DJ Larry Gogan's son backs AI to find the next U2

David Gogan, a former vice-president at record label EMI Ireland and son of the legendary DJ Larry Gogan, believes the traditional era of A&R is over and artificial intelligence (AI) is best placed to find "the next U2 or Picture This". Gogan, who ran marketing at EMI Ireland for six years until its closure in 2013, has teamed up with Zach Miller-Frankel and Neil Dunne – the founders of Andrson, a startup which uses analytics and "audio AI" to connect unsigned artists directly with industry executives. Gogan, who was brought on board for his industry nous and to open some doors, said the reaction so far had been "very positive" for an app that is still at the prototype stage. "The music industry was one of the first to be disturbed – people forget one of the few things you could do on a first-generation smartphone was play music, so it had to adapt, evolve and embrace that change," he says. "In today's market it is vital to be data-driven, but it always comes back to the music. Apps like Andrson are a fantastic tool to utilise that new technology to help both the industry discover new talent and artists present themselves on a world stage."