{"id":244760,"date":"2025-11-12T20:26:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T20:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=244760"},"modified":"2025-11-12T21:23:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T21:23:37","slug":"grammy-winner-mixedbyali-launches-engineears-direct-music-distribution-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/grammy-winner-mixedbyali-launches-engineears-direct-music-distribution-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"Grammy winner MixedByAli launches &#8216;EngineEars Direct&#8217; music distribution platform"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Audio engineer marketplace EngineEars has launched a new distribution service, EngineEars Direct, which enables artists to upload music directly to all major digital service providers through its platform.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">The feature is powered by EMPIRE&#8217;s white label distribution platform, Supply Chain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">The new offering marks a significant expansion for EngineEars, which its founder, multiple Grammy-winning audio engineer Derek &#8220;MixedByAli&#8221; Ali, says represents the company entering &#8220;phase two&#8221; of its development.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">In a video introducing the new feature, EngineEars CEO Derek Ali said that when he launched the company, its &#8220;mission was simple: to build the music industry&#8217;s first true operating system for music creators&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">      <div class=\"mb-advert__incontent\">      <div class=\"mb-advert mb-advert__tweeny hidden-xs hidden-ms hidden-sm\" data-loaded=\"no\" data-sizes=\"992 1200 1440\" data-name=\"628x90 Sponsor banner #5 (992+1200+1440)\" data-params=\"dfp_sponsor5_628\" id=\"dfp_sponsor5_628\"><\/div>      <div class=\"mb-advert mb-advert__banner mb-advert__banner--inline hidden-xs hidden-sm hidden-md hidden-lg\" data-loaded=\"no\" data-sizes=\"480\" data-name=\"468x60 Sponsor banner #5 (480)\" data-params=\"dfp_sponsor5_468\" id=\"dfp_sponsor5_468\"><\/div>      <div class=\"mb-advert mb-advert__mobile mb-advert__mobile--inline hidden-ms hidden-md hidden-lg\" data-loaded=\"no\" data-sizes=\"320 768\" data-name=\"300x50 Sponsor banner #5 (320+768)\" data-params=\"dfp_sponsor5_300\" id=\"dfp_sponsor5_300\"><\/div>      <\/div>      <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">EngineEars <a href=\"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/audio-engineer-marketplace-engineears-founded-by-grammy-winning-mixedbyali-raises-7-5m\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">raised<\/a> <strong>$7.5 million<\/strong> in seed funding in February 2024, led by VC firm <strong>Drive Capital<\/strong>, with participation from\u00a0<strong>645 Ventures<\/strong>, as well as existing investors\u00a0<strong>Slauson &amp; Co.<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>FL\u00dcS Investment Group<\/strong>\u00a0(the venture arm of\u00a0<strong>SALxCO<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"link-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/audio-engineer-marketplace-engineears-founded-by-grammy-winning-mixedbyali-secures-investment-from-lvrn-co-founders-empires-ghazi-and-more\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Other investors<\/a> in the startup include Kendrick Lamar, EMPIRE founder and CEO Ghazi, Alex da Kid, Roddy Ricch, Mustard, and more.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"mb-embed-container\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AxWOi5umNvE?si=f8sdyoXCzTM4GQbB\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">The platform initially focused on what Ali describes as &#8220;phase one&#8221; \u2013 providing audio engineers and studio owners with tools for instant booking, file sharing, transparent payments, and project management.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">      <div class=\"mb-advert__incontent\">      <div class=\"mb-advert mb-advert__spu\" data-loaded=\"no\" data-name=\"300x250 Sponsor MPU #1\" data-params=\"dfp_spu1\" id=\"dfp_spu1\"><\/div>      <\/div>      <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">EngineEars positions itself as a comprehensive browser-based platform enabling artists to hire engineers, schedule recording sessions, run promotional campaigns via SymphonyOS integration, and now handle music distribution.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">EngineEars Direct, accessible through the EngineEars platform, uses <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/ghazi-shami-white-label-distribution-platform-supply-chain-launch\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Supply Chain&#8217;s white label technology<\/a> to let artists release music to over 350 streaming platforms while retaining 100% of their earnings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">Artists can now &#8220;book recording sessions, get your songs mixed and mastered, sell direct to your fans right on your engineer&#8217;s profile, and now distribute unlimited releases,&#8221; Ali said in the video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">      <div class=\"mb-advert__incontent\">      <div class=\"mb-advert mb-advert__spu\" data-loaded=\"no\" data-name=\"300x250 Sponsor MPU #2\" data-params=\"dfp_spu2\" id=\"dfp_spu2\"><\/div>      <\/div>      <\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">The new distro service includes real-time analytics showing how music performs across platforms, tools to launch advertising campaigns, built-in CRM functionality for managing fan relationships, and detailed &#8220;artist playbooks&#8221; offering step-by-step guidance on release strategies.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;This is more than a product launch. It&#8217;s a continuation of our mission to give music creators the power, control, and transparency they&#8217;ve always deserved.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Derek &#8216;MixedByAli&#8217; Ali<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">&#8220;Derek and the EngineEars team have built an incredible platform for engineers, artists and consumers to collaborate and promote their music worldwide,&#8221; Ghazi Shami <a href=\"https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/pro\/mixedbyali-empire-ghazi-distribution-engine-ears\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> <em>Billboard<\/em>. &#8220;We are happy to provide a robust white label distribution platform in Supply Chain for all creativity to thrive.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">EngineEars enters a competitive independent distribution space dominated by the likes of TuneCore, DistroKid, UnitedMasters, and more, betting that its end-to-end approach, from booking studio time to digital distribution, will appeal to artists seeking a unified workflow within one platform.<\/p>\n<p class=\"font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words\">&#8220;This is more than a product launch. It&#8217;s a continuation of our mission to give music creators the power, control, and transparency they&#8217;ve always deserved,&#8221; Ali said in the video, adding that his team remains committed to &#8220;building the tools that make [the] music industry more equitable, connected, and creative first.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>MixedByAli<\/strong>\u00a0(aka\u00a0<strong>Derek Ali<\/strong>), is a multiple Grammy-winning audio engineer who has worked with Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Killer Mike, Childish Gambino, Nipsey Hussle and others.<\/p>\n<p>EngineEars raised <a class=\"link-external\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2021\/05\/05\/music-mixing-marketplace-engineears-raises-1m-with-help-from-kendrick-lamar\/\" rel=\"noopener\">its first\u00a0<strong>$1 million<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Service is powered by EMPIRE&#8217;s white label distribution platform, Supply Chain<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":244781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244760"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":244780,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244760\/revisions\/244780"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}