Mixathon48 was founded by Nicholas Yiu and Matt Hong in Berkeley, California. They started producing music together but soon realized how much others could learn by taking part in competitions.
They found a lack of creative opportunities for music producers to grow. The traditional method of entering remix competitions is slow, uninnovative, and based on popularity. By organizing experiential music production marathons, they hope to discover unsigned artists and accelerate their musical development.
“Time limits are a really interesting way to bring the most out of people, and the hackathon format that has popped up in the bay has shown that this works out really well,” cofounder Nicholas Yiu says. “We wanted to influence creative education as much as possible; to make it easier for aspiring musicians to strengthen their skills and make something amazing under pressure,” cofounder Matt Hong adds.
Mixathon48 launched its first event in September 2015 and instantly received global recognition from large music companies including Ableton and Wearhaus. The first event hailed competitors from 35 countries around the world. The second event is anticipated to be even bigger, with corporate partners including ImageLine, Wearhaus, Ableton, Your EDM, and The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. The event is set to launch February 2628, 2016.
The Mixathon48 team is comprised of talented students at the University of Pennsylvania and UC Berkeley with a range of fields including business, economics, architecture, design, chemical engineering, biology, and nanotechnology.
“I hope Mixathon will become a regular event,” cofounder Nicholas Yiu says. “Not always a 48hour competition, but a series of different competitions that explore the different talent fields of many other musicians.”
www.mixathon48.com