es aw ▁that ▁the ▁growth ▁of ▁digital ▁techn ologies ▁would ▁lead ▁to ▁such ▁large ▁volume ▁of ▁content ▁becoming ▁available ▁that ▁users ▁would ▁need ▁filters ▁to ▁help ▁them ▁find ▁what ▁was ▁relevant ▁to ▁them . ▁In ▁ 2 0 0 4 ▁he ▁was ▁introduced ▁to ▁Hop kins , ▁who ▁had ▁written ▁a ▁piece ▁of ▁software ▁to ▁manage ▁his ▁extensive ▁music ▁collection . ▁The ▁software ▁learned ▁t ast es ▁and ▁prefer ences ▁and ▁util ised ▁artificial ▁intelligence ▁to ▁generate ▁play lists ▁and ▁recommend ations . ▁With ▁invest ment ▁from ▁the ▁found ers ▁and ▁from ▁vent ure ▁capital ▁firm ▁E den ▁Vent ures , ▁they ▁launched ▁Ex ab re ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 4 , ▁and ▁promoted ▁The ▁Filter ▁as ▁a ▁site ▁providing ▁music ▁and ▁movie ▁recommend ations ▁directly ▁to ▁consum ers . ▁ ▁Although ▁the ▁vent ure ▁was ▁successful , ▁reaching ▁an ▁average ▁of ▁ 8 0 0 , 0 0 0 ▁unique ▁visitors ▁per ▁month , ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 9 ▁The ▁Filter ▁modified ▁its ▁business ▁model ▁to ▁lic ens ing ▁the ▁recommendation ▁engine ▁to ▁other ▁business es . ▁To ▁date , ▁this ▁strategy ▁has ▁proved ▁successful , ▁and ▁the ▁company ▁has ▁secured ▁large ▁contract s , ▁particularly ▁in ▁the ▁US . ▁ ▁Exec ut ives ▁and ▁Board ▁of ▁Direct ors ▁Peter ▁Gabriel ▁has ▁been ▁involved ▁in ▁various ▁media , ▁music ▁and ▁technology ▁business es ▁since ▁ 1 9 8 7 , ▁when ▁he ▁founded ▁the ▁Real ▁World ▁Group , ▁compr ising ▁ ▁Real ▁World ▁Studios , ▁Real ▁World ▁Records , ▁and