What Charanga does

Charanga is a Brighton-headquartered music education technology company that operates a configurable, cloud-based digital platform used by 70,000+ teachers and 2.5 million+ learners across 64 countries. Its core products are Musical School (a primary music curriculum and resource programme for ages 5-11, including the newly launched Creative Music Scheme) and Charanga Secondary (an 11-16 music curriculum including VIP Studio Sessions). YuStudio, an award-winning browser-based Digital Audio Workstation, is integrated across both stages to enable composition without software installation. Supporting tools include Yumu (a password-protected student workspace), Scheme Builder (curriculum customisation), Music Notepad, Quickbeats, and a digital instruments suite.

The platform is hosted on AWS European data centres in Ireland and is delivered browser-first with no installation required. Charanga extends its offering through regional variants — Charanga Cymru (a fully bilingual English/Welsh platform commissioned by the Welsh Government and adopted by 90%+ of Welsh schools), Charanga Scotland (aligned to Curriculum for Excellence), and Charanga International — together with newer products such as the Shakespeare Curriculum developed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, marking Charanga's expansion beyond music into broader arts education.

Charanga generates revenue through institutional annual or multi-year subscriptions sold direct to schools, music services, Multi-Academy Trusts and educational organisations, augmented by national and state government contracts (Wales, South Australia, Denmark, Czech Republic, USA). A no-obligation 30-day free trial with full access and no payment details drives product-led acquisition. The company is privately held and operates as an Ovation Education company backed by Achieve Partners. Charanga holds multiple industry awards (Bett 2021, Teach Primary 2025, ERA 2026) and complies with UK GDPR, EU GDPR, COPPA, FERPA, Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001, and WCAG AA.

Name

Charanga

Legal name

Charanga Ltd

Website

https://charanga.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Charanga is a Brighton-based EdTech company offering a configurable, cloud-based music teaching and learning platform (Musical School, Charanga Secondary, YuStudio DAW) used by 70,000+ teachers and 12,500+ schools across 64 countries, monetised via subscriptions to schools, music services, and national governments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Education Technology

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Online / Virtual Music Instruction & Platforms (EDAMANAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Integrated Tutoring + Learning Content Platforms (Curriculum + Tutors) (EDANAGAL)

Keywords

• Music education technology
• School music curriculum
• Browser-based DAW
• Digital learning platform
• Teacher CPD training

Headquarters

HQ city

Brighton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. School Subscriptions: Subscription access provided to schools and music services, each with a designated Lead Teacher for oversight. Access is by subscription with annual or multi-year contract options. Schools typically pay per institution/license.
2. Music Services Subscriptions: Subscription access for music services, instrumental and vocal teachers, and educational organisations. Dedicated music service tabs and management tools included.
3. Free Trials: No-obligation 30-day free trials offered as full access without payment details. Serves as primary acquisition funnel for converting schools to paid subscriptions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Charanga provides a configurable, cloud-based music teaching and learning platform sold on subscription to schools, music services, Multi-Academy Trusts, and national/state government education bodies. The platform bundles complete curricula, schemes of work, lesson plans, assessment tools, content-building features, integrated music technology (including the YuStudio® browser-based Digital Audio Workstation), online learning spaces for students (Yumu), CPD and teacher training, and access to alliance-built content (RSNO, RSC). It is offered under distinct programmes for primary schools (Musical School), secondary schools (Charanga Secondary), and international/regional markets (including the bilingual Charanga Cymru for Wales).

Product overview

Charanga is a configurable music teaching and learning platform offered as a unified platform with multiple modules and programmes. The core offerings include Musical School (primary, ages 5-11) and Charanga Secondary (secondary, ages 11-16), which provide complete curricula with teaching resources, content-building tools, and music technology. YuStudio, Charanga's browser-based Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), is integrated across both primary and secondary programmes for composition. Yumu serves as an optional student workspace enabling teachers to share assignments and monitor progress. Regional variants include Charanga Cymru (bilingual Welsh platform), Charanga Scotland (Curriculum for Excellence-aligned), and Charanga International. Additional products include Charanga Music Professional for music services, VIP Studio Sessions for secondary music production, Music Notepad (notation), and Quickbeats. The Shakespeare Curriculum, developed with the Royal Shakespeare Company, marks Charanga's expansion into arts education. The platform also powers MusicFirst Elementary in the US market.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Musical School: Primary music teaching and learning programme with complete curricula, teaching resources, and digital tools for students aged 5-11.
• Charanga Secondary
• Yumu
• YuStudio
• Charanga Cymru
• VIP Studio Sessions

Products and services

• Musical School Award-winning primary music teaching programme for ages 5-11 providing complete curricula, schemes of work, lesson plans, assessment tools, content-building and personalisation tools, music technology integration (including YuStudio), Yumu student workspace, and CPD and teacher training.
• Charanga Secondary Secondary school music education programme for ages 11-16 covering Music and the Modern World curriculum, VIP Studio Sessions, YuStudio, Music Notepad, and Quickbeats, with Yumu for Students and Yumu messaging functionality.
• YuStudio Award-winning, browser-based Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) for education enabling students to create, record, and produce music directly in the browser without software installation. Integrated into primary and secondary lessons, including five dedicated KS2 composition units.
• Charanga Cymru Bilingual (English/Welsh) digital music education platform for Wales, commissioned by the Welsh Government to support the National Plan for Music Education. Includes instrumental teaching resources, curriculum materials for ages 5-16, and curriculum-building tools. Adopted by 90%+ of Welsh schools.
• Charanga Scotland Music education platform aligned to Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence.
• Charanga International International music education programme for schools outside the UK, comprising Musical School International (ages 5-11) and Charanga Secondary International (ages 11-16).
• Charanga Music Professional Music professional programme for music services and instrumental/vocal teachers with dedicated tabs and management tools, and Yumu functionality with optional messaging for one-to-one and small-group teaching.
• VIP Studio Sessions Award-winning online music production platform for secondary schools, part of Charanga Secondary, providing students with music creation, production, and release capabilities together with music business insights from industry guests.
• Shakespeare Curriculum Bespoke digital learning platform developed in partnership with the Royal Shakespeare Company for teaching Shakespeare in schools globally. A 24-part creative learning series covering 10 most studied Shakespeare plays and distilling the RSC's award-winning teaching approaches.
• Yumu Password-protected online learning space for students where teachers can share assignments, portfolios, and creative tools directly with students. Students have a 'My Work' folder; pseudonyms are supported, and no student-to-student communication is permitted (some features developed in partnership with Youth Music enable YuStudio messaging).
• MusicFirst Elementary US-specific elementary school music education product powered by Charanga technology and distributed via the MusicFirst partnership. COPPA and FERPA compliant.
• Creative Music Scheme Comprehensive primary school music curriculum framework covering the National Curriculum for Music with eight interconnected strands (Focused Listening, Musical Elements, Notation, Singing, Instrumental Practice, Improvisation, Composition, Performance). Includes Teacher Guides, lesson plans, built-in YuStudio integration, and differentiation for SEND learners across ages 5-11.
• Individual Learning Plan Tool developed in partnership with Young Sounds UK to support and track students' musical progression.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 96% of users report positive impact on quality of teaching and pupil attainment
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and major.

• YoungMinds UKminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Developed in partnership with YoungMinds UK, the 'Rise Up with Teachers Rock' unit uses music as a practical tool to support young people's emotional well-being. Part of national singing campaign for schools.
• Welsh Government / National Music Service for WalescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Charanga was commissioned to create a bespoke bilingual digital platform (Charanga Cymru) supporting Wales' National Plan for Music Education. Platform launched in 2022, available free to all Welsh schools. Adopted by 90%+ of Welsh schools. Entire platform tools and content are bilingual (English/Welsh).
• Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts (PQA)minorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2020VIP Studio Sessions partnered with PQA, the UK's leading youth film academy. PQA students join forces with VIP users to create collaborative creative projects.
• Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to bring world-class orchestral resources to classrooms globally. Teachers and students access bespoke educational materials alongside RSNO's most popular digital education resources directly from the Charanga platform. Shared ambition to ensure everyone can access and enjoy music from the earliest possible age.
• Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGroundbreaking collaboration to launch the Shakespeare Curriculum, revolutionising the way Shakespeare is studied and taught in schools worldwide. The 10 most studied plays will become 24-part creative learning series. Charanga built a bespoke digital platform distilling RSC's award-winning teaching approaches. First expansion into arts education beyond music.
• MusicFirstcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMusicFirst is a partner company; Charanga powers MusicFirst Elementary in the US. Strategic relationship includes co-development of products and integration of Charanga technology into MusicFirst platforms. Dr Jim Frankel, Founder of MusicFirst, appears on The Music Education Podcast discussing AI in music education.
• Trinity College London / Arts AwardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK partnership supporting young people who want to deepen their engagement with arts and achieve national qualification with Arts Award. Charanga provides platform for digital Arts Award portfolio sharing for online moderation by Trinity College London.
• Youth MusiccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to support music-making projects for children and young people. Organisations funded by Youth Music can access VIP Studio Sessions (now Charanga Secondary) to create music. Includes Youth Music Partnership enabling YuStudio messaging features.
• Young Sounds UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConnect Programme partnership. Young Sounds UK supports the Individual Learning Plan tool development. Enhanced features developed in partnership to support students' musical progression.
• National and State Governments (Australia, Denmark, Czech Republic, USA)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic consultancy to national and state governments in Wales, Australia (including South Australia), US, Denmark, and Czech Republic. Collaboration on large-scale digital education projects that extend reach and develop educators' professional skills.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)coreTechnology or IntegrationAWS provides cloud data centre infrastructure and support services. Charanga hosts websites on AWS European data centres in Ireland. AWS reached 85% renewable energy use across data centres with path to 100% renewable energy by 2025.
• Ovation EducationcoreOthersCharanga is an Ovation Education company. Parent company structure providing corporate oversight and strategic direction.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Pearson Education: Pearson is a global educational publisher and assessment provider selling into K-12 and higher education. It's a broader incumbent that competes for the same school/district contracts and budgets as Charanga, with a much larger scale but less subject-specialised product depth.
• ABRSM: ABRSM is the UK's leading music examination board and curriculum publisher, with broad music education resources and a globally recognised grade system. Charanga complements ABRSM (and partners with Trinity/Arts Award) but ABRSM's brand and exam franchise make it a broader incumbent in the same music-ed space.
• Kahoot!: Kahoot! is a global K-12 engagement and assessment platform used by schools for formative learning. While not music-specific, it competes for instructional time, teacher budget, and school subscription wall share, and is a useful comparable for SaaS school procurement dynamics.

Emerging players

• Flat.io: Flat.io provides browser-based music notation, composition, and collaboration tools used in schools and music education. It competes at the notation/creation layer with Charanga's Music Notepad and YuStudio, with growing adoption in international school markets.
• EarMaster: EarMaster is music theory and ear-training software used in schools, conservatories, and individual study. It overlaps with Charanga's music literacy curriculum components and is a relevant niche peer for music theory/notation instruction in education.

Direct peers

• QuaverMusic: QuaverMusic provides a K-12 music curriculum platform for US schools, including interactive lessons, assessments, and teacher resources. It competes head-to-head with Charanga Musical School and MusicFirst Elementary for the same school district contracts.
• Yousician: Yousician is a global online music education platform offering instrument and singing instruction with subscription pricing. While more consumer/SMB-skewed than Charanga's school-led model, it competes for music education wallet share across the same teachers and learners, with a similar browser-delivered curriculum-plus-technology approach.
• MusicFirst: MusicFirst is a K-12 music education platform in the US that Charanga directly powers (MusicFirst Elementary). The two co-develop products and integrate Charanga's technology, making them the closest comparable offering in the same school music edtech segment.
• Soundtrap: Soundtrap (owned by Spotify) is a browser-based Digital Audio Workstation used in music classrooms for composition and recording. It directly competes with Charanga's YuStudio for the same music-tech-in-schools wallet, with strong adoption across US and European districts.
• SmartMusic (MakeMusic): SmartMusic is a K-12 and higher-ed music practice, assessment, and accompaniment platform used in instrumental teaching. It overlaps with Charanga Music Professional and instrumental teacher tools, including repertoire library and assessment features.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CharangaMusic
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/charanga/mycompany
• Instagraminstagram.com/charangamusic

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Charanga