Investment interest is growing in user generated content sites that blend elements of karaoke and social networking.
SingShot, a San Francisco-based startup from former RealNetworks business development executives Ranah Edelin and Niranjan Nagar, launches today (July 31) with funding from Japan-based Trans Cosmos Investments, previously a backer of Rhapsody creator, Listen.com.
Fox Interactive Media in May acquired a similar web-based karaoke community startup called kSolo, for an undisclosed sum.
SingShot has licensed a catalog of over 25,000 songs for interactive karaoke use from the music publishing arms of Universal Music Group, Sony, Bertelsmann, and EMI.
Visitors to www.singshot.com can listen to recordings by other members and rate and comment on the best singers and recordings for free. Users can add embed performances from the site into their profiles on blogs. However, users have to pay a subscription fee to post karaoke performances to the site, after a free two-week trial. The company offers three subscription options: a $9.95 monthly plan, a $7.95-per-month quarterly plan, and a $59 annual billing plan.
SingShot—which acquires a special sync license from the publishers—provides backing music and lyrics to users recording their performances. The company is working with Charlotte, NC-based karaoke specialist Sound Choice for backing tracks.
