Firstly, for readers who may not be familiar with the app, can you tell us a bit about Guvera?
Guvera is an Australian music streaming service dedicated to transforming the way people experience music. Founded in 2008, our mission from day one has been to accommodate people who live, breathe and love music. Put simply, Guvera is one of the world’s leading music libraries. We give people access to millions of tracks from the world’s biggest artists, helping them to discover and share the music that matters to them.

How does it differ from other steaming services?
Guvera’s offer across mobile platforms has become a priority to accommodate consumers’ changing demands. There are now more mobile devices than people on the planet and in response we have developed a product that effectively gives consumers access to music on their phones – 95% of all our listeners access Guvera via their phone. More significantly, brands also want to engage with customers via mobile and we are uniquely positioned to accommodate this trend through our branded channel offer. Guvera provides brands with a true engagement platform that allows them to create long lasting connections with their fans or customers through music. Guvera is the only music platform in the world today where this can occur.

We love the fact that Guvera is free for users but the artists still get paid. How important was that when you were establishing the business model?
We got into this business because we love music and the artists that create it. We have been supportive of the music industry since day one and will continue to be. The music industry is in a huge period of change and we’ve developed a business model that is supportive of artists, but is in line with how consumers want to listen to music.

Congratulations on cracking 10 million users! How did that feel?
The 10 million mark is a huge achievement and is testament to the hard work of our entire team. We have grown from one million users in mid-2014 to over 10 million users, so this is a clear identification that we have got our user experience right. On average we are adding 35,000 new users a day, which is a significant accomplishment. And what is most exciting is that our active users have grown by 56% in the last six weeks alone. At present we see our active user base doubling every eight to ten weeks on a global basis, which is an awesome result for the company.

Take us back to the beginning, how and when did the idea pop into your head?
The co-founder of Guvera is Claes Loberg, who originally came up with the Guvera concept. The idea stemmed from his desire to match brands to music. Of paramount importance was finding a way for the consumer to download or stream music legally, but also ensure artists get paid. From there Guvera was born.

What were some of the initial challenges you faced in getting it off the ground?
From a technology perspective the challenge was to create a platform and product that suited consumers’ changing needs. The music industry has shifted significantly in recent years, so the challenge has been to keep up with rapid change. Through the development stage of the product it became increasingly obvious that Guvera needed to focus on mobile delivery so people could consume music wherever they were, whether that was at home, work or in transit. We’ve also needed to be extremely patient to ensure we developed the right product and didn’t race off building a music business that wasn’t exactly what the consumers want and a business model we can ensure gives back appropriately to music artists.

How did you overcome those challenges?
We haven’t been afraid to change our product to suit the market. At the same time we have been careful to stick to our philosophy of connecting music, fans and brands. For example, over the last two years we have invested heavily in our mobile offering and this has paid dividends. Roughly 95% of our users access the service via their phones and this is proving an attractive channel for advertisers.

Do you have any advice for other local start-ups?
Stick to your original philosophy, but adapt to customers. Also surround yourself with the best talent. A dedicated and talented team will help you fulfil the vision of your company.

What’s the blue sky dream for Guvera?
Our unique business model has been designed to transform the music streaming sector. We believe that music is an attractive avenue for brands to connect with consumers and we offer a native advertising platform that maximises engagement with listeners in a non-disruptive fashion. Our long-term goal is to bring this model to as many markets across the world as possible, at the same time connecting music fans with their favourite tracks and artists.

Tell us about Fradio?
Fradio is an innovative new platform that allows users to broadcast their own radio show live from their phones. With the Fradio app, fans and artists can curate their own radio broadcasts using the tracks available on the Guvera service, which includes a music library of millions of songs. Friends and fans can listen in and interact with the broadcaster on air through live talk-back, comments and track requests. Fradio is still in its early stages, but we look forward to announcing further developments in the coming months.

Guvera is headquartered at Robina. Why did you choose the Gold Coast?
The founders of Guvera are from the Gold Coast so that is the main reason. Additionally our early stage Private Equity Firm, Amma Private Equity, is based on the Gold Coast so it made sense to develop Guvera from a similar location as they have provided an enormous amount of support from day one. Importantly we also found many talented people resided in the Gold Coast region or wanted to relocate here, so as time progressed it proved to be a smart business decision. The Gold Coast has become an important business hub in Australia and we view our long-term future here. We are actually moving to Helensvale in the near future, which will house 10-20 emerging technology and start-up businesses. We expect to have 100 staff there, which we think is amazing for the Gold Coast and a sign of the growing strength of the region.

What do you love most about living here?
Miles of golden beaches, beautiful weather, friendly people and great food. My Family and I live at Sanctuary Cove, which is an oasis away from the hustle and bustle of today’s hectic life, and it is a great place to bring up a family, which is very important to me.

If you were to compile your perfect weekend playlist, what songs/artists would make the cut?
That’s a tough one, we have over 20 million tracks to choose from! If I wanted the latest hits I would go with Guvera Chart Toppers, which is updated every week and currently features artists like Jessie J, Ed Sheeran and David Guetta. If I was having a night out with my friends I might go with Guvera EDM, which features tracks like ‘Pray to God’ by Calvin Harris and ‘Roll The Bass’ by Major Lazer. If I felt like listening to homegrown artists I might choose our Australian playlist which features Chet Faker, Jarryd James and Flume.

How do you personally define ‘success’?
If related to Guvera, it is simple, our aim is to be the biggest digital streaming music company on the planet and our unique brand sponsored and patented business model will allow us to do that.

What is Guevera’s most popular playlist?
Chart Toppers and New Releases are definitely the most popular but we have over 100 curated playlists with new ones added and updated every week.

Any exciting plans in the pipeline for Guvera?
For Guvera it is all about continuing our growth. In the coming months we look forward to announcing new brand partnerships and expansion into more markets.