“It doesn’t matter if you fail, that’s part of the game”: Output CEO Gregg LehrmanOriginally a full-time composer and producer, Gregg Lehrman founded Output when he realised the tools he wanted to use didn’t yet exist. Leveraging early success to build the team, the company developed groundbreaking instruments and effects, including Rev, Movement and Signal, later embracing the cloud with Arcade, and AI with Co-Producer.
Based in California, we recently spoke with Lehrman about Output’s approach to AI in music, the future of creativity, and why a drive to solve musicians’ problems is crucial to his career.
1. Make things you love to use
“Output’s first product was never meant to be public-facing. It was something that I built for myself because I wanted a creative tool to help with my own music — I had a career as a full-time composer, producer, and sound designer and wasn’t planning on changing that. I thought , ‘How can I make something that makes my music more interesting?’ At first, we used Kontakt to build our products but, after a while, it became clear that we had to create our own platform because we wanted to do things that weren’t possible with existing tools.”
2. Embrace new technologies
“One of the core ideas behind Arcade – the first cloud-connected plugin instrument – was solving a simple problem: every time you wanted to release new samples or loops, you had to ship a whole new software product or ask people to download content from websites. So we built a system where the sounds live in the cloud and can update constantly. Happily, it was a big hit from day one. Now we’re continuing to innovate, expanding into chromatic instruments and adding AI-powered features that let people bring in their own samples and transform them into something new.”
“It doesn’t matter if you fail, that’s part of the game”
3. Support people who care about the craft
“AI is here, but Output is never going to be in the business of writing music for people; that’s not who we are. Our Co-Producer plugin uses AI to suggest samples that will complement your track by analysing your DAW project, and we’ve introduced what is basically the world’s first way to make AI variations of human-made samples with the Reimagine feature.
“We used to think of the market as ‘beginners and more serious music makers’. But now we think about it as people who care about the craft of making their own music, and people who just want the end result. Here at Output, we double down on those people pouring their own blood, sweat and tears into writing their music and showing their craft. That’s our business and that’s what we’re about.”
4. Quality makes you stand out
“If you’re making music, you’re now competing against more content than ever before. So you need to rise above it, and the first thing it takes is real craft: You have to be incredibly good and unique to stand out. Also, you need to document and showcase the humanity in your music and let the world know not only that you made it, but how you made it. People ultimately want to support other people making music. Overall quality is going to matter more than anything else.”
“We double down on those people pouring their own blood, sweat and tears into writing their music because that’s our business and that’s who we are”
5. Don’t be afraid to try and fail
“Sometimes music makers get too particular about sharing and releasing what they have. There’s a fear of embarrassment and rejection. If anybody wants to make it in music or even as an entrepreneur, they have to accept that it’s part of the process. I used to demo to get jobs scoring films or TV shows, and for every 20 projects I went up for, I didn’t get 19 of them. Having thick skin enables you to put yourself out there and not care if you fail. It doesn’t matter if you fail, that’s part of the game.”
This story appeared in the March/April 2026 issue of MusicTech Magazine.
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