Miso Media builds Plectrum, an iPad app that displays guitar tablature and 'listens' to users as they play, advancing the tabs in real time. The app includes an integrated store for purchasing additional tabs. Since launch the catalog has grown from fewer than two dozen songs to over 400, with the company saying it will have over 1,000 songs by the end of the month, backed by partnerships with several music labels to secure rights. Founder Aviv Grill has presented product updates at TechCrunch Disrupt. While currently focused on guitar, Miso Media plans to expand into sheet music, positioning it against competitors like Tonara. Financially, the company previously raised a $600K seed round in December and is now raising additional capital. Miso Media’s core product, Miso Music, is an iOS/iPad app that listens to the notes a user plays and scrolls tablature accordingly, effectively turning the device into a guitar teacher. At the time of the article the app had been submitted to the App Store but had not yet launched. The company holds rights to many songs via the Sony/ATV catalog and can license others from Hal Leonard, while it is working to secure rights from Universal and Warner. Miso plans to use hiring and product improvements to scale: it will double headcount from three to six and invest in expanding its song library and improving audio detection. The startup also intends to add support for additional instruments in future updates. Its monetization model is per-song in-app downloads, charging a few dollars per song.

Total raised

$3M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Sep 2011