Great Gig Group Successfully Enters Phase 2 of the MAX!mize Start-Up Program
The team has succesfully advanced to Phase 2 (from left to right): Alexander Gretschann, Ratchanon Panyapatchoto (former member), Alex Emmer, Nikita Kudakov, Pavel Metelitsyn, and Sadia Begum Miah (former member). Absent: Florian Kirschenhofer, Jillian Mayer, Christoph Reuter, and Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann. (Photo: Sarah Oppenländer)
From research to application in practice: Doctoral Candidate Nikita Kudakov at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main investigates scientific questions around rap performance and music production. Together with an interdisciplinary team—which includes MPIEA Director Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann—and in collaboration with the University of Vienna, he successfully applied to the MAX!mize start-up program of the Max Planck Society. As part of the ‘Great Gig Group’ project, the team has developed a dedicated app designed to help vocal artists and DJs analyze and optimize their stage performance.
After completing Phase 1 in September 2025, Kudakov and his project partners presented their refined core concept along with initial results—including a prototype of the app—and received additional funding for the next 18 months to further develop the project in Phase 2.
“I’m very pleased that within a relatively short period of six months we were able to build an agile team and achieve remarkable results. We developed a working prototype of the app and advised three rappers who were able to improve their live performances. Our shared goal now is to bring our product and our advisory services to market readiness and to expand our ‘About The Feeling’ concert series into a festival accompanied by a conference,” explains Kudakov, who also performs as a rapper under the stage name Coodiny.
Additionally, a YouTube channel is planned to provide insights into the team’s work and the intersection of research, art, and technology.
About the MAX!mize Start-Up Program
The MAX!mize start-up incubation program, organized by Max Planck Innovation GmbH, supports Max Planck researchers in translating their findings into concrete business models that address real market needs. The program imparts entrepreneurial skills and accompanies researchers from the first idea to company with the goal of spinning out.
In addition to technology-driven ideas from chemistry and physics, as well as biology and medicine, teams from the humanities and social sciences also participate. Projects with societal impact have already been supported; since 2025, the focus on social entrepreneurship has become even stronger.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with the dedicated Great Gig Group team. This social entrepreneurship project exemplifies how societal impact and scientific excellence go hand in hand,” says Jillian Mayer, Social Innovation Manager at Max Planck Innovation GmbH.
The Great Gig Group
The Great Gig Group project team includes: Alex Emmer (MPIEA), Alexander Gretschann (MPIEA), Florian Kirschenhofer (Start-up Coach, Max-Planck-Innovation GmbH), Nikita Kudakov (MPIEA), Jillian Mayer (Start-up Coach, Max-Planck-Innovation GmbH), Pavel Metelitsyn (MPIEA), Christoph Reuter (University of Vienna), and Melanie Wald-Fuhrmann (MPIEA).
The team is currently looking for five artists who would like to receive guidance on their live performances. Singers, rappers, and DJs interested in further developing their performances with scientific expertise and technological innovation can contact Kudakov by email or send him an informal application directly.
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