There are plenty of smartphone karaoke apps, but no one has really figured out how to turn the act of singing into your phone into an addictive social experience — at least not in the United States — according to Alec Andronikov, CEO of mobile startup AnyoneGame.
That’s why Andronikov and AnyoneGame have developed a new app called Just Sing It. The app allows you to choose a song based on genre and difficulty, find other users in an app, and sing to them. You can also adjust the sound using different voice effects.
Then it’s up to other users to guess the name of the song. If they’re right, then both the singer and the listener earn virtual coins, which can be used to unlock additional content. You can buy coins too, which is how Just Sing It makes money.
Again, there are other karaoke apps out there, and they often include a significant social networking element — for example, Smule launched its Sing app last year allowing users to collaborate on songs, and I’ve also written about startup StarMaker’s apps tied to the TV shows The Voice and American Idol. However, I haven’t seen any apps with Just Sing It’s specific game mechanic.
Andronikov sold his last startup, mobile ad company MoVoxx, to Adenyo (which in turn was acquired by Motricity). He said the big opportunity here is not to release a bunch of music apps, but rather to use karaoke as a hook for a broader social platform.
Andronikov noted that most Just Sing It users are in their 20s, and that 85 percent of them are female. There’s already a subtle dating dynamic evolving, Andronikov said, with many guys trying to find cute women to sing to in the app, and asking for other ways to interact with those women — right now, all they can do is sing. Andronikov said he plans to add messaging features and virtual gifts. He also plans to launch contests where the most popular singers can be rewarded with even more coins.
The app recently left beta testing. It has been downloaded nearly 10,000 times, and its users have sung 65,000 songs. Andronikov also pointed out that it currently has a 5-star rating in the Apple App Store.
You can download Just Sing It here.