ToonsTunes made its debut at the TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco. This is virtual playground for children where they can hear, create and share their own music. Think of Club Penguin meets GarageBand. It also has an in-game virtual currency that lets kids buy virtual items to bling up their online band.
It also lets them share music by e-mail, MySpace and Facebook.
The ToonsTunes universe is a Space Station occupied by player-controlled avatars, a friendly species of alien, as well as other congenial pets.
How it works
- Make a song with Mix-O-Matic
- Mix-and-match from over 5,000 music loops
- Instruments inlcude Guitar, Bass, Drums, Keyboard
- Write your own lyrics and sing along to your own song by recording your voice using your computer’s microphone
- Share songs with friends and parents to email, Facebook, Twitter, streaming on your iPhone, ringtones, or MP3 downloads
ToonsTunes is targeting Tweens (ages 6-14). Over 70 percent are downloading music online on any given month, 46 percent of kids who have a cell phone download ring tones/ring tunes.
How it makes money
It generates revenue from three different channels:
1. Freemium – kids pay for an premium experience
2. Sponsorship
3. Retailers who sell merchandise
The plan is to market virally through mobile apps, e-mail and social networks.
This privately funded company has five employees and estimates its value at $15 million.
Investors Reaction
George Zachary, Charles River Ventures, “Really impressed by product quality. Reflects a lot of thought into what makes it fun for kids. Has a good revenue opportunity for selling copyrighted material.”
Don Dodge, Microsoft’s director of business development for emerging business, ” The quality is amazing. Amazing sound library and animations. It’s in a hot market — games and music are two of the biggest markets on the Internet. You’re hitting both of them.”
From Crunchbase
ToonsTunes is the first virtual community for kids to create and share music. It has an online recording studio and performance venues. ToonsTunes offers a virtual playground for musical geniuses, or those who aspire to be one.
Kids can mix-and-match pre-recorded music loops, pick musical instruments, genres and tempos, and put them together to create completely original mixes. Combine grunge guitar, with punk drums, a reggae base and even add your own recorded lyrics. Then, perform songs for friends on a concert stage, play as background music in your personal pod, or put songs on your iPhone.
Links
http://www.crunchbase.com/company/toonstunes and www.ToonsTunes.com
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