How BandLab helps over 30 million users strike a chord

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Hi readers,

“Singapore was a music desert 10 years ago.”

I said that to my melophile fiance and promptly got roasted for it. He then rattled off the names of local bands such as Electrico, Plainsunset, and 53A, which were all present more than a decade ago. And much to his horror, I’ve never heard of any of them before. Clearly, my fiance and I have very different tastes in music.

My fiance is trying to convert me by sending playlist after playlist of Singapore-based bands, but I’m more fascinated with this homegrown music app that has amassed over 30 million users.

Today we look at,

• The story of Bandlab’s explosive growth
• Singapore’s young and new unicorn
• Other newsy highlights such as China’s suspension of the Didi Chuxing app and how Honestbee’s ex-CEO lost a summary judgment

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Story of this Singapore music startup’s life

Singapore might not have its own The Sound of Music or Mozart, but the country does have BandLab, a free app that has drawn the attention of over 30 million amateur and professional musicians. With BandLab, users can create music as well as connect with their peers and listeners.

• Face the music: Launched in 2015, BandLab offers users more affordable music creation tools compared to others in the market, which could cost up to hundreds of dollars and might not even have mobile versions available.
• And the band played on: BandLab’s growth exploded last year as people were mostly staying home amid the pandemic, giving them more time to work on their old or new hobbies such as music creation. Within the first five months of 2020, BandLab’s users went up by 2x to 18 million.
• Jam session: BandLab is not just about the app. Co-founder Kuok Meng Ru sits on top of a growing music empire that includes Swee Lee, a Singapore-based music retailer that operates across Southeast Asia; and British publications New Musical Express (NME) and Uncut. He also used to own 49% of iconic American magazine Rolling Stone, but he gave up the shares in 2019.

Read more: This made-in-Singapore app with millions of users is democratizing music creation

STARTUP SPOTLIGHT

Singapore’s new unicorn