The latest product from music startup Smule isn’t what I was expecting — instead of releasing another music-centric app like Ocarina or Magic Piano, it’s launching a social video app called Strum.
Music still plays a role in the app, but it’s not center stage here as it is with Smule’s other products. Prerna Gupta, CEO of Khush (another music startup that was acquired by Smule last year)… → Read More
Executives at Smule, the startup that turns mobile devices into musical instruments with apps like Ocarina and Magic Piano, say the company’s apps are about to get social in a big way.
Sharing has always been a key part of Smule’s products, but Prerna Gupta (who joined the company through the acquisition of another music app-maker called Khush, where she was CEO) says Smule hasn’t gone far… → Read More
Smule is on fire. Just take a look at the work these guys have done since their 2008 launch: $25.5 million in funding, more app releases than I can keep up with and a pretty sweet acquisition.
And the latest app, AutoRap, is seeing some incredible early success. After less than a week on the App Store, AutoRap has seen over 2.5 million downloads with over 12 million raps created.
Yes… → Read More
Smule has been churning out scores of popular music-making iOS apps for years now, but they’ve been notoriously gun-shy about bringing those apps to other platforms.
As of today though, that streak has finally come to an end — the company has just released their auto-tuning Songify app into the Google Play Store. → Read More
Just when I was beginning to think that MadPad would be the only brand new product we saw come out of mobile musical masterminds Smule in 2011, they’ve just squeaked one out in the final round. Not that only launching one product in a year would be a bad thing, mind you — especially since they’ve been busying themselves raising 12 million dollar rounds and snatching up others in their space… → Read More
Smule, makers of such fine musically-tuned iOS apps as Ocarina, Magic Piano, and I Am T-Pain, have just announced their intentions to acquire Khush, the equally music-minded company behind LaDiDa (you sing, it generates a beat) and Songify (you sing/talk/cough/howl, it bends the tune into a song).
Wonder Twin powers, activate! → Read More
Smule, the music app developer behind I am T-Pain and others, has raised another $12 million in funding, according to a recent SEC filing. We’ve confirmed the funding with the company. The round was led by Shasta Ventures and Shasta partner Jason Pressman has joined the Smule board of directors. Granite Ventures and Bessemer Ventures also participated in the round. The company previously raised… → Read More
From the “click-clack, click-clack” of your car’s turn signal to the honking of a passing bus, life is a symphony of sound — there’s just no one conducting.
This morning, Smule (makers of many a fine/remarkably clever iPhone app, from Leaf Trombone to I Am T-Pain) is looking to change that with their latest iOS app: MadPad. By capturing short, everyday sights/sounds and arranging them for… → Read More
After you’ve made a series of iOS App Store hits like I Am T-Pain, Glee Karaoke, Leaf Trombone, and Magic Fiddle, what do you do next to further bolster that yearly revenue? You could make another iPhone app, sure — or you could follow in the footsteps of countless mimes, jugglers, dudes-painted-to-look-like-robots and breakdancers before you, and turn to the streets. So that’s what… → Read More
When the iPhone App Store launched last year, a flood of ‘virtual’ music apps, ranging from pianos to drums hit the market. Most of these didn’t fare so well on the iPhone’s small screen, save for one fantastic standout: Smule’s Ocarina, which was perfectly suited for the iPhone and was fairly easy for beginners to pick up. The app became a massive success, and became one of the App Store’s most… → Read More
Smule is one of our favorite iPhone developers – besides putting together ridiculously addictive apps like Ocarina (iTunes Link), the team is also especially adept at tapping into the iPhone’s network effect, even on something as basic as a virtual lighter. Today, the company has announced that it has closed a $3.9 million funding round led by Granite Ventures, with Bessemer Venture Partners… → Read More
Smule, the company behind innovative applications like the Sonic Lighter and Ocarina, is easily one of my favorite developers on the App Store. The company has developed a suite of advanced technologies revolving around audio information, which allows it to share music on a global scale and (in the case of an app launching today) to use audio to relay information between two nearby cell… → Read More
Ocarina, the second iPhone application from Silicon Valley based Smule, has surged to the top spot on the iPhone App store just a little over a week after launching (you can download it here for $.99).
Why? Just like Smule’s first application, a social virtual lighter (yeah, I know), People are fascinated by interacting with others. With the lighter it was competing geographically for the… → Read More
Smule has done it again. The company behind the ingenious lighter app that took the iPhone by storm a few months ago has launched Ocarina, a networked musical instrument that allows you to listen to songs being played around the world in real time. The app costs 99 cents, and you can grab it here.
As an instrument Ocarina has been perfectly executed, and is much more suitable for the iPhone’s… → Read More
Everyone keeps talking about Smule’s virtual lighter iPhone application called Sonic Lighter (iTunes link).
I wasn’t impressed: there are no less than ten different virtual lighter apps in iTunes, which is what I’d call a saturated market. And it gets better, because Sonic Lighter costs $.99. The official Zippo iphone app is free. The basic functionality of all of these is similar – you have a… → Read More
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