaps with Soundworks on meditation distribution, though it relies on user-generated teacher content rather than curated artist compositions.
• Balance: Balance is a personalized meditation app with subscription pricing similar to Soundworks. Both target the mindfulness-seeker persona and emphasize high production value; Balance focuses on personalization algorithms where Soundworks emphasizes artist-curated design.
• BetterMe: BetterMe offers a suite of wellness apps including meditation and mindfulness. It competes for the same general wellness subscription consumer, though its product breadth and content style differ significantly from Soundworks' curated electronic music focus.
• Oak: Oak is a meditation and breathing app available via subscription on iOS and Android. It targets the same mindfulness-seeker persona as Soundworks with a similar mobile-first, content-led approach, though with a more minimalist guided-session library.

Emerging players

• Endel: Endel is a soundscape app for focus, sleep, and relaxation that generates personalized audio environments. It is comparable to Soundworks' functional-audio mission but uses algorithmic/AI-generated sound rather than Soundworks' human-artist compositions — making it both a competitor and a foil for Soundworks' anti-AI positioning.
• Brain.fm: Brain.fm is a functional music app that uses neuroscience-grounded audio to influence focus, sleep, and relaxation. It overlaps with Soundworks on the science-driven audio positioning but differs in using patented modulation techniques rather than artist-designed electronic compositions.

Broad incumbents

• Spotify (Wellness content): Spotify has expanded aggressively into wellness and meditation content through partnerships and original programming. As a broad incumbent audio platform, it competes indirectly with Soundworks by offering lower-friction meditation and ambient audio within an existing music subscription.
• Apple (Apple Music Fitness+): Apple bundles wellness, mindfulness, and ambient audio content within Apple Music and Fitness+. As a platform incumbent with deep distribution on iOS, Apple competes indirectly for Soundworks' wellness-listen consumer and controls the App Store economics Soundworks depends on.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/soundworks.app
• Facebookfacebook.com/soundworksapp
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/soundworks-media

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Soundworks