Tech

APP OF THE MONTH: Songbooth's mobile video community could be the next YouTube for budding stars

by Mark Teo

When American Idol launched in 2002, it was billed as a way to unearth the world’s next would-be pop superstar. Largely, it worked: Ryan Seacrest and co. delivered us Carrie Underwood, Clay Aiken, and, of course, Kelly Clarkson. In 2005, YouTube—who we can thank for Justin Bieber—happened, allowing any laptop-equipped crooner to share their music. And in 2013, aspiring noisemakers have yet another tool to lean on: Songbooth is a mobile video maker that makes it easy for singers to showcase their skills—and potentially get discovered in the process.

SongBooth’s function is simple: It allows you to record your vocals over pre-recorded tracks, karaoke-style. Once you’ve recorded your video (and added an array of startlingly professional filters and effects), it’s time to share it with SongBooth’s community—which, since its December launch, has grown to 240,000 users. Then, like Biebs, it’s a matter of being discovered.

Easier said than done, right? Perhaps. Still, SongBooth expects its community to grow to 10 million users by the end of the year, and it’s earned votes of support from R&B star Miguel and YouTube star Ryan Beatty—heady praise for a month-old app. We caught up with Gregory Lowe, the app’s founder and Lowe Key Media’s CEO, to talk to him about the early success of his burgeoning app-cum-social network.

AUX: Tell us more about SongBooth’s vision.

Gregory Lowe: The idea of SongBooth started when I saw the growth in the [television] talent show, shows like American Idol, X Factor and some of the other big names. Then I realized that, with the mobile space growing into the major media space, the world needed a mobile version of these shows.

What, in your eyes, separates SongBooth from other video-sharing apps?

SongBooth is focused on creating a platform for users to share music video content.  We also are offering users a real opportunity to win a music contract, which I believe has never been done on a mobile platform. [Ed. Note: SongBooth is launching a contest this March, awarding users with a recording contract.]

On that note, much of the app’s early press embraces SongBooth’s potential to help musicians become discovered. Have any music-industry types taken notice of SongBooth thus far?

Yes, the music industry is all over the app! My work experience has been heavily based in the music space—I’ve worked with multiple artist and labels. During that time, all of them had one frequent request, and that was to have a go-to platform other than YouTube to find talent. SongBooth is that platform and the music-industry has taken notice.

Ryan Beatty and Miguel both helped launched the app. How did you hook up with them, and did they provide you with any feedback?

Ryan and Miguel are great guys! They’re really a part of the inspiration for SongBooth. If it wasn’t for social media, we may have never gotten a chance to hear the amazing music they are both producing. I was introduced to Ryan by his manager, DJ Skee, at the Skee Lodge, [his L.A.-based studio]. I’ve known Miguel from being in the L.A. circles and attending his shows when he was coming up. Both have been very supportive of the app and they really enjoy the experience. We are doing some great things with both of them coming up in 2013.

Did you look to any other social sharing apps or communities for inspiration while developing SongBooth?

Yes, when I sit down to develop an application, I look at all the successful apps in the marketplace to see what they’ve done right or wrong. I also check out some of the unsuccessful ones to see what they may have done right. The only way to create something genius is to work through what’s already been created. I took cues from apps like Viddy, Social Cam, I am T-Pain, and multiple others.

How has your experience—or your team’s experience—working in the music industry informed the app’s development?

Experience was a big check on our list when building the SongBooth team. Our chief marketing officer, Adam Goldman, has over 20 years experience in the music and advertising space, and our development team has over 15 years experience in Silicon Valley. I always take advice from successful mentors. One key piece I’ve always heard is you’re only as strong as your team.

What features do you envision adding to SongBooth?

SongBooth has many features coming up in the very near future. We are actually preparing to launch SongBooth 2.0 at the end of February. You can expect to see improvements in video quality, better artist discovery features and cool voice FX for users who need a little help.

Considering how many apps are being developed continuously, how do you cut through the noise of the app store?

We let the noise cut itself. We want to be the app with the cult following. We would love to be as huge as Instagram or some of the others but our main focus is to create stars and to give users a viable way to get out there musical dreams.

Do you have anything else to add?

Get in the booth!

This article originally appeared in the February 2013 issue of AUX Magazine. Download and subscribe for free in the App Store.