Amman Ahmed (centre) at his studio in the US.
A man has become internet sensation after making music for cats, dogs and even hamsters. Amman Ahmed runs channels on YouTube and they have accumulated more than a billion views. Speaking to Daily Mail, he pioneered the idea of music for pets after listening to owner feedback and his music relaxed the animals. He tapped into a post-pandemic trend when separation anxiety among pets got worse when animals got used to spending so much time with their working-from-home owners.
The two channels - RelaxMyDog and RelaxMyCat - have close to two million and 870,000 subscribers respectively.
"I initially started out making music for people to help with insomnia - and one friend joked 'Let me try that on the dog'," he told the outlet.
Initially, Mr Ahmed "experimented" with different ideas to understand what worked and what didn't. He now offers dozens of playlists to relax cats and dogs, and says that his "creative process" is driven by his four-legged listeners.
"When we started, there was only a little bit of scientific research on this. So the tracks we made, some worked, and sometimes it didn't. But we got the basic idea: 'OK, maybe there's something here'," he told Daily Mail.
"We started producing different frequencies, different kinds of music, and most importantly, getting as much information as possible, from the dog owners, the dogs that are using it, and then learning from there," Mr Ahmed added.
He created a company called Music For Pets in the UK more than five years ago, which was later acquired by a US music distribution and rights company after a surge in popularity for animal playlists.
Mr Ahmed said that the company now has "superfans" who rely on the music to calm their animals.
"We got a message saying 'My dog really loved this track. It was the only thing that helped them with anxiety for years, and my dog passed away recently. Can I use the music for our dog's funeral as a way to remember?' That really left me speechless," the US-based entrepreneur said.
Subscriptions to the service cost $4.99 a month, and more than 42 million animals have tuned in, said the company.
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