Koor

Idea

Introduction

The choir is a brilliant example of the power of human collaboration.

When a group of people come together to sing, magic happens.

It doesn’t matter how tired or world-weary I am at the start of a rehearsal; I leave invigorated by the enthusiasm, the determination, the humanity of a diverse group of people coming together for the joy of making music as a community.

I am not alone. Globally, well over 100 Million people enjoy being part of a choir; all sorts of choirs, from classical and worship to show tunes and rock music.

And from my experience as a music director of multiple choirs, having conducted singers in the in the UK and across the atlantic, the majority of choral singers struggle to learn their music without the help of an audio practice aid. I got impatient waiting for someone else to come up with an elegant, enjoyable solution to this problem and so I built Koor; an app with a straightforward mission, making practice joyful!

Intended impact

While singing in a choir builds community, lowers stress and brings joy, learning complex music can be a lonely, stressful and demoralising experience.

By providing choristers with interactive recordings of professional singers, we aim to make practice more effective, efficient and enjoyable.

Koor can not only help with learning notes but also with improving pitch, rhythm, pronunciation and vocal technique.

We aim to:

○ help singers become more confident and more musical
○ support choirs in expanding the range and complexity of their repertoire
○ encourage more people to enjoy the joy of choral singing
○ enable music publishers to sell more of their catalogue of choral works to more choirs

Substantial accomplishments to date

We have built a prototype app and successfully tested it with over 200 singers and conductors. The Feedback we’ve received has been extremely positive.

‘This is the best choral aid I have used. It is great to hear all the parts with real singers, not a mechanised sound, and with my own part emphasised. Nearly as good as choir rehearsal!' - Carol

‘Great to have real voices; a much more appealing and interesting way of learning by ear. Absolute clarity of what comes before your entrance is key so the option to select other voice parts, individually, is particularly helpful.’ - Cath

'Easy to use, instinctive and with real voices too. The best I have found to date by a country mile!' - David

‘Fantastic to hear a human voice singing your part. Infinitely better than it being played by a synthesised instrument. Brilliant. Well done!’ - Hilary

'I have never come across such clear vocal parts in learning recordings. Having the words as well as the vocal line is so helpful, too. I would use Koor in preference to other learning tools that I have used up till now.' - Ann

‘A great concept. It is a luxury to have voices and words which takes rehearsal aids onto another level altogether. Thank you and looking forward to more!’ - Shona

‘It is a pleasure to listen to real voices rather than manufactured sounds. It means you can enjoy listening to the particular piece you are learning all the way through to get a feel for it before getting down to the tricky bits.’ - Sue

Monetisation strategy

We are particularly excited by three potential revenue streams:

○ subscription payments
○ advertising and sponsorship by music publishers
○ general advertising

When our advanced functionality is planned to be released, in about twelve months, we plan to have three levels of premium subscription:

£9 per month - a month-to-month subscription that can be cancelled at any time.

£86.40 per year (£7.20 per month) - users who sign up for an annual subscription will receive a 20% discount.

£72 per year (£6 per month) - we will offer a 30% discount for an annual group subscription. This rate is available to affiliate choirs who exceed a registration threshold of 20 subscriptions.

We plan for initial income to come from the sale of display ads.

We have identified three opportunities for display ads:

○ the full launch screen as the app loads;
○ a central block while audio is loading, and
○ a banner at the top of the screen when the user is engaging with the audio-player.

Use of proceeds

This SEIS round will provide initial working capital, enabling the company to

○ rent appropriate space to house our first recording unit
○ purchase and installation of isolation booths and recording equipment
○ hire the first employees
• singers
• pianists
• recording engineer/editor
• community engagement manager
○ complete the development required to take Koor from prototype to release
○ record content for app