James McAulay (businessman)
James McAulay (born 1993) is a Scottish technology entrepreneur and cellist who co-founded the online musician booking platform Encore[1]. McAulay is the CEO of the company.
Early life and education[edit]
McAulay was born in Glasgow. He attended the specialist music school Douglas Academy where he gained an ABRSM Diploma in cello performance.[2]
He began studying Computer Science at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge in 2011 and achieved his Bachelor of Arts in 2014.[2] At university he played cello in the Cambridge University Music Society (CUMS) Symphony Orchestra.
Career[edit]
McAulay was invited to London-based startup accelerator Entrepreneur First’s third cohort in 2014 where he met fellow Cambridge computer science graduate James King[3]. The two decided to combine their knowledge of tech and music and to build Encore, a new platform designed to make it simple for anyone to book musicians online.[4]
In 2017, the platform won the Europe Category at Slush Music tech startup awards in Helsinki.[5]
By 2018, Encore had a full-time team based in its offices in central London and had become one of the UK's largest suppliers of live music for weddings, corporate functions and other events.[6]
Later that year, Encore was shortlisted for Startups.co.uk's Innovative Business of the Year award for "shaking up the music-booking industry in a way that’s beneficial for everyone involved".[7]
Recognition[edit]
McAulay has given a TEDx talk[8] and regularly appears startup podcasts[9][10][11][12]. As a professional cellist, he has performed at the BBC Proms in the Albert Hall and on a live broadcast of The X Factor with Emily Middlemas.[13]
Under McAulay, during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 Encore received recognition in Forbes[14], The Times[15], Techcrunch[16] and BBC Radio Wales[17] for its personalised music messages initiative which helped musicians earn a living by selling custom music videos through the platform.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Encore – lights up or curtain call?". The Tab - Cambridge. Retrieved 2020-05-21. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 "European Graduates | University of Cambridge, United Kingdom". graduates.name. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ Whitwell, Joe. "Encore Founder James McAulay Taught Coding To Make Ends Meet During The Entrepreneur First Programme". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ "Encore wants to make it easy to book a musician or band for your event". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ "WARM Wins Slush Music 20 Pitching Competition". Slush. 2017-11-28. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ↑ "How "Airbnb for musicians" established the UK's largest live music network". Business Advice. 2018-06-06. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ "People's Champion finalist 2018: Encore Musicians - Startups Awards". Startups Awards by Startups.co.uk: Start up a successful business. 2018-10-22. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
- ↑ "Music Startups and Embracing the Unknown | James McAulay | TEDxRNCM". YouTube. Oct 17, 2017. Retrieved 2020-05-21. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Create Reach Inspire: James McAulay: Empowering Musicians With Tech on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ Reinventing the face of the music booking industry with James McAulay, CEO of Encore, retrieved 2020-05-21
- ↑ "#056: James McAulay". startupsecrets. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ "Marketplace Mechanics on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ "Emily Middlemas puts her own spin on a Whitney classic | Live Shows Week 3 | The X Factor UK 2016". YouTube. 2016. Retrieved 2020-05-21. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Bell, Douglas. "How This Music Business Is Bouncing Back From Crisis By Spreading Joy". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ Hodgkinson, Will. "How to help your favourite band survive the coronavirus crisis". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ "Encore's musical messages let you commission a video performance to send to loved ones". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ↑ "Jonny Venvell posted on LinkedIn". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
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