Focus on Sound

What Focus on Sound does

Focus on Sound is a UK-based SaaS music education platform purpose-built for secondary schools, founded by Dr Simon Foxall, a former senior examiner and music teacher. Its core product is an interactive learning platform featuring auto-marked listening tests, multimedia instrument content, and curated lesson resources structured around secondary-school music curricula. A premium add-on called FoS Pro enables teachers to author custom listening tasks and share content through a teacher community library, while broader composition and notation workflows are supported via integrations with Chrome Music Lab Song Maker, Soundtrap, and Noteflight.

The platform is embedded into school ecosystems through direct integrations with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams, allowing assignments and results to flow within existing learning management systems. The company operates a product-led growth motion: teachers can self-serve a free trial, after which schools purchase annual subscriptions priced by country (currently published for the UK, US, Australia, and New Zealand). Distribution is reinforced through MusicFirst, the parent entity, and channel partnerships with Music Hubs (e.g., Essex, Lancashire) and Multi-Academy Trusts, which enable centralized rollout across groups of schools. Headquartered in Brighton, Focus on Sound reports an installed base of 1,400+ secondary schools across 25 countries.

Name

Focus on Sound

Legal name

Focus on Sound Ltd

Website

https://focusonsound.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Focus on Sound is a UK-based SaaS platform that delivers interactive, auto-marked listening assessments and multimedia music resources to secondary schools, serving 1,400+ schools across 25 countries via annual subscriptions, MusicFirst channel partnerships, and LMS integrations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music Education Software

NAICS

Other Sound Recording Industries (512290)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Online / Virtual Music Instruction & Platforms (EDAMANAI)

Keywords

• Music education software
• Interactive learning platform
• Auto-marked assessment
• Secondary music curriculum
• LMS integration platform

Headquarters

HQ city

London

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. Annual School Subscriptions: Focus on Sound products are sold as annual subscriptions to schools. Pricing varies by country/region (UK, US, Australia, New Zealand). Schools subscribe per institution, with the subscription covering all teachers and students at the school. The platform is offered with a free 2-week trial before purchase.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Focus on Sound provides a cloud-based interactive music education platform for secondary schools, delivering multimedia lessons, an instruments and terminology encyclopedia, unlimited auto-marked listening tests, and class management features integrated with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams. It is sold as annual subscriptions per school with country-specific pricing in the UK, US, Australia, and New Zealand, and is offered with a free 2-week trial.

Product overview

Focus on Sound operates as a music education platform with the core Focus on Sound product at its center, supplemented by the premium FoS Pro add-on module. The platform is accessible through a unified portal supporting Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams SSO, or a standalone Focus on Sound Admin System. Related offerings include Instruments First (a separate program accessible via the same portal), and the MusicFirst Classroom and Rhinegold Education Online Music Classroom platforms. FoS Pro adds custom content creation, seven custom test builder types, a teacher resource sharing library, class notifications, and enhanced assignment management with grade sync capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Focus on Sound

Quantifiable outcome

• Used in 1,400+ secondary schools across 25 countries
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability4 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MusicFirstcoreOthersMusicFirst is the parent company of Focus on Sound. Through MusicFirst, the company works with Music Hubs and Multi-Academy Trusts to deliver Focus on Sound as a solution for secondary schools in their region or trust. MusicFirst also provides the MusicFirst Classroom system and Rhinegold Education Online Music Classroom as complementary products. Key MusicFirst contacts include Dr Jim Frankel (Director) and Brad Smith (US Director of Technology).
• Essex Music ServiceminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEssex Music Service partners with MusicFirst to provide Focus on Sound Pro to secondary schools in the Essex region. Partner testimonial states: 'Our partnership with MusicFirst has enabled us to work ever closer with our secondary schools by providing access to Focus on Sound Pro, an outstanding resource which is having a significant impact on schools.'
• Lancashire Music ServiceminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLancashire Music Service has a published case study on how they rolled out Focus on Sound to their schools, demonstrating regional deployment of the platform across multiple institutions.
• Music Hubs and Multi-Academy Trusts (unspecified)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorFocus on Sound, through its parent company MusicFirst, works with numerous Music Hubs and Multi-Academy Trusts across the UK to deliver Focus on Sound as a solution for secondary schools in their region or trust. This is described as a core go-to-market motion for the company.
• Google (Google Classroom)coreTechnology or IntegrationFocus on Sound integrates natively with Google Classroom, allowing schools to log in using Google credentials, automatically sync class lists, set assignments, and send test results back to Google Classroom. IT staff must configure domain-wide delegation and API permissions for the integration to function.
• Microsoft (Microsoft Teams / Microsoft 365)coreTechnology or IntegrationFocus on Sound integrates natively with Microsoft Teams, allowing schools to log in using Microsoft 365 credentials, automatically sync class lists, set assignments, and send test results back to Teams. IT staff must grant admin consent for the Focus on Sound app in Azure AD.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MakeMusic (SmartMusic): Music education software used in schools and studios for practice, assessment, and accompaniment. Comparable because it serves secondary music teachers with subscription-based practice and assessment tools integrated into school music programs.
• Flat.io: Cloud-based music notation and education platform with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams integration, used by schools for composition and theory. Comparable because it offers LMS-integrated music education software with subscription pricing for school music departments.
• Noteflight: Online music notation platform with a K-12 education edition that supports assignments and gradebook integration. Comparable as a school-targeted music-ed SaaS with LMS-style class management features.
• Charanga: UK-based music education platform used in primary and secondary schools with curriculum-mapped resources, lesson plans, and interactive tools. Directly comparable because it sells online music instruction to UK schools through subscriptions, including hub-level partnerships.
• Rising Software (Auralia & Musition): Developer of Auralia (ear training) and Musition (music theory) software widely adopted in secondary and tertiary music education. Directly comparable as it sells auto-marked music theory and aural-skills assessment to schools.

Others

• Chrome Music Lab: Free Google web-based music experiments used in classrooms, including Song Maker which is referenced inside Focus on Sound's composing exercises. Adjacent because it is a free alternative teachers may use instead of paid music-ed tools.

Broad incumbents

• Soundtrap (Spotify for Education): Cloud-based DAW with a dedicated education edition integrated with Google Classroom and Microsoft Teams. Comparable as a subscription music creation platform used in schools; competes more on composition than on listening/theory assessment.
• Sibelius (Avid): Industry-standard music notation software with a dedicated education tier sold to schools. Comparable as a music-ed subscription product targeting secondary and post-secondary music programs.
• MusicFirst: Parent company of Focus on Sound that operates the broader MusicFirst Classroom LMS for US K-12 music education and Rhinegold Education Online Music Classroom. Comparable because it sells overlapping music-ed SaaS to schools and shares the same channel.
• BandLab for Education: Free music creation platform built specifically for K-12 classrooms, integrated with LMS systems. Comparable because it competes for the same secondary music classroom budget as a creation-and-collaboration tool.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/focus-on-sound-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Focus on Sound