Why This AI Music Startup Founder Won't Invest in Generative AI — And What She Backs Instead

After selling her AI music curation platform Musiio to SoundCloud in 2022, Hazel Savage has become a vocal skeptic of generative AI — at least when it comes to her own investment portfolio.

Now a principal at Leeds Angels with 11+ investments across music, audio, and AI, Savage draws a sharp distinction between AI as a tool versus AI as a creative replacement.

"I'm not a big fan of generative AI," she tells Prolific North. "I've only had one of my investments go bankrupt and guess what space that was in — generative AI. So I don't touch that space anymore."

Key takeaways:

• Her investment thesis: AI that automates unpleasant or impossible-for-humans tasks — similar to what Musiio did when it used AI to tag and curate music at scale (30,000+ songs were being uploaded to Spotify daily)
• Her portfolio: 50%+ female founders, 50%+ Black founders — diversity is a deliberate filter, not an afterthought
• Her caution for founders: Raising pre-revenue can be "one of the most stressful six months of your life" — have a co-founder and advisors in place before the clock starts

Savage's perspective is a useful counterweight in an environment where every AI investment headline trends bullish on generative models. Her practical lens — does this AI improve what humans can't do alone? — offers a grounding framework for evaluating AI investments and product decisions alike.

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