Smule (app)

Smule is an American music app initially released under the name Sing!, Karaoke in iOS platforms on 2012[1] and subsequently on Android in 2013.[2] Smule expanded its music experience to include the web in 2016, albeit in a consultative format for now. In 2020, Smule Sing! Placed restrictions on their popular “Live Jam” feature, and implemented collaborative restrictions through their SingInStyle update in October 2020, which led to an outpouring of negative feedback and petitions ardently against both the new interface and developers’ lack of response to consumer feedback.

Smule
Developer(s)Smule Inc.
Initial release2012 (iOS)
2013 (Android)
2015 (Apple TV)

Smule was described as "the biggest music app you haven't heard of" by CNET in 2018.[3]

In October 2017, Smule started offering official Disney duets starting with the song 'You're Welcome' with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's Moana character, Maui.[4] It was the first of several animated duets that are available on the app. The Smule app also allows users to perform duets alongside international artists such as Jason Derulo, Luis Fonsi, J Balvin, Charlie Puth, Polina Gagarina, and Siti Badriah.

In 2020, Smule was at the front of a barrage of controversy from its user base, due to a number of updates that removed integral collaborative features from the application.

The October 2020 update, SingInStyle received a barrage of negative reviews from thousands of users online, and has drawn further criticism as it was pushed in spite of a poor reception by test-groups in September of 2020.

Development

TechCrunch explained:[5]

Smule co-founder and CTO Ge Wang says the collaborative features should help with Smule’s broader goal of making music performance more fun and accessible. When someone opens a Smule app, he says they shouldn’t ask themselves, “Am I a musician?” because the answer is usually no. Instead, the goal is to draw people in, then by the time they realize they’re making music, “it’s too late — they’re already having fun.” With Sing, it’s it should be less intimidating to join in an already-created song than it would be to start singing on your own.

An update of the app added new filters such as one that makes the user sound like they are singing in the shower.[6]

Users can sing duets with other Smule users anywhere in the world in real-time.[7] Smule has been granted a patent for how it handles latency in this scenario.[7][8]

Music collaboration

Users choose a song and either sing along to it as a solo, duet, or group performance. Performances are uploaded to Smule's database, at which point anyone can listen to them. Users can enable video recording mode if they want to record both video and audio. A private flag may also be enabled, if users don't want to allow others to listen to their recording.

Critical reception

Smule Sing! Has generally been received positively by their growing user base over the last decade for their innovative collaborative capabilities, video features and variety of FX at user disposal.

However, the company began to face severe backlash beginning in the summer of 2020 with removal of the integral Live Jam feature from their app. From this point, users began to grow frustrated with a “surplus of tone-deaf updates” as well as a lack of response to community feedback by developers.

The largest critical uproar came with the October 2020 push update that effectively removed FX capabilities from the application, rendering projects and collaborative efforts no longer viable. A Change.org petition was started the same day in an attempt to convey community frustrations to developers. The petition has thus far gained the signatures of more than 3,000 Smule Users.

148Apps said "Sing! Join the global karaoke party! is either going to horrify or delight people, depending on their point of view on karaoke, in general. Yes, there are a lot of bad singers out there, but the name of the game is to have fun, and with the whole world as a stage, Sing! can be an awful lot of fun."[9]

AppAdvice said "As far as music selection, the free app is a mixed bag."[10]

Appolicious concluded "That’s the beauty of Sing! It may or may not yield a Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg, Idina Menzel, John Mayer or even a Rebecca Black, but it is a wonderful way for singers the world over to unite and make a joyful communal sound."[11]

References
  1. Dredge, Stuart (August 8, 2015). "Smule's new iPhone app would like to teach the world to Sing". The Guardian. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. Maxham, Alexander (July 1, 2013). "App of the Day: Sing! Karaoke". AndroidHeadlines. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  3. "Smule may be the biggest music app you haven't heard of". CNET. 2018-07-14. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  4. "Disney's Moana fans can duet with The Rock on Smule's Sing! app". USA TODAY. October 4, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  5. Ha, Anthony (August 8, 2012). "Music Startup Smule Promises To Get More Social, Starting With its New Karaoke App Sing". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  6. Takahashi, Dean (September 20, 2013). "With Smule's Sing! Karaoke app for the iPhone 5S, you can record songs in a shower". VentureBeat. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  7. Spangler, Todd (2018-09-14). "Smule App's New LiveJam Feature Lets You Sing Live Duets With Anyone in the World". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
  8. "Patents Assigned to Smule, Inc. - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
  9. Culp, Dale (August 24, 2012). "Sing! Join the global karaoke party! Review". 148Apps.com. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  10. Dirks, Brent (August 8, 2012). "Sing! Is A Fun Way To Do Karaoke, If You're Willing To Pay For It". AppAdvice. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  11. Caplan, Lisa (January 12, 2013). "Smule turns the world into an iPhone karaoke party with Sing!". appolicious.com. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
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