Soundtrap

Last updated
Soundtrap AB
TypePrivate
IndustryMusic, podcast
FoundedApril 1, 2012;11 years ago (2012-04-01) [1]
FoundersBjörn Melinder, Fredrik Posse, Gabriel Sjöberg, Per Emanuelsson
Headquarters
Stockholm, Sweden
Key people
Per Emanuelsson (CEO)
Parent Spotify
Website soundtrap.com

Soundtrap is a freemium online cross-platform digital audio workstation (DAW) for browsers that allows users to create music or podcasts. [2] [3] The DAW is operated by Soundtrap AB, which was bought by Spotify in November 2017. [4] Soundtrap is offered in 15 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, and Swedish, with the latter four being added in 2017. [5] [6]

Contents

The DAW includes inputs for external instruments, an instrument player, a way to input and export MIDI files, [7] collaboration features, [8] Patterns BeatMaker (introduced in 2017) [9] and a built-in autotune provided by Antares Audio Technologies. [10]

History

Soundtrap developers at the 2015 MTFCentral Hack Camp. Soundtrap - Jonas Lundquist, Vanja Steinholtz & Linnea Roden 8 - MTFCentral Hack Camp (2015-09-20 15.45.57 by Music Tech Fest).jpg
Soundtrap developers at the 2015 MTFCentral Hack Camp.

Soundtrap and Soundtrap AB were founded April 1, 2012 [1] in Stockholm, Sweden by Björn Melinder, Fredrik Posse, Gabriel Sjöberg, and Per Emanuelsson, who believed that it was too "complex to make music" and who wanted to create a studio with collaboration and “a full production environment where you can do professional-sounding podcasts, collaboratively done on the web.” [11] Soundtrap Studio was launched in beta in 2013. The next year, it was featured at Google I/O. [12] [13] In 2016, Soundtrap raised $6 million in their Series A round of financing. [14]

Soundtrap's logo from 2013 to 2017. Soundtrap logo (pre-2017).png
Soundtrap's logo from 2013 to 2017.

In November 2017, Spotify acquired Soundtrap, with Soundtrap stating that the move was a "culturally, creatively and strategically" great fit. [15] [16] [17] [18] The company had revenues of 900,000 kronor, making it one of Spotify's most expensive acquisitions. [19]

In 2018, Soundtrap won the EdTech Awards for the Arts, Music, Creative Solutions Category. [20] [21] The next year, it offered unlimited projects for the free tier without having to upgrade to a better plan. [22] [23] [24] [25]

Programs

Soundtrap
Developer(s) Soundtrap AB
Initial release2013;10 years ago (2013)
Operating system macOS, Windows, Chromebook, Linux, iOS, Android [26]
Available in15 languages
Website www.soundtrap.com

Soundtrap is split into three programs: Soundtrap for Music Makers, Soundtrap for Storytellers, and Soundtrap for Education.

Soundtrap for Education

Soundtrap for Education was introduced in 2015, [27] being showcased in 2016 at the Future of Education Technology Conference as a way for teachers and students of all ages to explore creative sound making in a safe and secure environment as well as at home. [28] [29] The program is COPPA, GDPR and FERPA compliant and is compatible with Google Classroom [30] and Soundtrap for Storytellers. [31]

The program was named "The Best Website for Teaching and Learning" in 2015 by the American Association of School Librarians [32] and was featured on Google for Education's "Creative Apps for Chromebooks" in 2016. [33] It was also given Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg by Common Sense Media, saying that the dashboard was easy to use and that the "extensive video tutorials and support features facilitate use of this tool to its fullest potential." [34]

In March 2020, Soundtrap for Education was made free for the fall semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [35] [36] That same year, it was named the "Music Education Solution of the Year" by EdTech. [37] [38] [39] [40] [41]

Soundtrap for Storytellers

Soundtrap for Storytellers was introduced on May 24, 2019 as a way for people to create podcasts. [42] [43] [44] [45] The program includes a transcript feature which can record and automatically transcribe a voice, a tool to edit the transcript, and a tool for managing shows and episodes as well as directly upload podcasts to Spotify. [46] [47] [48] Then in October 2019, the transcription feature was expanded to include French, Spanish, [49] German, Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese [50] and Swedish. [51] [52] The program also has a way to remotely interview guests and to create your own jingle. [53] [54]

The program was created to help podcasters with editing, transcribing, remote interviewing, and adding sound effects, as well as having one platform to create podcasts with. [55] [56] [57] According to the CEO of Soundtrap AB, Per Emanuelsson, Soundtrap for Storytellers "helps teachers differentiate instruction for students of all abilities within one classroom, giving students a compelling way to channel their thoughts and perspectives." [58] [59] [60]

Soundtrap for Storytellers has been described as the "Google Docs of podcasting." [61]

Soundtrap for Music Makers

Soundtrap for Music Makers was introduced in 2020 and has more features than the free tier, including Auto-Tune, more instruments, and sounds from Splice and Freesound. [62]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital audio workstation</span> Computer system used for editing and creating music and audio

A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device or application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from a single software program on a laptop, to an integrated stand-alone unit, all the way to a highly complex configuration of numerous components controlled by a central computer. Regardless of configuration, modern DAWs have a central interface that allows the user to alter and mix multiple recordings and tracks into a final produced piece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Podcast</span> Type of audio digital media

A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing. Podcasts are primarily an audio medium, with some programs offering a supplemental video component. Streaming applications and podcasting services provide a convenient and integrated way to manage a personal consumption queue across many podcast sources and playback devices. There are also podcast search engines, which help users find and share podcast episodes.

Podcasts, previously known as "audioblogs", had its roots dating back to the 1980s. With the advent of broadband Internet access and portable digital audio playback devices such as the iPod, podcasting began to catch hold in late 2004. Today there are more than 115,000 English-language podcasts available on the Internet, and dozens of websites available for distribution at little or no cost to the producer or listener.

Podcasting refers to the creation and regular distribution of podcasts through the Internet. Podcasts, which can include audio, video, PDF, and ePub files, are subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device. Subscribers are then able to view, listen to, and transfer the episodes to a variety of media players, or podcatchers. Though similar to radio, there is no larger regulatory group or oversight with podcasts. Instead, podcasts simply consist of the creators and their listeners. As the technology gained popularity in the early 2000s, the uses of podcasting grew from simply the delivery of content to also creative and responsive purposes.

Spotify is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 527 million monthly active users, including 210 million paying subscribers, as of March 2023. Spotify is listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American depositary receipts.

A music streaming service is a type of streaming media service that focuses primarily on music, and sometimes other forms of digital audio content such as podcasts. These services are usually subscription-based services allowing users to stream digital copyright restricted songs on-demand from a centralized library provided by the service. Some services may offer free tiers with limitations, such as advertising and limits on use. They typically incorporate a recommendation engine to help users discover other songs they may enjoy based on their listening history and other factors, as well as the ability to create and share public playlists with other users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chromium Embedded Framework</span> Free and open-source software framework

The Chromium Embedded Framework (CEF) is an open-source software framework for embedding a Chromium web browser within another application. This enables developers to add web browsing functionality to their application, as well as the ability to use HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to create the application's user interface.

Mixcloud is a popular British online music streaming service that allows for the listening and distribution of radio shows, DJ mixes and podcasts, which are crowdsourced by its registered users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desmos</span> Browser-based graphing calculator

Desmos is an advanced graphing calculator implemented as a web application and a mobile application written in JavaScript.

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

LANDR Audio is a cloud-based music creation platform developed by MixGenius, an artificial intelligence company based in Montreal, Quebec. Since launching with its flagship automated mastering service in 2014, LANDR has expanded its offerings to include distribution services, a music samples library, virtual studio technology (VSTs) and plug-ins, a service marketplace for musicians, and online video conferencing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acast</span> Swedish podcasting company


Acast is a Swedish-founded company that provides hosting, monetization and growth support for podcasts, and podcast advertising solutions for brands and media agencies. Launching in 2014, it developed a dynamic insertion technology which can target advertising within podcasts based on location, time, and personal data. The company champions an independent and open ecosystem for podcasting, where podcasts hosted with Acast are available on all podcast listening apps. Acast was founded by Karl Rosander and Måns Ulvestam in 2014; together with Johan Billgren as co-founder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Studio One (software)</span> Digital audio workstation

Studio One is a digital audio workstation (DAW) application, used to create, record, mix and master music and other audio, with functionality also available for video. Initially developed as a successor to the KRISTAL Audio Engine, it was acquired by PreSonus and first released in 2009 for macOS and Microsoft Windows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YouTube Music</span> Music streaming service by YouTube

YouTube Music is a music streaming service developed by the American video platform YouTube, a subsidiary of Google. It provides a tailored interface for the service, oriented towards music streaming, allowing users to browse through songs and music videos on YouTube based on genres, playlists, and recommendations.Support for podcasts was introduced in April 2023.

Parcast is a digital media firm and podcast network, that specializes in producing both scripted podcasts as well as audio dramas. It was founded in 2016 by podcaster Max Cutler and his father Ron Cutler in Los Angeles California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Cutler</span> American podcaster and business man

Max Cutler is an American entrepreneur, creator, investor, producer and businessman best known for founding the podcast Studio Parcast in 2016.

<i>Waveform</i> (podcast) Technology podcast hosted by Marques Brownlee

Waveform: The MKBHD Podcast is a podcast hosted by American YouTuber Marques Brownlee with co-host Andrew Manganelli. The podcast focuses on consumer electronics news and products along with discussions on videos uploaded to Brownlee's channel. A number of episodes have involved interviews from YouTube creators and other guests including Craig Federighi, senior vice president at Apple Inc.

A music podcast is a genre of podcasts covering topics related to music and musicians, which often includes reviews, interpretations, new releases, musician interviews, music history, music creation, and music theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spotify Live</span> Audio based social networking service

Spotify Live, formerly Spotify Greenroom, is a social audio app from Spotify, which allows the user to host or participate in a live-audio virtual environment called room for conversation. The current capacity of a room is limited to 1000 people. The app is available for Android and iOS. It rivals Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse that belong to the same social media segment. Spotify announced that the app would be shut down on the 30th of April 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Enhanced Speech</span> Artificial intelligence software

Adobe Enhanced Speech is an online artificial intelligence software tool by Adobe that aims to significantly improve the quality of recorded speech that may be badly muffled, reverberated, full of artifacts, tinny, etc. and convert it to a studio-grade, professional level, regardless of the initial input's clarity. Users may upload mp3 or wav files up to an hour long and a gigabyte in size to the site to convert them relatively quickly, then being free to listen to the converted version, toggle back-and-forth and alternate between it and the original as it plays, and download it. Currently in beta and free to the public, it has been used in the restoration of old movies and the creation of professional-quality podcasts, narrations, etc. by those without sufficient microphones.

References

  1. 1 2 "Soundtrap AB". Startup Ranking.
  2. ↑ "Soundtrap". Stockholm Design Lab.
  3. ↑ "Soundtrap". San Francisco Unified School District .
  4. ↑ "Spotify just bought a DAW, online studio Soundtrap". RouteNote. November 20, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Soundtrap Expands Music and Podcast Platform to Four New Languages in 57 Countries". edCircuit. May 26, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Soundtrap Expands Its Successful Cloud-Based Music and Podcast Recording Platform to Four New Languages in 57 Countries". audioXpress. May 29, 2017.
  7. ↑ Kimber, Aoife (June 14, 2017). "Soundtrap First to Enable Import and Export of MIDI Music Files to Music Scores Using only a Browser". Business Wire .
  8. ↑ "Soundtrap – The Free in-browser DAW Review". RouteNote. July 1, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Our Latest Release: Patterns – Beatmaker". Sountrap. November 24, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Getting Started with Auto-Tune and Soundtrap". Antares Audio Technologies.
  11. ↑ Quah, Nicholas (May 14, 2019). "It's a (Sound)Trap!". Hot Pod News.
  12. ↑ "About Soundtrap". Soundtrap.
  13. ↑ "Soundtrap". Stack Overflow .
  14. ↑ O'Hear, Steve (October 10, 2016). "Online music and audio recording studio Soundtrap scores $6M Series A". TechCrunch .
  15. ↑ Perez, Sarah; Lunden. Ingrid (November 17, 2017). "Spotify acquires online music studio Soundtrap as it goes after creators". TechCrunch .{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ Carlsson, Sven (November 17, 2017). "Spotify köper svenska musikbolaget Soundtrap". Di Digital (in Swedish).
  17. ↑ Carlsson, Sven (November 17, 2017). "Spotify köper svenska Soundtrap, som i fjol värderades till över 200 miljoner kronor. "Fantastiskt", säger Soundtraps vd Per Emanuelsson". Di Digital (in Swedish).
  18. ↑ "SPOTIFY ACQUIRES 'ONLINE RECORDING STUDIO' SOUNDTRAP". Music Business Worldwide. November 17, 2017.
  19. ↑ Magdirila, Phoebe; Gubagaras, Mark. "Spotify faces $1.6B suit; Mediahuis completes TMG stake acquisition". S&P Global .{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ↑ "2018 – Finalists & Winners". EdTech.
  21. ↑ Allen, Meredith (April 12, 2018). "Soundtrap Wins the 2018 Edtech Award Arts, Music, Creative Solutions Category". Soundtrap.
  22. ↑ Sawers, Paul (June 26, 2019). "Spotify's Soundtrap offers creators unlimited free storage for songs and podcasts". VentureBeat .
  23. ↑ Ha, Anthony (June 26, 2019). "Spotify-owned Soundtrap adds unlimited storage to the free tier of its recording software".
  24. ↑ Stassen, Murray (June 26, 2019). "SPOTIFY'S ONLINE PODCAST AND MUSIC STUDIO SOUNDTRAP LAUNCHES NEW FREE TIER". Music Business Worldwide.
  25. ↑ Kolodziejczak, Clément (June 27, 2019). "hSoundtrap, le studio en ligne de Spotify, supprime sa limite de cinq projets gratuits". Clubic (in French).
  26. ↑ "Browser support". Soundtrap.
  27. ↑ Treija, Ieva (October 11, 2016). "Online music and audio recording studio Soundtrap introduces education version and secures € 5.4 million funding". EU Startups.
  28. ↑ Schaffhauser, Dian (January 19, 2016). "Soundtrap Releases Education Edition for Online Music Collaboration". THE Journal.
  29. ↑ "SOUNDTRAP IS CHANGING MUSIC EDUCATION". SouthEast Education Network. October 21, 2016.
  30. ↑ "Soundtrap For Education". The American Music Teacher. 65 (5): 6. 2016.
  31. ↑ "Soundtrap for Education Podcasting". Synnex . September 28, 2019.
  32. ↑ Habley, Jen (June 29, 2015). "AASL Announces 2015 Best Apps & Best Websites". Knowledge Quest .
  33. ↑ Kimber, Aoife (June 27, 2016). "Soundtrap Selected for Google for Education's "Creative Apps for Chromebooks" Program". Business Wire .
  34. ↑ Powers, Melissa. "Soundtrap". Common Sense Media .
  35. ↑ Adavis (March 24, 2020). "Soundtrap for Education Offers Extended Trials to Support Schools". Soundtrap.
  36. ↑ "Soundtrap Offers Extended Free Trial to Support Distance Learning". eSchool News. April 8, 2020.
  37. ↑ "EdTech Breakthrough Award Winners". EdTech.
  38. ↑ "Soundtrap Named Music Education Solution of the Year". the Learning Counsel.
  39. ↑ "Soundtrap Named Music Education Solution of the Year". EIN Presswire. June 24, 2020.
  40. ↑ "Soundtrap Named Music Education Solution of the Year". edCircuit. June 24, 2020.
  41. ↑ "Soundtrap Named Music Education Solution of the Year". EIN Presswire. June 24, 2020.
  42. ↑ "Soundtrap for Storytellers Helps Podcasters Take Their Shows to the Next Level". Spotify . May 24, 2019.
  43. ↑ Wiggers, Kyle (May 14, 2019). "Spotify-owned Soundtrap launches cloud-based podcast creation and recording tool". VentureBeat .
  44. ↑ Washenko, Anna (May 14, 2019). "Spotify pushes further into podcast creation with Soundtrap for Storytellers program". RAIN News.
  45. ↑ Perez, Sarah (May 24, 2019). "Spotify-owned Soundtrap launches a podcast studio in the cloud". TechCrunch.
  46. ↑ O'Brien, Terrence (May 14, 2019). "Soundtrap for Storytellers is Spotify's latest play for podcasters". Engadget .
  47. ↑ Carman, Ashley (May 14, 2019). "Spotify-owned Soundtrap wants to make editing a podcast as easy as using Google Docs". The Verge .
  48. ↑ Locker, Melissa (May 14, 2019). "Spotify's new Soundtrap for Storytellers makes it even easier to start that podcast". Fast Company .
  49. ↑ González, Gabriela (October 31, 2019). "Soundtrap for Storytellers, la herramienta de creación de podcasts de Spotify ya es capaz de transcribir en español". Genbeta (in Spanish).
  50. ↑ "Soundtrap for Storytellers, a nova ferramenta de criação de podcasts, é lançada mundialmente". Terra (in Portuguese). May 14, 2019.
  51. ↑ "Soundtrap for Storytellers, Podcast Creation Tool Now Launches Transcription Service in French, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese, and Swedish". Business Wire . October 31, 2019.
  52. ↑ "Soundtrap Adds Translation Feature In Five More Languages". InsideRadio. October 31, 2019.
  53. ↑ Thorpe, Jen (May 26, 2019). "Soundtrap for Storytellers Helps Make Podcasting Easier". Podcaster News.
  54. ↑ Betts, Will (May 15, 2019). "Soundtrap for Storytellers is a browser-based podcasting studio". MusicTech.
  55. ↑ "Soundtrap for Storytellers Offers Podcast Tools". Radio World . June 12, 2019.
  56. ↑ "Soundtrap for Storytellers launches globally". MUSIC:ED. December 13, 2019.
  57. ↑ Ulukan, Gözde (May 15, 2019). "Spotify bünyesindeki Soundtrap, podcast düzenlemeye yardımcı olan "Storytellers" özelliğini tanıttı". Webrazzi (in Turkish).
  58. ↑ "Soundtrap for Storytellers podcast creation tool introduced". the Learning Counsel.
  59. ↑ "Soundtrap for Storytellers, New Podcast Creation Tool Launches Globally- Classroom-appropriate Version to Be Made Available to Schools". Associated Press . May 14, 2019.
  60. ↑ "Soundtrap for Storytellers, New Podcast Creation Tool Launches Globally". audioXpress. May 16, 2019.
  61. ↑ Solsman, Joan (May 14, 2019). "Spotify launches the Google Docs of podcasting". CNET .
  62. ↑ "Soundtrap by Spotify Lets You Record, Edit, and Collaborate With Anyone, Anywhere". Futurism. July 29, 2020.
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.