One of the world’s fastest-growing music-creation software companies, Output and its products have fueled top hits from artists like Billie Eilish, Beyoncé, Coldplay, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Skrillex, and Justin Timberlake; and have inspired emotional scores for shows including Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, Westworld and more. But while some of its (ahem) outputs may have haunted you as earworms, the company, and technology remained a hidden industry secret. To help move them from word-of-mouth to mainstream media, Output tapped The Key.

Built by a musician for musicians, Output spent its first decade behind the scenes empowering artists to make magic. Our goal was to put Output center stage, starting with its first mainstream product: Co-Producer.

‍What We Did: Dropped the First Track

Output had gone quiet since 2018’s Arcade debut, and though Co-Producer wasn’t yet complete, we packaged up its first-to-launch tool (Pack Generator) to stake claim to the leadership position in a rapidly expanding market. In the entertainment industry, AI is hotly debated because computer-generated content can threaten the livelihood of writers, artists, designers, musicians and more. Because it was built by a professional musician and industry insider, we needed to separate from the tech-led crowd and honor Co-Producer as a tool fueling human inspiration and creativity. With corporate and product positioning locked, the team crafted personalized pitches to both music industry and broad technology media.

The build toward the announcement included 1:1 interviews and in-depth, CEO-led product demos, early product access for media to test the product, and preparations of all the goods required for coverage and amplification to hit on launch day.

‍The Results: Surround Sound in Perfect Pitch

Coverage ranged from Engadget to endemic publications like MusicRadar, MusicTech, Sound on Sound and Magnetic Magazine, hitting the desired volume, but most importantly hit all the right notes: the message that Output uses AI to “spark creativity” (vs. replace) came through in 100% of the articles.