Duolingo, a language studying app with over 500 million customers, is engaged on a music app, TechCrunch has realized.
The Pittsburgh-based tech firm presently has a small group engaged on a music product and is hiring a studying scientist who’s an “professional in music training who combines each theoretical data of related studying science analysis and hands-on educating expertise,” based on a job posting listed on Duolingo’s profession web page. The corporate additionally posted a job that was soliciting a contract music composition and curricular advisor, however the firm is not accepting functions for that place.
The job itemizing means that the app will educate primary ideas in music principle utilizing widespread songs and lecturers.
Duolingo has slowly grown past language studying into a number of auxiliary new initiatives which will symbolize vital income streams within the years to come back. For instance, The Duolingo English Take a look at, which spun out from a hackathon undertaking in 2014, is an internet certification examination that checks language proficiency. The corporate additionally launched Duolingo ABC through the pandemic, which is a free app centered on English literacy for teenagers ages 3 to six.
In October 2022, the corporate introduced Duolingo Math in its first topic enlargement past its authentic roots of language studying and literacy. The mathematics app is free and just like language studying; each require methodical considering and the power to use features to get to solutions.
Music is a topic that sits within the pedagogical center of language, which requires nuance and context, and math, which requires concentrate on formulation to offer appropriate solutions, or on this case, sounds.
Language, math and music in Duolingo all require customers to know the fundamentals. And that’s how Duolingo differentiates itself: It focuses on constructing blocks, as a substitute of particular mastery, as a solution to be taught a ability.
Plus, it doesn’t harm that there seems to be some govt buy-in to the idea general: Duolingo chief enterprise officer Bob Meese is an investor in Trala, a tech firm that gives digital violin classes. It lately raised $8 million in its Sequence A.
Up to now, the broader purview seems to be resonating. Duolingo greater than doubled its paid subscriber base final yr, based on its final quarterly replace. Complete income additionally almost doubled at $369.5 million for 2022.
It’s unclear how Duolingo’s music app will materialize over the following few months — for instance, we don’t know whether or not the app will assist folks learn music, write music, be taught devices, or the entire above — or if it’s only a tiny experiment inside a corporation identified to like a check or 10. TechCrunch reached out to the corporate for additional remark and can replace if we hear again.
