Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) has launched a subscription app called Fender Songs, which will allow users to practice, play along and perform to millions of songs on guitar, ukulele or piano.
The company has partnered with Apple Music to allow users to stream and play along to songs and has inked deals with major publishers including Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Kobalt and BMG.
Fender has also struck deals with master rights holders such as Warner Music Group to ensure the chords in the app are accurate to the actual music as performed by the artists.
Fender will regularly continue to add tracks to the service as additional licenses are procured from indies and other rights holders.
The app costs $4.99 per month or $41.99 for a 12-month subscription (subscribers also get 10% off guitars, amps and gear on Fender.com and at participating retailers).
At the core of the Fender Songs app is a chord detection application with an algorithm which uses both “complex digital signal processing techniques and deep knowledge in music theory” to automatically detect the chords of every single song in Fender’s music library in just a few seconds.
Fender has also partnered with key service providers such as 7Digital, LyricFind, Music Story and Music Reports as well as Amazon services such as API Gateway / Lambda Serverless, Dynamo DB, AWSCognito, ElasticSearch and more.
Fender Songs marks the fourth app from the company in two years (joining Fender Play, which boasts over 100,000 active paying users, Fender Tone and Fender Tune) and the second subscription app from the company.
Available in the US at launch, Fender Songs can be downloaded exclusively for iPhone and iPod touch in the App Store with plans for iPad and other platforms in the future.
In-app player modes are aligned with how someone might familiarize themselves with a new song, practice parts of it slowly, play it full speed from beginning to end, and then record themselves playing it.
In practice mode, players see the overview of a song with chord charts, lyrics and audio, so they can work through the tune at their own pace.
In play-along mode, players can watch the scrolling chords and lyrics, “karaoke-style,” as they play along with the song in real time.
In perform mode, players can view chord changes and lyrics, and record themselves on their own device without an audio backing track, save to their camera photo/video roll and reference later as a practice tool.
“Goldman Sachs forecasts the number of streaming subscribers to hit 700 million in three years and top 1 billion by 2030; these are staggering numbers that bode well for Fender’s success in both the digital and analogue worlds.”
Andy Mooney, Fender
“Fender Songs we believe will enable players to easily and dramatically expand their song repertoire,” said Andy Mooney, Chief Executive Officer of Fender.
“Goldman Sachs forecasts the number of streaming subscribers to hit 700 million in three years and top 1 billion by 2030; these are staggering numbers that bode well for Fender’s success in both the digital and analogue worlds.”
“Working with Apple Music, publishers and record labels, we’ve been able to ensure artist songs are fully licensed, taking our relationships with them to a new level.”
Ethan Kaplan, Fender Digital
Ethan Kaplan, General Manager of Fender Digital, added: “We’re excited to expand our digital products offering with Fender Songs.
“Songs will allow our players to access practically any song they want and provide quick and easy-to-learn chords they can practice directly on the app.
“Working with Apple Music, publishers and record labels, we’ve been able to ensure artist songs are fully licensed, taking our relationships with them to a new level.”Music Business Worldwide