If you’ve ever watched The Voice on TV and thought, “Hey, I could do that,” well, now you’ve got your chance to show off your singing skills in a new iOS app, The Voice On Stage.
The app was developed by a San Francisco startup called StarMaker, and its CEO Jeff Daniel stopped by The TechCrunch office to show it off. You just turn on the app, select the song that you want to sing, and then off you go. The app scores you based on the accuracy of your singing, and it can also auto-tune your voice as you sing. The basic functionality is the same as StarMaker’s own karaoke app, but it has been given a Voice-themed facelift. For example, during a song, the app shows judges with their backs turned toward you, and if you do well, they turn their chairs around as the song progresses — just like in the show.
There’s a social component too. You can collaborate on songs with other players, or compete against them. And when you’re finished singing, you can share the recording on Facebook or Twitter. The app is free, but it only makes a few songs available initially — if you want to access the full library, you have to pay a $1.99 weekly subscription fee (there’s a discount if you subscribe for longer time periods).
And if singing into your iPhone or iPad feels a little awkward to you, Daniel said you’ll also be able buy a special dock from Philips, so you can actually sing into the app with an actual microphone.
The Voice On Stage looks like a lot of fun, but what’s most impressive is the fact that a relatively unknown startup managed to land deal with The Voice — and only a month after StarMaker launched a similar American Idol app. The key, Daniel said, was to convince Talpa Media Holdings (which owns The Voice) that the startup could create “an authentic representation of the television show.” That’s not easy, which is why there hasn’t been an official Voice iPhone app until now. (Another startup we cover, Smule, has also released its own karaoke apps, including one in partnership with Glee.)
Daniel added that he’s hoping to take the partnership further. For example, he said the app could be turn into a feeding group for the show — in other words, The Voice could hold contests within the app, and the winners could audition for the show itself.
Even prior to these high-profile partnerships, Daniel said StarMaker attracted a significant following, with 4 million app installs and 35 million song recordings made by users.
You can download the new Voice app here.
Comment