Tennessee Voices, Episode 308: Matt Kleinman, founder and CEO, KIT Plugins

The Tennessee Voices podcast brings readers conversations with authors of insightful and compelling guest columns.

David Plazas
Nashville Tennessean
  • David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee.

The term "audio plugins," in simple terms, refers to computer software for the purpose of enhancing sound quality.

Plugins have been used in the music industry to preserve music and the plugin industry is booming because of the demand for higher audio quality.

On this episode of the Tennessee Voices video podcast, Matt Kleinman, CEO of KIT Plugins, spoke about his work and passion.

He also wanted to emphasize that the technology does not replace the creative, such as the musician, but it can help them make more music. 

KIT Plugins is backed Blackbird Studio, the Berry Hill studio owned by John McBride south of downtown Nashville.

Matthew Kleinman

Kleinman studied audio engineering at Drexel University in Philadelphia where he learned about the physics of audio. He was an audio mixer and pursued a career in music, moving from the east coast to Los Angeles and then to Nashville. He founded KIT Plugins in 2020.

His goal is to preserve sound and improve it. He said the plugin needs to stand apart from physical equipment. 

We also talked about the real and perceived sound quality of vinyl versus CDs versus cassette tapes versus streaming. 

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About Tennessee Voices

The Tennessee Voices videocast is a 20-minute program, which started in March 2020 and invites leaders, thinkers and innovators who have written guest columns for a USA TODAY Network Tennessee publication to share their insights and wisdom with me and our viewers.

Please email your ideas for future guests to me at dplazas@tennessean.com. Thank you for watching.

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David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee and an editorial board member of The Tennessean. Tweet to him at @davidplazas.