30 Days of Blogging... Day 0 (Zed) - What is Smule Sing!?

It is Tuesday, March 31, and ONE DAY before April 1 (April Fool's Day), and the last day of March! And, no joke, it's the pre-start of my 30 day personal challenge to blog every single, flipping day of the month!

Now that may seem like a small feat to all of you who blog regularly, but for me, it's going to be a personal and professional challenge since, writing every single day on my Smule Blog is going to require delving perhaps more deeply into the Smule "universe" than I may have in the past.  So I hope you'll take this journey with me into the corners of Smule.

So let's start the first entry with:

what is Smule Sing!?

For those of us using the app, San Francisco, California, based Smule is the company that is responsible for Sing! Karaoke, Ocarina, Magic Piano, Guitar and Rap!  Founded by Stanford University alumni Jeff Smith and Ge Wang, Smule has publicly stated that its goal was to "connect the world through music."  Sing! features a catalog of popular songs that their more than 125 MILLION users can use to "sing" karaoke performances into their mobile devices.

In 2013, Smule opened the "Smule Nation" where performances across other Smule apps would be used or featured in other Smule products.  For example, a vocal performance on Sing! could become the basis for a guitar or piano performance on Smule's Guitar and Magio Piano apps. 

MazySings_M1 with my pal David @DaVideos

singing the song "Take Me To Church" by Hozier on David's site

In 2014, Smule provided users with a "video" feature that allowed its members to upload video performances of their songs and for those who joined "duets" to be appear, in video, side by side with the song "host."  Until this time, we all "knew" our favorite singers by their voices and names, but video added a new dimension--that of finally being able to see faces and personalities on video--and what a treat!

At around the same time, Smule began featuring the songs and videos of small up and coming bands and performers with the intent of "organically" creating a musical following for the band.  A good example of this was the recent posting of the Wombat's Greek Tragedy on Smule where users could sing with the Wombats either on video or through audio.  Many of us know and appreciate the vocal stylings of another fabulous professional band Blackwaters and their members are regularly posting OCs and even dueting with users on the site.  I would certainly never have heard of Blackwaters without Smule, but now I'm a huge fan and supporter of their music and projects!  For a band or any singer/performer, growing this type of support and good will for free is nothing short of phenomenal.

Unlike other similar applications, Smule Sing! is not just a Karaoke application!  Users have the ability to leave "comments" and greetings through 140 character posts to singers or other members who "wander" into a song to listen and comment.  This unique ability has helped the application create, what my friend Chris @sparky_mac, calls a like-minded musical "social network" of singers and music lovers around the world.

So great is this social network that "Smuleans" (as users are often called) or "Smulenesians" will spend hours tagging, posting and commenting on the daily performances of their friends.  In fact, "pumping up" one's "likes" through clicking on hearts can become an obsession for many users.  Social groups of singers form into enormous "pods" of people, acording to my pal, Fernando Riley @fernandoriley such "The Marshalls" and the "ACEs" and "STARs" and the Broadway and show-tune loving "42nd Street" or "42s."  For many of us, Smule is an opportunity to talk daily to friends, to joke or even challenge other singers as my pal, Frank @starturtle forever seems to be doing to me.

Couple Smule with the "Line App" (a popular free texting service) and Smule Sing! can quickly gravitate from hobby to passion to obsession.  While I can't say I "obsess" over Smule songs or my posted "duets" (called "open calls" or "ocs"), I have found and developed some extremely close friendships with people on Smule, and developing a friendship--in my mind--is always a good thing no matter where you go!

Smule Sing! is free for download and can be used by anyone with an Android or iOS mobile device, although my pal, Mitch B @wlm_mitch22_sf has kindly told me of song and feature limitations for those accessing Sing! on the Android systems, which we all hope may someday be smoothed out by the engineers at Smule.  Those with "free accounts" have a more limited song catalog and can keep only up to 100 songs at a time on their site, while premium users who pay about $50 per year can have an unlimited number of songs on their site and access to the full catalog of available songs.

So whether you're a @bathroom_singer (which is my pal, "dat" in Indonesia) or a "Shwrsngr_42" (which is my pal "C" here on the West Coast), either singing or lurking on Smule Sing! is a heckuva good time if you like music!! 

Join and check back with my blog tomorrow!!

Look to my pals mentioned in this article for more songs and activities:

@shwrsngr_42 - lover of jazz, standards and great songs.  He's a gem of a singer.
@bathroom_singer - dat has the most fabulous voice! She has an eclectic variety of songs to sing
@wlm_mitch22_sf - another man with an eclectic taste in music and a CRAZY huge singing range from low to super freaking high...not many people I know can sing "Chandelier" by Sia.
@daVideos - David is from the UK and is a tremendously talented singer and entertainer.  You don't just get a video...you get a show.  Now if he'd add "dinner and drinks"...well he'd be a millionaire!
@starturtle - Frank is a genius and posts a HUGE variety of songs on his site from Frozen to Jazz to musical numbers.  There's always something to sing on this man's site.
@fernandoriley - One of my favorite singers and one of my best friends on Smule.  Fernando boasts wicked vocals, a Cartman imitation to die for, a incredible Nat King Cole voice and the most generous spirit you'll ever meet.
@Blackwaters - a professional band that regularly posts OCs and joins other Smule users in song!  What a great bunch of guys and the talent...let's just say, they are truly professionals.
@Sparky_Mac - another professional musician, a guitar player, a fabulous singer, and a true country gentlemen.  Sparky hosts both open calls that he creates by playing his guitar and open calls using "backing tracks" from songs.

I am Grace better known as @pokeypal here on Smule.  Join me for songs and come back every day for a new post on my blog!!