Plenty of startups try to subsist on user-generated content, but not many succeed. One reason is that most content must be written, which is time-consuming and difficult (take it from a writer!). MusicShake should do better, because it's made creating music online both fun and simple.
MusicShake is a South Korean company that was a crowd favorite at the TechCrunch 40 awards last year. I checked in recently with the company and found that it has been doing fairly well, picking up over 100,000 users and achieving some success with a music sales model that I was skeptical of.
MusicShake users create songs by combining pre-created instrumental tracks (from a list of thousands). The creation software, which currently still requires a download but will be moving fully online sometime this year, makes it relatively easy to create a catchy song. More daring users can also add their own vocals to the tracks they create.
According to co-founder Kihong Bae, users have already sold around 60,000 songs to each other, from which MusicShake takes a small cut. The site itself has proven extremely "sticky" to users -- average sessions can be around an hour. However, to really make much money, sales will really need to ramp up for the company.
I'd thought the site would be more popular in South Korea, which is famous for its internet-obsessed, gaming-friendly population, but Bae told me the site looks like it will be more successful in the United States, where people are more likely to spend time putting together their own songs.
To that end, MusicShake has opened up an office in Los Angeles and is translating and modifying a Korean-language social network attached to the site for a US audience (screenshot at bottom). The network lets users build music lists and share them with each other.
MusicShake's gotten $3 million in funding from South Korean venture capital firms, including Nexon Corp. and Translink Capital, but will be looking for a venture-backed round of $3-5 million from a US source this summer.
