With the acquisition of Muse Content, Vertiseit is betting on the future of in-store audio. Its trump cards: GenAI and the expertise of Marco Burkhardtsmayer's team.
Opinion: Vertiseit’s Audio Play – A Strategic Bet on AI and Experience
The acquisition of Muse Content by Vertiseit didn’t exactly send shockwaves through the industry – it was more of a logical next step. Muse, led by Marco Burkhardtsmayer, has long been one of Grassfish’s closest partners, with two-thirds of its projects running on Grassfish. But in recent years, Muse faced a harsh reality: in retail, size matters. With annual revenues of just €3 million, Muse had become too small to compete in big tenders. The era of mid-sized integrators winning major retail projects is over.
Rather than fight a losing battle, Muse pivoted. It specialized as a Grassfish consultant, in-store audio provider, and content agency –areas where innovation and agility still count. Burkhardtsmayer’s knack for spotting trends paid off: from Live Shopping streaming to GenAI platforms, Muse positioned itself at the intersection of digital signage and audio. That made it a perfect fit for Vertiseit.
Why audio, why now?
Vertiseit CEO Johan Lind sees audio as the next frontier in in-store experience. Competitors like M-Cube, Mood Media, and RadioPOS have long played in this space, but Lind believes the timing is right for a major push. His reasoning? AI. Historically, audio was a service-heavy craftmanship dominated by curated playlists and royalty payments to rights organizations like GEMA. Today, AI-generated music eliminate those royalties and GenAI messaging opens up new personalized experiences, unlocking higher margins and scalability.
Lind predicts audio could account for up to 20% of Vertiseit’s ARR within five years – a bold claim, but not without merit. The audio market is nearly the same size of video, and Vertiseit already has a strong client base to cross-sell to. With Muse’s GenAI expertise and the Visual Art Studio brand, Vertiseit is betting big on integrated audio-visual experiences.
The big question
Will Vertiseit succeed where others have stumbled? Historically, selling audio alongside video hasn’t always been easy. But if AI truly transforms audio from a craft into a scalable, high-margin business, Lind’s gamble could pay off handsomely.
