what muses. startups worth knowing

Music startups are a hot topic. Industry stars launch own streaming services [правда, с переменным успехом]and meditation apps bypassed in popularity podcasts. Despite the fact that the market may seem overheated, remarkable projects continue to enter it. Today we’ll take a look at how hip-hop track recording apps are evolving.

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One of the brightest representatives of rap music startups is Rapchat. The application allows you to select the appropriate beat, read out the lyrics to it and publish the track to the community. The project was launched in 2014 – after the concept won at the Startup Weekend competition, having received his first investment of one thousand dollars. Subsequent amounts were more serious, and this year the app has made its way to the high-stakes table. Rapchat founders attracted $ 2.3 million from Sony Music and New York-based venture capital firm Adjacent. Investments will be directed to expanding the library of beats – the developers plan to invite eminent rappers and producers of the hip-hop industry.

The current library is already counts more than 100 thousand bits. Mostly they are generated by users, mimicking the style of celebrities – for example, Drake or Juice WRLD… There are also beats imitating Russian musicians… The feature of the site is competitions, whose participants need to record a track on a given topic. Winners can win cash prizes (up to $ 500), merchandise, or the opportunity to work at a professional recording studio.

Developers are focusing their efforts on engaging audiences and expanding the track library, which affects other aspects of the platform. So, in the application for several years cannot correct a number of shortcomings. For example, the player still does not allow rewinding tracks, beats cannot be downloaded, edited or accelerated, and the search takes into account only one keyword. Despite this, the playground continues to gain momentum… It has over seven million users generating 250,000 unique tracks every month. However, Rapchat is not the only start-up that relies on music creators.

Who else

A similar idea was implemented by the developers of the Voisey application. Members can record not only music tracks, but also short clips. Compared to Rapchat, the service is less well-known, but last year it got noticed on Snapchat. Project you bought and plan to build it into their own ecosystem.

Large IT companies are also entering the rap app niche. Facebook unveiled its approach to recording 60-second rap videos this year. The project is called BARS… However, the social network immediately accused in copying Rapchat, as the functionality of these two applications turned out to be very similar [есть даже челленджи]…

The desire of corporations to copy existing products suggests that they see the potential of the market and do not want to be left on the sidelines. At the same time, new social media are themselves opening up opportunities for hip-hop artists.

Battles of the Clubhouse

So, a platform for rap battles became and Clubhouse. Producers Boi-1da and Cardo collect audio rooms where enthusiasts present their tracks. Celebrities such as 21 Savage and Drake often serve as guest judges. They do not just award a victory to one or another participant, but give constructive feedback – something that a beginning musician should work on. In some cases, judges may ask for contacts for further collaboration. So Drake noticed on a beatmaker under the pseudonym Loudy Luna.

Each time, more and more participants and listeners show interest in the event. We can expect that the number of such audio rooms will grow – they will be dedicated not only to hip-hop, but also other genres…

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