Yousician

Last updated
Yousician
Industry Music education
FoundedDecember 2010;13 years ago (2010-12)
FounderChris Thür & Mikko Kaipainen
Headquarters
Helsinki
,
Finland
Key people
  • Chris Thür
  • (CEO, co-founder)
ProductsYousician for Guitar, Piano, Ukulele, Bass, Voice
Yousician for Educators
GuitarTuna
Number of employees
126
Website yousician.com

Yousician is a Finnish interactive and educational music service made to learn and play a musical instrument. It currently supports the following musical instruments: guitar, piano (keyboards), ukulele, bass, and voice.

Contents

History

Yousician Ltd. is a Helsinki based music education company founded by Chris Thür and Mikko Kaipainen in 2010 under the name Ovelin, [1] as part of the Startup Sauna accelerator programme at Aalto University. [2] The company develops and operates a music service called Yousician, and a tuner application called GuitarTuna.

In May 2020, Yousician launched its educational learning platform Guest Teacher Series, which provides music students with digital Q&A sessions with professional musicians.

In 2021, Yousician raised $28 million (€23.1 million [3] ) in funding. In total, Yousician had at the end of 2021 series B investment round collected in total a funding of €35 million. [3] The company's largest investor is a Silicon Valley based firm True Ventures. New investors at this funding round included Amazon's Alexa Fund and MPL Ventures LLP. Several angel investors have also invested in Yousician. [4]

Yousician

Yousician is currently available for five instruments: guitar, piano, bass, ukulele, and voice. For each instrument, Yousician features a lesson plan developed and produced in-house by the company’s music educators. The lesson plans are designed like music courses and consist of lessons, exercises, tutorial videos and minigames.

Yousician's audio signal processing technology guides users as they learn to play real musical instruments. Users follow sheet music or tablature notation on their device's screen and play along to a backing track. Using the device's built-in microphone, Yousician gives feedback on accuracy and timing.

Yousician operates under a freemium model where one lesson per day is given for free, while unlimited lesson time is offered via paid subscriptions.

Reception

Yousician was released in November 2014, to mostly positive reviews. Guitar World called it "modern technology's gift to music education" and in March 2015 it was featured as 'Editor's Choice' in the Apple iOS App Store. [5] Critical voices usually do not question the product itself, but contrast it to the option of learning to play an instrument in private lessons. Voicesinc.org for example stated that "If you’re happy to learn from a digital screen, then it’s great, but if you want a lot more human interaction and demonstration, there may be some better options." However, Yousician's CEO Chris Thür has said that using their app does not exclude in-person teaching, but may be used to supplement it. [6]

Yousician was one of Wired's top 100 European startups in 2012, [7] and were also featured in The Sunday Times "World's Best Apps List 2012".

In June 2018, Yousician began what the company has called a "sunset of the song upload feature", which was completed with the October 2018 update 2.58 that removed all user-generated content from the app. [8] The removal of user generated content sparked opposition among some vocal users online. Coincidence with introduction of what Yousician calls popular songs, licensed songs by well-known bands and artists, that was announced with the update 2.55 on 23 August 2018, [9] led to speculation about the motives of the decision, however Yousician as a company has not elaborated on the reasons of their business move.

In 2020, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences granted Yousician a gold at Lovie Awards in Apps, Mobile & Voice: Education & Reference category. [10] [11] The same year, Yousician was nominated as the Digital Service of the Year by Software & E-Business of Finland. [12] [13]

The creators of Yousician had been sued by Ubisoft over claimed patent infringement on their patent U.S. Patent 9,839,852, for an "Interactive guitar game", which Ubisoft had used in their music video game Rocksmith . [14] In August 2019, a federal district court ruled that the patent claims of Ubisoft were too broad and not defined in enough specificity, thus nullifying the patent and dismissing Ubisoft's suit. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GarageBand</span> Digital audio workstations for macOS, iOS, and iPadOS

GarageBand is a software application by Apple for macOS, iPadOS, and iOS devices that allows users to create music or podcasts. GarageBand was originally released for macOS in 2004 and brought to iOS in 2011. The app's music and podcast creation system enables users to create multiple tracks with pre-made MIDI keyboards, pre-made loops, an array of various instrumental effects, and voice recordings.

Babbel GmbH, operating as Babbel, is a German subscription-based language learning software and e-learning platform, available in various languages since January 2008.

italki Language learning website

italki is an online language learning platform which connects language learners and teachers through video chat. The site allows students to find online teachers for 1-on-1 tutoring, and teachers to earn money as freelance tutors. italki is headquartered in Hong Kong, China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Busuu</span> Language learning platform

Busuu is a language learning platform on web, iOS and Android that allows users to interact with native speakers. In 2021, Chegg acquired Busuu for $436 million.

<i>Rocksmith</i> 2011 video game

Rocksmith is a music video game produced by Ubisoft, released in October 2011 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms in North America. Rocksmith was released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 during September 2012 in Australian and European markets and October 2012 in Japan. A Windows version was released on October 16, 2012, after several delays. The game's main feature is that, unlike other rhythm games such as Guitar Hero that require proprietary controllers to play, Rocksmith instead allows players to plug in virtually any electric guitar and play along via a USB adapter.

Duolingo is an American educational technology company that produces learning apps and provides language certification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Udemy</span> American online learning platform

Udemy, Inc. is an education technology company that provides an online learning and teaching platform. It was founded in May 2010 by Eren Bali, Gagan Biyani, and Oktay Caglar.

<i>Rocksmith 2014</i> 2013 video game

Rocksmith 2014 is a music video game produced by Ubisoft. It is a followup to the 2011 game Rocksmith, but has been described as a replacement to the original game rather than a sequel. Like its predecessor, the game allows players to plug in virtually any electric guitar or bass guitar and play along via the use of a USB adapter – removing the need for any proprietary controller like other music games such as Guitar Hero. The game comes with 66 songs on disk, with over a thousand more available to download as paid DLC. It was announced at Ubisoft's 2013 E3 presentation and was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC/Mac in October 2013, with versions for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One releasing in November 2014.

Voxy is an American eLearning company and English learning platform. The company was founded in February 2010 by Gregg Carey and Paul Gollash and is headquartered in New York City along with an office in São Paulo, Brazil.

Reverb.com is an online marketplace for new, used, and vintage musical equipment, including instruments used by notable musicians. It was founded in 2013 by David Kalt, shortly after he purchased the musical instrument store Chicago Music Exchange and became frustrated with then-available options for buying and selling guitars online. It has grown into a multimillion-dollar business with more than 10 million monthly visitors. In August 2019, Etsy acquired Reverb for $275 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">23snaps</span> Social network and photo sharing service

23snaps Ltd.is a free, private social network and photos, videos, measurements and stories of their children to a digital journal and privately share those updates with other family members or close friends. 23snaps is available online and on mobile devices and launched 1 June 2012.

Jamstik™ is a brand of portable, app-connected (MIDI) guitars made by Zivix—a music technology company based in Minneapolis, MN. Jamstik is made in the United States, designed in Minneapolis, and manufactured by a South Dakota-based contract manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paytm</span> Indian financial technology company

Paytm is an Indian multinational financial technology company, that specializes in digital payments and financial services, based in Noida, India. It was founded in 2010 by Vijay Shekhar Sharma under One97 Communications. The company offers mobile payment services to consumers and enables merchants to receive payments through its QR code, Payment Soundbox, Android based-point of sale machine and online payment gateway offerings. In partnership with financial institutions, Paytm offers financial services such as microloans and buy now, pay later to its consumers and merchants. Apart from bill payments and money transfer, the company also provides ticketing services, retail brokerage products and online games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Clemence</span>

Chris Clemence is an American tattoo artist, songwriter, bassist, and fashion designer. As a musician he is best known for his work as a solo artist and as a member of RapScallions. Clemence is currently the owner of Montauk Tattoo located in Montauk, New York as well as his stylized shoe brand Tattshoos.

Video gaming in Finland consists of video game industry of 260 active video game developer studios, roughly a dozen professional players and countless enthusiastic amateurs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hello English</span>

Hello English is an English language-learning application, which allows users to learn the English language through interactive modules. It functions on a freemium pricing model. The app is available on Android, iOS, Windows and Web.

Byju's is an Indian multinational educational technology company, headquartered in Bangalore. It was founded in 2011 by Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath. As of January 2024, Byju's was valued at $200 millions, a sharp fall from its peak of $22 billion in 2022. As of April 2023, the company claims to have over 150 million registered students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vampr</span> Social discovery platform

Vampr is a location-based social and professional networking platform which facilitates music discovery, collaboration, and communication between musicians, creatives, industry professionals and fans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BandLab Technologies</span> Singaporean multi-brand music company

BandLab Technologies is a Singaporean company founded in 2015 that operates a social music platform, called BandLab, and also owns a variety of music-related brands, including Harmony and Heritage Guitars; Guitar.com, NME, Uncut and MusicTech.com media platforms; and Swee Lee musical instrument retailer and distributor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocksmith+</span> Music education software

Rocksmith+ is a subscription-based music education service from Ubisoft focused on learning guitar, bass, and piano. It was released September 6, 2022 on PC and June 9, 2023 on Android and iOS and follows Rocksmith 2014. It was updated on December 5, 2023 to include piano and keyboard learning.

References

  1. ↑ Lappalainen, Elina. "Tamperelaiselle Ovelinille miljoonasijoitus Piilaaksosta". Talouselämä. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Armstrong, Stephen. "Europe's hottest startups 2015: Helsinki". Wired.co.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  3. 1 2 Tucker, Charlotte (30 April 2021). "Helsinki-based Yousician lands €23.1 million to reimagine music education". Eu-startups.com. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  4. ↑ "Yousician, The World's Leading Platform for Learning and Playing Music, Announces Closing of $28 Million Series B Round". Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  5. ↑ Priario, Guitar World. "Yousician Is a Fast, Fun Way to Learn to Play Guitar". Guitar World. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  6. ↑ "Yousician raises $28M to make music education more accessible". Social.techcrunch.com. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  7. ↑ Cheshire, Tom. "Europe's 100 hottest startups 2012: Helsinki". Wired.co.uk. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "Why is music uploading function disappeared?". Yousician.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  9. ↑ "Yousician update – version 2.55". Yousician.com. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  10. ↑ "Yousician Wins Gold at the Lovie Awards!". Yousician.com. 21 November 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "The Lovie Awards Winners Gallery". Winnersgallery.lovieawards.com. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  12. ↑ "Yousician Named Digital Service of the Year!". Yousician.com. 7 December 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  13. ↑ "Yousician on Vuoden Digipalvelu 2020: "Digitalisaatio voi tehdä jokaisesta muusikon" – Maailmassa jo kymmeniä miljoonia käyttäjiä". Ohjelmistoebusiness.fi. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  14. ↑ USpatent 9,839,852
  15. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (August 13, 2019). "Ubisoft loses Rocksmith patent suit". GamesIndustry.biz . Retrieved August 13, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.