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James McAulay

Encore CEO 🎸 Scaling best marketplace for live musicians, bands & DJs 🎤 Banging the drum for a more sustainable music industry 🌳✊ 2x Ironman Triathlete 🏊‍♂️🚴‍♂️🏃‍♂️

James McAulay is an entrepreneur and technology leader with a background in music and computer science. He is best known as the co-founder and former CEO of Encore Musicians, a marketplace for booking live musicians for events.1 McAulay founded Encore in September 2014 and led the company for nearly 10 years before stepping down in late 2024.2

In addition to his work with Encore, McAulay has been involved in several other ventures:

  1. Host of Marketplace Mechanics podcast since July 2017, sharing stories from founders, operators, and VCs involved in two-sided marketplace businesses.1
  2. Board Trustee for Scottish Ensemble since December 2020.1
  3. Previously worked as a Facilitator at Decoded, teaching coding courses.1

McAulay has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge and holds a Diploma in Cello Performance from ABRSM.1 He combines his passion for music, technology, and entrepreneurship in his professional endeavors.

Outside of his professional life, McAulay is an avid triathlete and recently achieved a personal goal of running a sub-3-hour marathon in Valencia.3

As of February 2025, McAulay has moved on from Encore and is exploring new opportunities in the technology and entrepreneurship space.2

Highlights

Aug 10 · linkedin

Last weekend, the world tragically lost one of its greatest jazz pianists: Shaun Martin. (1978-2024) Shaun was a founding member of Snarky Puppy, worked closely with gospel legend Kirk Franklin across 9 albums, and released three of his own albums.

This piano intro to Shaun's track "Yellow Jacket" from his album "7 Summers" is one of my all-time favourite passages of piano music. I'll link the album in the comments below.

Discovering Snarky Puppy when I was 18 blew my musical world wide open, and Shaun's playing has brought me so much joy and influenced my own playing so much.

Thank you for everything you created and shared with the world, Shaun.

Aug 6 · linkedin

Are you even a tech influencer if you haven't posted an image of an Olympian and made a contrived business analogy at some point over the last 2 weeks?

Related Questions

What inspired James McAulay to start Encore?
How did James McAulay transition from music to computer science?
What challenges did James McAulay face when launching Encore?
How did James McAulay's background in triathlons influence his entrepreneurial journey?
What unique features does Encore offer compared to other music marketplaces?
James McAulay
James McAulay, photo 1
James McAulay, photo 2
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Location

London, England, United Kingdom