SmartMusic

What SmartMusic does

MakeMusic, Inc., operating the SmartMusic brand legacy and the current MakeMusic Cloud platform, is a privately held Colorado-incorporated music education technology company headquartered in Louisville, Colorado. The company builds a web-based platform that combines interactive music notation, professional-quality dynamic accompaniments, sight reading exercises, and automatic pitch-and-rhythm audio assessment for K-12 music programs. Its catalog spans more than 10,000 interactive titles, including 5,000+ state-list-approved selections and 24,000+ catalog entries, sourced through partnerships with major publishers such as Alfred, Disney, Warner Brothers, Suzuki, and FJH.

The underlying technology stack centers on a cloud-based practice and assessment platform that ingests student audio recordings and returns granular feedback on pitch and rhythm, syncs grades into Google Classroom, Schoology, or Canvas, and layers on configurable sight reading generation. The portfolio also encompasses MakeMusic Studio (formerly Fons) for notation, Garritan virtual instrument libraries, Alfred publishing assets, and the MusicXML open standard maintained via the W3C Music Notation Community Group. The Foundations Series, composed by Brian Balmages, anchors a prescribed curriculum layer on top of the catalog.

MakeMusic monetizes through subscription licensing, with freemium 14-day individual and 90-day classroom trials funneling into quote-based, annual site or district licenses sold by a US-based academic sales team. End customers are K-12 music educators, band and orchestra directors, and their students, with school districts acting as the procurement buyer. The company cites marquee deployments at Los Angeles Unified, Dallas ISD, Lewisville ISD, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Gwinnett County Public Schools, alongside self-serve teacher onboarding via home.makemusic.com and quotes.smartmusic.com.

Name

SmartMusic

Legal name

MakeMusic, Inc.

Website

https://smartmusic.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MakeMusic operates MakeMusic Cloud, a subscription-based web platform providing interactive music catalog, sight reading, dynamic accompaniments, and automatic pitch-and-rhythm grading for K-12 music educators, students, and school districts in the United States.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Education Software

NAICS

Fine Arts Schools (61161), Record Production and Distribution (51225), Sound Recording Studios (51224)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Music Education & Practice Software (Ear training, tutors, metronome tools) (MPAIAIAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Online / Virtual Music Instruction & Platforms (EDAMANAI), AI Music Creation & Assistive Tools (Generation, Separation, Mastering) (MPAIAIAG)

Keywords

• Music education software
• Interactive practice platform
• K-12 music learning
• Automatic music assessment
• Digital sheet music catalog

Headquarters

HQ city

Eden Prairie

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Licensing: MakeMusic Cloud operates on a subscription model, likely per-seat or site license for educational institutions. The platform offers free trials (14-day individual, 90-day classroom) before conversion to paid subscriptions. Academic sales team handles district-level quotes and purchase orders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

MakeMusic Cloud is a web-based K-12 music education platform that combines an interactive catalog of 10,000+ titles with practice tools featuring professional dynamic accompaniments, customizable sight reading exercises, and automatic pitch/rhythm grading via audio recognition. The platform is sold as a subscription to individual music teachers and school districts, integrating with Google Classroom, Schoology, and Canvas to sync grades. Supporting offerings include The Foundations Series curriculum supplement, MakeMusic Studio notation tool, and acquired brands Finale and Garritan.

Product overview

MakeMusic Cloud (formerly SmartMusic) operates as a unified platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering is MakeMusic Cloud, a comprehensive web-based music education platform that unifies the Music Catalog (10,000+ interactive titles), Sight Reading Studio, Dynamic Accompaniments, and Advanced Analytics into a single integrated system. Supporting products include The Foundations Series curriculum supplement by Brian Balmages, and MakeMusic Studio (formerly Fons). The company also maintains acquired brands Finale (notation software, support ended) and Garritan (virtual instruments), plus the MusicXML open standard. Key differentiators include automated pitch and rhythm assessment for student assignments and integration with LMS platforms like Google Classroom, Schoology, and Canvas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sight Reading Studio: Unlimited, customizable sight reading exercises with immediate feedback for music learners.
• The Foundations Series
• Sound Innovations

Products and services

• MakeMusic Cloud

Quantifiable outcome

• 2x student practice time
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Google ClassroomcoreTechnology or IntegrationNative integration allowing grades to automatically sync to Google Classroom gradebook, simplifying assessment workflows for educators using Google's ecosystem.
• SchoologycoreTechnology or IntegrationLMS integration for assignment and grade management within Schoology's learning management system.
• CanvascoreTechnology or IntegrationLMS integration for assignment and grade management within Canvas learning management system.
• Alfred MusiccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor music publisher providing content catalog; Brian Balmages serves as Composer & Director of Digital Education for both Alfred and MakeMusic. Featured publisher with titles in catalog.
• DisneyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMusic content licensing for popular Disney titles featured in the catalog.
• Warner BrothersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMusic content licensing for Warner Brothers titles (including Harry Potter Foundations series) featured in the catalog.
• SuzukiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMusic publisher featuring method books and repertoire in the MakeMusic Cloud catalog.
• FJH Music CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMusic publisher featured in catalog selections.
• Brian BalmagescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerComposer and Director of Digital Education for Alfred and MakeMusic; created The Foundations Series specifically for the platform.
• W3C Music Notation Community GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMakeMusic maintains the MusicXML format through this standards community group at W3C.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Noteflight: Noteflight (a Hal Leonard company) offers web-based music notation, composition, and sharing tools for music education, overlapping directly with MakeMusic Cloud's notation and classroom collaboration features.
• Flat.io: Flat.io is a cloud-based music notation and collaboration platform used in classrooms and ensembles; it overlaps directly with MakeMusic Cloud's notation, assignment, and assessment features.
• QuaverEd: QuaverEd provides interactive K-12 music curriculum and platform tools, including assessment and a large content catalog, competing head-to-head with MakeMusic Cloud for district-level music program contracts.
• MusicFirst: MusicFirst is a K-12 music education platform offering a curriculum, online learning tools, and assessment — directly competing with MakeMusic Cloud for the same school district customers and lesson workflows.

Broad incumbents

• Avid (Sibelius): Avid's Sibelius is an industry-standard notation software competing with MakeMusic's former Finale product for professional, academic, and educational music notation users.
• Steinberg (Dorico): Steinberg's Dorico is a professional music notation competitor to MakeMusic's discontinued Finale; it competes for the same professional composer, educator, and collegiate users that Finale historically served under the MakeMusic umbrella.
• Soundtrap (Spotify): Soundtrap, owned by Spotify, provides cloud-based music creation and audio recording with education tiers, overlapping with MakeMusic's audio capture and student assignment features for K-12 music programs.

Emerging players

• BandLab for Education: BandLab for Education provides free, cloud-based music creation and classroom tools for K-12, overlapping with MakeMusic Cloud on collaboration, audio recording, and assignment workflows in music classrooms.
• Yousician: Yousician provides interactive music practice and assessment via audio recognition; it overlaps with MakeMusic's automatic pitch/rhythm assessment and dynamic accompaniments, though its primary go-to-market is consumer/subscription rather than district sales.

Others

• JW Pepper: JW Pepper is a major sheet music retailer and content curator that issues the Editor's Choice distinction referenced in MakeMusic's marketing; it functions as both an ecosystem partner (catalog distribution and recognition) and adjacent competitor for K-12 music content budgets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCrKzEPZQOKSGAQtE1UrfizA
• Facebookfacebook.com/MakeMusicCloud
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/smartmusic
• Instagraminstagram.com/makemusic_cloud

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SmartMusic