UJAM Offers Autotune for the Masses

If you’ve ever heard a singer live who sounded nothing like they did on the radio, your first thought is probably to ask for a refund for the hours of your life that you wasted listening to something slightly more harmonious than a cat in heat. Your second thought might be “I could make better music than that.”

And if you catch the eye of a prominent producer, with the right connections, perhaps you could. But if you don’t have  1. P. Diddy on speed dial, or 2. access to a small army of people with the talent to turn your off key humming into something worth listening to you might have a challenge on your hands.

UJAM wants to change that. The founders have recruited heavy hitter music industry pros like composer Hans Zimer and producer Pharrell Williams (that’s one down), and developed software that lets you add backing tracks, audio correction and lots more with a few clicks (and, that’s two). Essentially they’re seriously reducing the entry barrier to not just creating music, but creating good music, by removing the need for formal training. Whether that’s a good or bad thing is a matter of opinion, but the technology is pretty amazing in terms of simplicity and end result.

They ultimately want to be part of other music technologies online, and allow people to share their creations socially. While they are still an invite only service, they eventually plan to offer a freemium model where a certain number of styles and sound effects are available for free with more professional options available for a fee.