Tonic Audio

Tonic Audio, also referred to as Tonic Audio Labs, develops collaboration tools for music and audio production. Its original product is a browser/desktop application that acts as a repository for musical ideas: users store and organize material by song, album or project, upload and sort multiple versions of a file, share tracks with bandmates, co-writers, producers and labels, and receive timestamped comments on any point in a song's timeline. Commenting can be disabled per song or restricted to selected people, and the app has offered up to 1TB of storage space.

The company's current focus is Haven, a network-attached storage (NAS) appliance aimed at producers, soundtrack composers, mixing and mastering engineers and songwriters. Tonic Audio states it designed the product end to end, from CPU, chipset, memory, network and storage component selection through motherboard and interface circuit board design, file system choice, integrated touchscreen software and audiophile DACs. Haven supports up to eight NVMe flash drives and 80Gb/s Thunderbolt 5 connections, a touch display for searching, auditioning and scrubbing audio, a tactile transport control, six assignable function keys, headphone and balanced 1/4" outputs, and encryption of files at rest and before remote backup. It ships in a 1U 19" rackmount chassis whose rack ears can be removed for desktop use.

Tonic Audio's software runs directly on the unit, providing project workspaces with isolated access per client, sharing by email address or phone number, timestamped feedback surfaced on the device display and in the Haven app, unlimited file versioning, optional subscription offsite backup with file-system snapshots supporting a 3-2-1 strategy, and bi-directional sync with third-party cloud folders. Devices synchronize peer-to-peer over encrypted channels described as small VPN-like tunnels between collaborators, with mirrored projects between two Haven units and mobile or desktop app access for collaborators without one.

Founding story

The idea formed in late 2019, when Allison Clift-Jennings was finishing a nine-year stint as CEO of a blockchain company and Ethan Clift was concluding three years leading a government relations firm focused on helping technology companies operate in Nevada. The two, a couple for roughly 15 years and both music makers, decided during pandemic lockdown to build a music technology company together, inspired by hardware companies such as Moog Music. Ethan had previously bootstrapped and in 2017 shut down Parlor Shows, a house-concert ticketing venture, concluding that musicians prioritized making music, finding an audience and collaborating over income. The founders initially set out to build an employee-owned, bootstrapped company making simple tools for musicians, and later added further team members.

Business model

Tonic Audio sells hardware directly to audio professionals, with software bundled onto the device, and offers an optional paid offsite backup subscription service. The company positions the model as an alternative to recurring subscription-based cloud services.

Hardware sales of the Haven NAS, preceded by refundable $50 pre-order reservation deposits that convert into a discount off retail price, plus an optional subscription offsite backup service.

Traction

The company states it has learned from thousands of users of its browser-based product and is taking refundable $50 reservations for Haven ahead of first shipments.

Latest developments

Tonic Audio is transitioning from its cloud application to Haven, a self-designed NAS for audio professionals, and is accepting refundable $50 pre-order reservations that secure a place in the shipping queue and a discount off retail price at launch.