Ultimate Guitar
Ultimate Guitar operates the world's largest online guitar tablature platform, serving a global community of musicians with a 1M+ song catalog, Pro+ subscription, courses, digital songbooks, community forums, and video performance sharing.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Ultimate Guitar does
Ultimate Guitar (legal entity Ultimate-Guitar.com) is a privately held consumer technology company founded in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company operates the world's largest online guitar tablature platform, offering a catalog of over 1 million songs accessible as Chords, Guitar Tabs, Bass Tabs, Ukulele Chords, and Guitar Pro Tabs. The platform serves a global community of musicians, from beginners learning their first songs to advanced players seeking accurate professional transcriptions, and includes interactive features such as chord diagrams, backing tracks for practice, curated tab collections, and video-based performance sharing via Shots.
The company's product portfolio extends well beyond its core tab database. Pro+ is an annual subscription offering full access to Pro and Official tabs, ad-free browsing, and community moderation rights, with users able to earn Pro access by submitting approved tabs. Courses provide structured guitar instruction, while 2,000+ cloud-based digital Songbooks and Method Books cover guitar, piano, voice, bass, and ukulele across genres. The platform is accessible via web (ultimate-guitar.com), native mobile applications on iOS, Android, and Huawei App Stores, and an Instant Chords browser extension on the Chrome Web Store.
Ultimate Guitar monetizes through four primary revenue streams: Pro+ recurring subscriptions, display advertising, one-time purchases of digital Songbooks, and freemium Chrome extension distribution. The platform is operated by a team of 51–100 employees under CEO Michael Shekhter, with leadership including a Head of Strategy (Daniel Ray) and Head of Design (Francis Gane). The company has executed two acquisitions—MuseScore in February 2018 and Crescendo in February 2020—expanding into music notation and music education adjacencies. Community engagement is a defining feature, with 95,791 registered forum members and 887,957 users reported online, supported by a Tab Submission System that moderates community-contributed content across multiple instrument and notation formats.
Ultimate Guitar firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ultimate Guitar
- Legal name
- Ultimate-Guitar.com
- Website
- https://ultimate-guitar.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Ultimate Guitar operates the world's largest online guitar tablature platform, serving a global community of musicians with a 1M+ song catalog, Pro+ subscription, courses, digital songbooks, community forums, and video performance sharing.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ultimate Guitar industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Music education and tablature
- NAICS
- Musical Instrument and Supplies Retailers (459140)
- SIC
- Retail-Record & Prerecorded Tape Stores (5735)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Online-Only Musical Instrument & Sheet Music Retail (CRALAEAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Instrument & Pro Audio Retail (Online/Brick-and-Mortar) (MPAIAJAH)
Keywords
Where Ultimate Guitar is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Ultimate Guitar business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Pro+ Subscription: Premium subscription providing full access to all Pro and Official tabs, with pricing at 80% discount during promotional periods. Users can earn free Pro access by submitting approved tabs.
- Digital Songbooks and Method Books: Sale of 2,000+ digital books including songbooks, method books, and instructional content across instruments like Guitar, Piano, Voice, Bass, and Ukulele
- Advertising: Display advertising on the website platform, including promotional banners and seasonal offers
- Chrome Extension: Instant Chords Tab Connection browser extension distributed through Chrome Web Store
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Pro+ Subscription |
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels3 records
Ultimate Guitar product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ultimate Guitar operates the world's largest community-driven guitar tablature platform, providing free and Pro+ subscription access to chords, tabs, bass tabs, ukulele chords, and Guitar Pro tabs for over 1 million songs across 100+ instruments. Beyond core tabs, the company sells music courses, digital songbooks (2,000+), backing tracks, and a free Ultimate Guitar Player app, monetizing through subscriptions, advertising, and digital content sales.
Product overview
Ultimate Guitar is a single unified platform for guitar enthusiasts offering a comprehensive music learning ecosystem. The core product is the Ultimate Guitar Tabs platform (1M+ song catalog) which provides free Chords, Guitar Tabs, Bass Tabs, Ukulele Chords, and Guitar Pro Tabs. This is complemented by the Pro+ premium subscription unlocking official tabs and ad-free access. The platform extends through Courses for structured learning, Songbooks (2,000+ digital books) for sheet music, Shots for video performance sharing, Backing Tracks for practice sessions, and Tab Collections for curated thematic groupings. The UG Community Forums and Tab Submission System enable user-generated content and community moderation. Mobile apps extend access to iOS, Android, and Huawei users.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Pro+: Premium subscription service offering enhanced access to tabs and features
Products and services
- Ultimate Guitar Tabs (core platform) Free, ad-supported web and mobile platform that hosts the world's largest community-submitted catalog of chords, tabs, bass tabs, ukulele chords, and Guitar Pro tabs for individual musicians learning and performing popular songs.
- Pro+ Subscription Subscription offering (advertised at $9.99/month or $2.99/month billed annually with an 80% promotional discount) that unlocks premium tablature features including backing tracks and Shots video performance sharing for individual musicians.
- Music Courses Paid online music courses sold through the Ultimate Guitar platform that extend the tabs offering into structured learning for individual musicians.
- Digital Songbooks (Books store) Online store of more than 2,000 digital songbooks available for individual purchase, providing organized collections of chords and tablature curated by genre, technique, and artist for learning musicians.
- Ultimate Guitar Player (Android app) Free Android mobile application that complements Ultimate Guitar's tablature apps with focused player functionality for individual musicians using Android devices.
- Ultimate Guitar Chrome Extension (Instant Chords Tab Connection) Browser extension for Google Chrome that lets musicians look up chords and tabs for songs directly while browsing the web, distributed through the Chrome Web Store.
Companies that use Ultimate Guitar
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Ultimate Guitar technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Ultimate Guitar partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Apple App StorecoreDistribution partnership for iOS mobile application, enabling users to access Ultimate Guitar content through Apple's app ecosystem
- Google Play StorecoreDistribution partnership for Android mobile application, providing access to Ultimate Guitar through Google's Android ecosystem
- Huawei App StoreminorDistribution partnership for Huawei devices, expanding reach in markets where Google Play is unavailable
- Chrome Web StoreminorDistribution of Instant Chords Tab Connection browser extension through Google's Chrome Web Store
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Ultimate Guitar competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Yousician: Interactive guitar/bass/ukulele learning app with real-time feedback. Targets the same learner segment but via interactive lessons rather than static tabs, representing an alternative learning paradigm.
- Chordify: Chord recognition and tab-generation platform that converts any song into guitar chords. Competes directly for the 'look up a song and play it' use case with automation-driven content production.
- Songsterr: Online tablature platform offering interactive tabs across multiple instruments. Directly comparable as a competing digital tab/chord destination with subscription monetization targeting the same musicians.
- 911Tabs: Free guitar/tablature archive covering a wide catalog of songs. Direct alternative for free-tab seekers, competing on content breadth without a premium offering.
- Chordie: Guitar chord and tab search engine for songs across genres. Comparable as a free destination for chord lookup, targeting similar musician search behavior.
- Guitar Pro (Arobas Music): Industry-standard tablature editing and reading software (Guitar Pro file format is embedded in Ultimate Guitar's catalog). Comparable as notation/tablature tooling for guitarists.
Broad incumbents
- Fender Play: Subscription guitar-learning platform from major instrument manufacturer Fender. Operates as a broader incumbent with deep funding, branded instruments, and integrated hardware-software ecosystem.
Others
- MasterClass: Premium video-based education platform with music courses (e.g., guitar, songwriting). Adjacent through its courses offering but does not directly compete on tablature/catalog depth.
Emerging players
- Soundslice: Interactive music notation platform with synced video and tablature. Emerging player focusing on richer notation experiences for educators and learners, partial overlap with UG's Pro+ offering.
- JustinGuitar: Independent guitar-education platform founded by Justin Sandercoe with structured lessons and a large YouTube following. Comparable as a beginner-friendly guitar learning destination with community features.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Ultimate Guitar social profiles
Digital presenceUltimate Guitar financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ultimate Guitar leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Ultimate Guitar subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Ultimate Guitar funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ultimate Guitar M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A2 records
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Ultimate Guitar
What does Ultimate Guitar do?
Ultimate Guitar operates the world's largest community-driven guitar tablature platform, providing free and Pro+ subscription access to chords, tabs, bass tabs, ukulele chords, and Guitar Pro tabs for over 1 million songs across 100+ instruments. Beyond core tabs, the company sells music courses, digital songbooks (2,000+), backing tracks, and a free Ultimate Guitar Player app, monetizing through subscriptions, advertising, and digital content sales.
Is Ultimate Guitar a public or private company?
Ultimate Guitar is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Ultimate Guitar founded?
Ultimate Guitar was founded in 1998. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Ultimate Guitar based?
Ultimate Guitar is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Ultimate Guitar make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Pro+ Subscription is the primary driver. The others are digital Songbooks and Method Books, advertising and chrome Extension.
Who are Ultimate Guitar's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Yousician, Chordify, Songsterr, 911Tabs, Chordie and Guitar Pro (Arobas Music). Fender Play is listed as a broad incumbent. MasterClass is listed as an others. Emerging players are Soundslice and JustinGuitar.
Does Ultimate Guitar have an API?
No public API is recorded for Ultimate Guitar.
What industry is Ultimate Guitar in?
Ultimate Guitar's product category is Music education and tablature. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRALAEAI, Online-Only Musical Instrument & Sheet Music Retail, with a secondary code of MPAIAJAH, Instrument & Pro Audio Retail (Online/Brick-and-Mortar). Its NAICS code is 459140 and its SIC code is 5735.