Innovation Story: Andy Taylor, CEO of Accordion Innovation

Accordion Innovation is a small, innovative company based in Cardiff. It aims to solve the problem of “too much content, not enough time” for audiences and creators via its three products: 

• Accordion – giving audiences control over duration of video or audio content without speeding up  
• Flip Format – making it quick and easy to post videos of perfect length and ideal format for social media platforms 
• Rough Cut – automating the heavy lifting on long edits.  

We spoke to Andy about his company and product – Accordion –  which was developed with Media Cymru funding. 

Find out more about Accordion Innovation 

Tell us about your company, Accordion Innovation.  

I’m Andy Taylor, CEO of Accordion Innovation – a tech startup that invents new media products. I also run another company called Bwlb, a podcast production company.  

We are an exciting, ambitious, tiny tech startup in Cardiff. 

Thanks to Media Cymru funding, I developed Accordion – the first product of Accordion Innovation. 

Tell us about your project, Accordion. 

Accordion is designed to give power back to audiences. Imagine you’re reading a newspaper and the editor has decided how long the article is – you can navigate your way through it, but you can’t decide how much detail you want. 

The situation is the same today with audio and video content – e.g. podcasts, webinars. Content is a certain length and if that length doesn’t meet the time that you have available then you’ve got a few choices: 

• not listen/watch at all because it’s too long 
• listen to/watch part of it and not get the full story 
• speed it up and miss important parts 

It always got to me – why can’t we give the audience control over the length of content?  

That’s where Accordion comes in. Accordion is like a magic tool that gives you the control to change the duration of content without losing the original tone, structure and feel. If you only have 30 minutes, it gives you a version with all the best bits – beginning, middle and end.  

What is Accordion 2.0? 

Thanks to the Media Cymru Development Fund, Accordion is even smarter.  

Accordion 2.0 was designed to take Accordion from a basic version to a point where it can:  

• take a podcast via its RSS feed  
• work out if there are chapters or highlights  
• work out whether there are ads and let you choose if you want them  
• give you a version of any length 
• prioritise chapters or highlights, based on the episode description so it is matching the tone of the original 
• automatically publish to our own platforms 

How has Accordion changed your company? 

Sometimes in business, you need to be prepared for things not to work out before you get one thing that works out. Thanks to development we have done on Accordion we are able to generate revenue through paying customers. We also know it is ready to work with major podcast platforms. We’ve learned so much. In just a few months, we’ve taken huge steps forward and It’s greatly improved our potential to generate more revenue and grow Accordion. 

We are in discussions with a major podcast platform about working together. It’s a long and complicated process, but I wouldn’t be able to even have those conversations if I didn’t understand Accordion’s capabilities and this project has pushed these significantly further. 

It’s amazing what Accordion has achieved so far. Now we need to look for future partnerships, opportunities and more paying customers to grow organically. 

What are the challenges around innovation? 

There is a big challenge in the field of research, development and innovation (R,D&I). When you build something new, it can be hard for people to understand it right away. I’ve had this comment before about Accordion – its magic, but it takes a while for them to get their head around the fact that what it does is possible and that it actually works. 

Here’s the thing: people are used to podcasts or videos being a certain length. So, when you tell them it is possible to change the length, immediately, they think “what am I missing out on?”, but the way Accordion works is to always prioritise the most important parts. Once people try Accordion on a piece of content they are familiar with (like a favourite podcast) and they can see it really does maintain structure, tone and feel… they completely get it and start to understand its power. 

With innovation, sometimes the hardest part is getting people to try the new products and experience you create.  

What does Research and Development (R&D) mean to you? 

R&D is about finding new ideas and solving problems – and problems need solving across the world, in all industries and sectors. 

I’ve always loved being creative. That’s why I wanted to work in music, radio, film, gaming and video.  

Before I worked with Media Cymru, I worked on other R&D projects with Clwstwr and Innovate UK. Over the years, I’ve learned that R&D is like a scientific approach to creativity.  

I’m a big believer that people don’t have to be “an ideas person” to be creative – it is a skill and process that can be learned by anyone.

What has driven you to explore R&D? 

I have a real love for creativity and coming up with new ideas. After working with big companies like BBC and commercial radio, I wanted to do positive work which followed my values.  

In media and tech, it’s difficult to change the status quo – but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a go. That’s why I’ve loved working with Media Cymru – there is that respect for independence, flexibility, and encouragement. They don’t tell you how to solve a problem, instead they say, “you go and find the solution, we will give you the support and platform for you to solve it yourself”.  

There is a famous quote around invention of the lightbulb, I put it on my Bwlb website: “there is a better way, find it”. I think about this quote most days.  

In all parts of life, things are changing all the time and technology moves on. I’m always trying to find the better way to do something, and I find that process exciting.  

Tell us about the importance of collaboration. 

One of my favourite things about Media Cymru is the network of people.  

Sara Pepper (Co-Director, Media Cymru) led me to the Innovate UK Creative Catalyst opportunity. Then I came full circle when Media Cymru launched a Development Fund. 

PDR have been a huge help to me over the years. They have provided great design and creative training, put me in contact with future collaboration partners and been a great source of support. 

Another one is my Developer, Ana. I was struggling to find freelance high-quality developers in Wales and Media Cymru Producer Gavin Johnson asked me “had you thought about talking to Iungo?” That’s how I found Ana (who had recently taken an Iungo course).  

I also went to a Media Cymru workshop with PDR and met Bleddyn Williams (another Media Cymru cohort member from the company Rusty Design). He asked if I had talked to Hartree. I didn’t know who they were and now they are helping with a big project for Accordion: trying to solve how to use targeted AI to improve the processes of Accordion.   

I wouldn’t have had those connections without Media Cymru – they encourage people to work together and that’s made a big difference for me.  

What have you learned on this journey? 

I’ve learned a lot whilst building Accordion. But my advice to anyone thinking about getting involved in R&D is just go for it, you will find this amazing world of learning and opportunity. There is no way you can come out of an R&D process not better as a person or company. You will come out with a better process or understanding of your problem, product and yourself. So don’t think about it, just do it and explore.