iVideosongs
iVideosongs, owned by Songmaster Studios Education LLC, is an online music instruction service where original artists show how to play the songs they have written and performed.[1][2][3][4] The site also has song instruction from studio musicians and from professional music instructors. The company slogan is "We'll show you how to play complete songs accurately."
Type | Private company |
---|---|
Industry | Music |
Founded | Georgia, United States of America (2007) |
Headquarters | Alpharetta, Georgia, United States of America |
Key people | Tim Gilbert, President & CEO 2010 and Tim Huffman, Co-Founder 2007 |
Website | songmaster |
Overview
iVideosongs lets users choose a skill level and genre, then download the high-definition video to their personal computer, iPod, iPad or other device.[5] Each song title is presented in chapter format, so users learn the introduction, verse, chorus, bridge, outro and other elements. Each title includes a master performance, so participants can compare their progress against the song, and tablature notation to aid in learning.
For its iVideosongs products, Songmaster has licensed full rights to songs from BMG Music Publishing, EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner/Chappell Music as well as dozens of secondary and tertiary publishers, and pays royalties to stakeholders.[6] This allows the company to provide complete and accurate instructional titles, presented exactly as they were originally written and performed, such as a lesson with Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson teaching students to play the song "Tom Sawyer".[7] The iVideosongs titles are primarily for electric and acoustic guitarists, but titles for bass, keyboards and drums are also included in the catalog.[8]
The Songmaster Websites have free tutorials to help beginning musicians develop proficiency in techniques such as slide guitar, playing chordal fills and walking bass lines. Beginning tutorials are also offered as a podcast through iTunes.[9]
History
iVideosongs was first launched on January 29, 2008 at the DEMO 08 conference in Palm Desert, California.[10] Later that year, iVideosongs became one of the top 10 most subscribed podcasts on iTunes.[11] iVideosongs got its start in Atlanta, GA,[12] co-founded by Andy Morton and Grammy-nominated musician Tim Huffman.
iVideosongs was acquired by Songmaster Studios Education LLC in 2011.[13] Based in Jupiter, Florida,[14] Songmaster Studios produces and distributes a catalog of about 230 iVideosongs titles from its websites and through Apple's iTunes, Viacom's Rockband, Amazon, Alfred Publishing and other partners.[15]
Featured artists
Songmaster's featured artists include:[16]
- Pierre Bensusan
- Jeff Carlisi
- D.J. Fontana
- Jon Foreman
- Russ Kunkel
- Sharon Isbin
- Chuck Leavell
- Mark Lee
- Alex Lifeson
- John McEuen
- Jim Messina
- Scotty Moore
- Graham Nash
- Ryan Newell
- John Oates
- Kim Richey
Instructors iVideosongs instructors include:[17]
- Danny Grady
- Steve Rieck
- Rob Schumann
- Alex Winfield[18]
References
- Musgrove, Mike (2008-05-11). "Some Heroes Want to Get Real". @play. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2012-11-06.
- Van Buskirk, Eliot (July 6, 2008). "Listening Post's Top 10 Hottest Music Sites". Listening Post. Wired.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - Breen, Christopher. "Free iTunes music lessons". Macworld.
- "New Music Instruction Website Launches At iVideosongs.com". Canadian Musician. 2008-05-13. Archived from the original on 2011-07-26.
- Landers, Rick. "Tim Huffman Talks about Online Guitar Instruction". Modern Guitars Magazine. Archived from the original on 2011-01-06.
- Snider, Mike (2008-08-25). "Learn guitar from rock gods on iVideosongs.com". USA Today.
- Gottlieb, Jed (2008-04-24). "iVideosongs gets rock legends to teach entire tunes online". The Boston Herald.
- "iVideosongs Downloads Top One Million" (Press release). iVideosongs. 2008-06-05. Archived from the original on 2011-10-03.
- Eliot Van Buskirk. "Guitar Tutorials Rocket Up iTunes Podcast Charts". Wired Magazine.
- Becky Sniffen, MC2 Communications. "DEMO and Demonstrator News Releases".
- Hopkins, Mark (2008-05-13). "iVideoSongs Hits the iTunes Top 10". Mashable.
- Clark, Don (2008-01-28). "Why Can't Computers (Fill in the Blank)?". The Wall Street Journal.
- Wauters, Robin (2011-01-17). "Songmaster Purchases iVideosongs Assets". TechCrunch.
- "Songmaster Acquires Assets of iVideosongs". 2011-01-14.
- "Retailers". Songmaster.
- iVideosongs.com. "Artist Titles".
- iVideosongs.com. "Instructor Titles".
- "Apple - GarageBand - Learn about Flex Time and other new features". GarageBand. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
- What Would You Do if I Showed You the Chords..., Crawdaddy!
- So you want to be a real guitar hero? Archived 2011-05-24 at the Wayback Machine, DEMO conference
- Using the Internet to Improve Your Playing, Guitar Noize
- Join the Beatles on Web video, Reuters
- Guitar playing startup hopes to cash in on instructional videos, VentureBeat
- Learn to Play Exactly Like the Beatles, AppScout
- iVideosongs Debuts - Learn How To Play RUSH's 'Tom Sawyer', Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles
- iVideoSongs.com - Giles Will Show You, KillerStartups
- Demo conference intrigues, but doesn't electrify, USA Today
- Pay Graham Nash to teach you guitar, CNET News
- Guitar Lessons from the Stars, in HD Archived 2008-04-09 at the Wayback Machine, Yahoo! Tech
- Tech Startups Rock DEMO Conference, Popular Science