An innovative new music app that makes life easier for composers and budding musicians has been gaining global attention. It is yet another example of the creative synergies between ICT and music in the Swedish capital.

DoReMIR Music Research’s mobile app ScoreCleaner Notes enables anyone who can play, whistle or sing a tune to have it turned instantly into correct notation.

It was created by a by a computer science engineer from KTH Royal Institute of Technology and a professor from KMH Royal College of Music.

Sven Emtell started developing the background technology as part of his computer engineering master’s degree project at KTH with collaborator Sven Ahlbäck, who is now a professor at KMH.

“Users need not know how to read or write music. Even playing an instrument is optional,” Emtell explained. “The user can hum or sing the melody into their mobile’s microphone, and the app instantly displays the notation on the screen, with the right key, tempo and time signature.”

Following the global success of other pioneering Stockholm-based music startups, such as Spotify, Propellerhead and Epidemic Sound, DoReMIR Music Research has quickly made headlines in international media for its simplicity and user-friendliness.

“Every now and again I stumble upon a new App that impresses me, I admit that lately this has become much harder to do,” a Forbes reporter wrote. “But recently a new App released by a researcher from KTH Royal Institute of Technology managed to do this.”

Technology website Gizmag said: “Ask just about any musician and they’ll tell you that this is a tool that they would most definitely welcome.”

Being presented with gold and silver awards at Cannes Lions 2013 in the mobile category this summer gave the company even more momentum. And for a period the app was the most sold in Japan, in all categories.

Today, some 50,000 users have downloaded the product. The company’s goal is to reach 250 million amateurs musicians. The software for the computer costs around 1,000 Swedish kronor ($150) and the mobile app 7 kronor.

“Musical notation is a universal language, so the market for this app is enormous,” Emtell said.
The company recently raised 7 million Swedish kronor in a new issue from international and Swedish investors.

Åsa Otterlund, investment manager at Almi Invest, said in a statement: “It feels especially good to invest in a Swedish company with the combination of recognised research height and consumer products.”

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This article was sponsored by Stockholm Business Region.

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