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Clément Souchier is the co-founder of Bridge.audio, a platform redefining music file exchange, sync, and discoverability. A music-tech entrepreneur, he previously founded Creaminal, a leading music supervision agency operating in France and the U.S., which was acquired by Alter-K Music Group in 2021.
Tell us about what inspired you to work in the music industry, and how did it lead to the work you do today?
What led me to work in the music industry was my background in music studies, especially drums and jazz, which I pursued alongside business studies. I quickly started composing music for film and advertising before moving into music supervision and Sync as the founder of Creaminal.
Working as a music supervisor pushed me to create a tool that could make it easier to search for and share music with my team and all my clients. As I progressed in building this tool, I eventually shifted toward music tech, with the goal of creating a platform for the entire music industry and the broader entertainment sector, making music exchange and discovery much more efficient. That"s the whole idea behind Bridge.audio
Working as a music supervisor pushed me to create a tool that could make it easier to search for and share music with my team and all my clients. As I progressed in building this tool, I eventually shifted toward music tech, with the goal of creating a platform for the entire music industry and the broader entertainment sector, making music exchange and discovery much more efficient. That"s the whole idea behind Bridge.audio
Is there a success story or career milestone that you are most proud of?
Among the things I’m most proud of, I think of supervising the animation film The Red Turtle from Studio Ghibli, which won numerous awards (Annie Awards, Oscar, Cannes), as well as the series Les Revenants, which received an Emmy Award.
I’m also quite proud of having brought Creaminal to the level of recognition it reached, and of having grown the company from zero all the way to its acquisition by Alter K in 2021.
I’m glad to see that the company is still thriving today, working with prestigious brands such as Chanel, Dior, and many others. I’m proud to carry a technological vision for the music industry that is deeply rooted in respect and love for authors’ rights and the work of artists. At the heart of our product, Bridge.audio, is an ethical AI that describes music in a way no system has ever done before.
I’m also quite proud of having brought Creaminal to the level of recognition it reached, and of having grown the company from zero all the way to its acquisition by Alter K in 2021.
I’m glad to see that the company is still thriving today, working with prestigious brands such as Chanel, Dior, and many others. I’m proud to carry a technological vision for the music industry that is deeply rooted in respect and love for authors’ rights and the work of artists. At the heart of our product, Bridge.audio, is an ethical AI that describes music in a way no system has ever done before.
Are there any projects you're working on or company updates that you're most excited about?
I’m genuinely excited about the discovery engine we’re developing within Bridge.audio. Bridge has two major missions, making exchanges easier and amplifying discoverability through ethical AI. This second mission is particularly close to my heart and feels especially important at a time when content discoverability is becoming increasingly important, and needs to gain agility, especially as we now find ourselves competing with generative AI.
The goal is really to make connections easier between artists, labels and publishers on one side, and the broader entertainment industries on the other. And to enable them to very precisely find the right track within a vast catalog.
What's a lesson that you learned early on in the music biz?
One of the lessons I’ve learned the most throughout my career is the notion of time to market. It applies to the music business just as much as it does to all industries. By time to market, I mean the simple fact that you can arrive too late or too early in a market. That was my case back in 1999–2000, when I launched a streaming service in Europe. Spotify launched six years after we shut down that project, which was called Soundicate.com.
Later, the creation of Creaminal as a music supervision and sync agency happened at exactly the right moment, when the rest of the industry was going through major upheavals and needed new financial outlets with Sync.
With Bridge.audio, it feels like we’re also hitting the market at the right time, although only the future will tell whether we manage to become the standard we are currently aiming to be (we are already on our way in continental Europe and spreading the word).
Later, the creation of Creaminal as a music supervision and sync agency happened at exactly the right moment, when the rest of the industry was going through major upheavals and needed new financial outlets with Sync.
With Bridge.audio, it feels like we’re also hitting the market at the right time, although only the future will tell whether we manage to become the standard we are currently aiming to be (we are already on our way in continental Europe and spreading the word).
What's your favorite part of your job and/or company?
Within Bridge.audio, what I enjoy the most today is continuously improving music discovery so that a director, an advertising agency, or a music supervisor can easily find tracks composed by artists, produced by independent labels, published by independent publishers, or any combination of the above.
As a music supervisor, I was constantly confronted with how limited our discovery tools were, and how much we wished we could know more music, even though our cognitive capacity had clear limits. With the development of a powerful and ethical descriptive AI, I genuinely feel that we’re bringing something useful to the entire ecosystem and helping creators and rights holders give their music a real chance to be heard.
To give a concrete example, we’re now able to let someone search for a calm, intimate track that blends Americana and folk, sung by a woman with a soft voice in English, talking about heartbreak, written in a specific historical period, and performed by an artist whose level of notoriety can be chosen, whether well-known, unknown, very famous, or completely emerging. And from there, find the track that perfectly matches the brief.
In other words, we’re creating a descriptive and search experience that uses ethical AI to enhance the work of one human for another human. Here, technology exists solely to support and amplify discovery, and in no way to replace anyone.
As a music supervisor, I was constantly confronted with how limited our discovery tools were, and how much we wished we could know more music, even though our cognitive capacity had clear limits. With the development of a powerful and ethical descriptive AI, I genuinely feel that we’re bringing something useful to the entire ecosystem and helping creators and rights holders give their music a real chance to be heard.
To give a concrete example, we’re now able to let someone search for a calm, intimate track that blends Americana and folk, sung by a woman with a soft voice in English, talking about heartbreak, written in a specific historical period, and performed by an artist whose level of notoriety can be chosen, whether well-known, unknown, very famous, or completely emerging. And from there, find the track that perfectly matches the brief.
In other words, we’re creating a descriptive and search experience that uses ethical AI to enhance the work of one human for another human. Here, technology exists solely to support and amplify discovery, and in no way to replace anyone.
What does being independent mean to you?
At the risk of displeasing some of my big clients, I have a deep appreciation for independence. What it represents to me is singularity and embodiment. Throughout my experience as an independent, I’ve always tried to make the work easier, particularly by helping independents gather and collaborate. Independence often faces one main challenge, which is the difficulty of reaching a critical mass to remain visible in certain areas.
In that sense, the creation of syndicates, initiatives like A2IM, Merlin, and tools such as Bridge.audio feel absolutely essential. By aggregating independent actors, these players ans solutions make it easier for larger players to adopt and integrate their work. Because the downside of independence is often being perceived as “too small” to become a recurring partner or a serious voice in negotiations.
The aggregation of independents is therefore, in my view, both a business and political necessity. It’s an indispensable ally to combine the strength of independence — again, its singularity and embodiment — with the ability to actually carry weight in business and legal discussions.
In that sense, the creation of syndicates, initiatives like A2IM, Merlin, and tools such as Bridge.audio feel absolutely essential. By aggregating independent actors, these players ans solutions make it easier for larger players to adopt and integrate their work. Because the downside of independence is often being perceived as “too small” to become a recurring partner or a serious voice in negotiations.
The aggregation of independents is therefore, in my view, both a business and political necessity. It’s an indispensable ally to combine the strength of independence — again, its singularity and embodiment — with the ability to actually carry weight in business and legal discussions.
Outside of your work in music, do you have any other hobbies or particular areas interest/expertise?
Drawing
Any words of advise for rising music industry professionals?
Believe in your lucky star, stay committed to finding your own path and your own singularity, be courageous and resilient, and follow your intuitions.
Keep up with Clement on Instagram and LinkedIn!
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