Smule  Product  Development  Process  

And  Analysis  of  Magic  Piano  Application  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GSB+3  

Brad  Bonney,  Austin  Deyan,  James  Nelson,  Jonathan  Poto  

March  13,  2013  

 

 

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I.    Executive  Summary  

  Smule  is  the  market  leader  in  disruptive  "music  entertainment"  mobile  application  products  

within  the  rapidly  growing  smartphone  application  market.  Smule’s  mission  is  to  increase  

accessibility,  expressivity,  and  social  interactiveness  in  music  content  creation.  Smule’s  most  

successful  product  to  date  is  the  Magic  Piano  application,  which  enables  users  to  experience  the  

creation  of  popular  music,  earn  achievements,  and  share  their  performances  on  a  global  platform.  

Smule  is  in  the  midst  of  expanding  from  solely  a  disruptive,  innovation-­‐based  model  to  a  model  that  

incorporates  creating  derivative  products  of  proven  successful  applications.    Using  Magic  Piano  as  a  

case  study,  this  report  examines  the  evolution  of  value  creation  at  Smule  as  well  as  the  process  

changes  required  to  successfully  incorporate  a  “farming”  business  model  into  its  existing  structure.  

II.  Description  of  the  Field  Study  Project  

Broad  Description/Scope     This  report  analyzes  Smule's  PDCP  process  to  understand  how  Smule  works  to  meet  its  mission  

and  underlying  business  objectives.    The  report  also  examines  the  evolution  of  the  value  creation  

model  for  the  Magic  Piano  application,  comparing  this  to  Smule’s  general  business  and  PDCP  model.  

Objectives     1)  To  provide  background  on  the  general  smartphone  app  industry,  the  music  gaming  app  market,  and  

the  evolution  of  Smule’s  value  creation  model;    

  2)  To  analyze  Smule's  PDCP,  from  market  research  and  R&D  through  product  release;      

  3)  To  provide  a  background  of  the  product  of  focus,  including  its  market,  technical  capabilities,  and  

product  team  structure;  and    

  4)  To  examine  the  evolution  of  the  value  creation  model  for  the  Magic  Piano  product  line.      

Focus  Area  and  Why  It  Was  Chosen     This  report  examines  the  expansion  of  capabilities  of  the  Magic  Piano  line  through  the  lens  of  

Smule’s  evolving  value  creation  model.    The  Magic  Piano  line  of  applications  is  quintessential  to  

Smule's  family  of  music  creation  and  social  experience  apps.    Magic  Piano  parallels  the  more  general  

evolution  of  Smule’s  value  creation  model  and  overall  product  development  process.    

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III.  Background  Info  

The  Industry  

  Smule  develops  music  based  game  applications  for  the  iOS  and  Android  ecosystems.    Created  in  

2008,  these  App  ecosystems  are  rapidly  expanding.  Estimates  place  the  iOS  market  at  $4  billion  in  

revenue  for  2012.  Apps  downloaded  via  Apple  iTunes  are  increasing  linearly  at  a  rate  of  12.5  million  

downloads  per  day  year-­‐over-­‐year,  with  50  million  downloads  in  2012.  Exhibit  1  shows  2012  iOS  and  

Android  purchases  per  download  normalized  to  January  2012.  Revenues  for  2012  (for  application  and  

In-­‐App  purchases)  were  estimated  at  $300M  for  January  2012,  growing  to  $333M  by  October  2012.1      

Market  Characteristics     Smule  sits  at  the  intersection  of  touch-­‐based  interactive  games  and  music  creation,  seeking  to  

disrupt  the  way  the  average  consumer  understands  and  interacts  with  music.  Smule  is  a  powerful  

niche  player  in  the  $65  billion  Music  Entertainment  industry.  Since  its  2011  acquisition  of  its  primary  

competitor  Khush,  Smule  has  amassed  more  than  65  million  application  downloads  and  its  users  have  

performed  over  350  million  unique  songs,2  a  previously  unseen  level  of  music  creation  and  sharing.  

  With  the  advent  of  mobile  and  the  explosion  of  social  media,  content  generation  and  sharing  

markets  have  nearly  limitless  potential.    As  the  smartphone  app  markets  has  become  saturated,  

publishers  like  Smule  are  able  to  leverage  their  existing  user  base  to  market  products  to  mass  

audiences.  CEO  Jeff  Smith  explains,  “I  can  point  250,000  eyes  onto  a  new  product  within  three  days,  

at  almost  no  cost.”    This  easy  distribution  with  little  monetary  expenditure  affords  significant  ability  

to  test  and  iterate  with  an  actual  customer  base.    Another  driver  of  customer  accessibility  is  the  

growth  of  the  “Freemium”  model  to  the  application  ecosystem.  Implementation  of  an  “in-­‐app  

marketplace”  on  the  iOS  platform  has  caused  companies  to  shift  towards  providing  products  at  no  

upfront  cost,  further  expanding  product  accessibility.  Monetization  models  (and  hence  product  

development)  depend  on  increasing  user  stickiness,  product  virility,  the  availability  of  premium  

content,  and  the  likelihood  of  customers  purchasing  that  premium  content.  According  to  Smith  it  

                                                                                                               1  http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/appsblog/2012/dec/04/ios-­‐android-­‐revenues-­‐downloads-­‐country  2  http://www.smule.com/presreleases  

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took  only  18  months  for  freemium  apps  to  overtake  paid  apps  as  the  top  grossing  apps  on  iTunes.  

Company  History     Jeff  Smith  and  co-­‐founder  Ge  Wang  created  Smule  in  2008.    Ge  Wang  invented  “ChucK”,  a  music  

processing  language  as  part  of  his  Princeton  dissertation  with  “the  goal  to  create  a  language  that  is  

expressive  and  easy  to  write  and  read  with  respect  to  time  a  parallelism,  and  to  provide  a  platform  

for  previse  audio  synthesis/analysis  and  rapid  experimentation  in  computer  music.”3  He  approached  

Smith  with  the  intention  of  leveraging  the  iOS  platform  and  iPhone  technology  to  commercialize  

these  tools.  Smith  utilized  his  experience  in  technology  startups,  creating  a  culture  based  on  product  

testing,  data  evaluation,  and  iterative  design.  Together,  they  built  a  company  of  70+  individuals  and  

launched  over  a  dozen  top-­‐ten  grossing  music  applications  for  iOS  and  Android  mobile  devices.  

IV.  Company's  Product  Development  and  Commercialization  Process    

  Smule’s  production  development  structure  fluctuates  between  autonomous  and  lightweight  

development  teams  (Exhibit  2).  The  project  manager  has  the  strongest  connection  with  the  

engineering  group  given  its  role  in  product  release.  Design  teams  consist  of  four  to  five  members  

with  specialties  such  as  User  Interface  (UI),  User  Experience  (UX),  and  visual  artists.  Marketing  and  

finance  teams  are  mostly  removed  from  initial  processes.  Advantages  of  this  approach  include  faster  

development  cycles  due  to  fewer  PM  constraints,  comprehensive  system  solutions  that  don’t  resort  

to  incremental  add-­‐ons,  and  a  lower  overhead  on  centralized  marketing  and  finance.  One  major  

disadvantage  of  relying  heavily  on  nearly  autonomous  teams  of  engineers  recruiting  and  retaining  

talented  members.  Additionally  with  the  loosely  knit  structure,  teams  and  individuals  are  more  likely  

to  underperform  with  respect  to  timelines  and  benchmarks.  Smule’s  PMs  tend  to  be  more  concerned  

with  engineering,  while  other  divisions  (i.e.  finance  and  marketing)  report  directly  to  management.  

Fortunately  this  structure  allows  projects  to  maintain  a  course  and  direction  desired  by  management  

with  strict  stop-­‐gate  processes  in  place  to  delineate  phases  and  prerequisites  for  project  progression.  

  The  PDCP  is  clearly  defined  at  Smule.  Phase  0,  idea  generation,  gives  all  Smule  employees  the  

opportunity  to  pitch  ideas  (in  theory).  The  team  conducts  very  limited  exploratory  market  research,  a  

                                                                                                               3  https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~ge/thesis.html  

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weakness  as  they  work  to  incorporate  derivative  products  into  their  overall  portfolio.    Instead  Smule  

relies  on  a  few  key  innovators  to  generate  product  ideas.  Four  metrics  are  used  for  evaluating  

products:  1)  user  location,  2)  daily  activity-­‐push  to  Facebook,  Twitter,  and  email,  3)  sales  per  daily  

active  user,  and  4)  daily  user  activity.  Popularity  is  sometimes  gauged  through  response  to  teaser  

product  trailers  posted  online  via  YouTube.  Management  “Green  Lights”  project  proposals  to  

proceed  to  Phase  1.    

  Phase  1  involves  rapid  prototyping.  An  imposed  thirty-­‐day  requirement  insures  progress  towards  

a  working  prototype.  In-­‐house  developers  and  company  management  test  the  prototype,  and  

management  decides  whether  the  project  moves  forward,  has  another  30  days,  or  gets  canceled.    

  Phase  2  applies  to  Continuous  Improvement  Projects  (CIPs).  Adding  to  an  existing  product  poses  

risks  due  to  the  inability  to  accurately  gauge  user  responses  to  new  product  features.  Improvements  

directly  tailored  to  user  needs  is  limited  by  the  absence  of  user  needs  research.    

  Phase  3  involves  Alpha  testing.  A  project  budget  and  final  product  rollout  timeline  are  approved.    

Budgets  range  from  $50K  to  $2M  depending  on  size  and  scope.  Development  lengths  can  be  as  short  

as  two  weeks  and  as  long  as  six  months.  Products  with  a  development  cycle  longer  than  six  months  

are  usually  canceled.  As  the  development  cycle  draws  to  an  end,  Smule  releases  a  teaser  video  on  

YouTube  highlighting  the  final  product  to  generate  demand.  Videos  must  be  no  longer  than  30  

seconds  in  length  and  accurately  convey  the  products  value.    

  Phase  4,  or  Beta  testing,  is  accomplished  by  releasing  the  product  under  a  pseudonym  that  

protects  Smule  from  negative  feedback.  The  team  immediately  begins  analyzing  data  (NT  and  K-­‐

factor)  to  track  usage  patterns,  virality,  and  feature  adoption  of  the  product  post  launch.    

  Responses  are  evaluated  and  minor  changes  are  made  before  launching  globally  under  Smule’s  

name  brand.  See  Exhibit  3  for  related  time-­‐to-­‐market  and  stopgap  process  breakdown.  

V.  Description  of  the  product  and  the  state  of  its  development  

Target  Market       The  Magic  Piano  app  targets  smartphone  owners  of  all  ages  and  gender  groups,  although  the  

product  is  most  success  among  teenagers  and  young  adults  (13-­‐30  years  old).  The  product  harnesses  

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the  universality  of  the  piano  as  an  instrument  of  expression  and  music  creation,  the  playing  of  which  

the  users  are  familiar  with.  The  majority  of  the  500+  songs  featured  in  the  library  are  either  piano  

classics  or  popular  songs  from  various  genres,  most  identifiable  with  the  under-­‐30  year  old  crowd.    

Technical  description       Magic  Piano’s  user  value  centers  around  two  components:  an  achievement  based  “Play”  mode,  

and  a  global  music  sharing  “World”  platform.    Core  value  exists  in  gameplay  mechanics  allowing  a  

player  with  zero  piano  experience  to  enjoy  feeling  control  and  mastery  over  a  real-­‐time  song  

recreation.  Colored  orbs  are  displayed  on  the  screen.    The  orbs  are  horizontally  spaced  to  correspond  

to  relative  distances  of  those  notes  within  their  respective  chord  formations,  and  vertically  spaced  

according  to  the  tempo  of  the  song.  When  the  player  taps  the  screen  on  an  orb  or  chord  of  orbs,  

sound  emanates  from  the  device  in  real  time  giving  the  player  to  control  over  the  rhythm  of  the  song  

(but  not  the  actual  notes  being  played).  Users  receive  real-­‐time  feedback  through  a  scoring  system  

based  on  timing  and  tap  location  (proper  notes  and  chords).  Achievements  accrued  through  scoring  

in  the  ‘Play’  mode  encourages  the  user  to  practice,  buy,  and  play  a  greater  number  of  songs.  Value  to  

the  user  is  augmented  through  a  low-­‐pressure  freemium  model;  free  content  and  premium  content  

(popular  songs  to  play)  can  be  earned  (by  watching  ads  or  completing  affiliate  offers)  or  purchased  

depending  on  the  user’s  desire  to  spend.    

VI.  Discussion  of  the  area  of  Focus  

  Exhibits  4  and  5  shows  Smule’s  value  creation  model  as  applied  to  the  Magic  Piano  product.  Since  

it’s  initial  launch  in  2010,  the  app  has  evolved  with  respect  to  timing,  environmental  factors,  

technological  factors,  and  value  contribution.    In  the  first  version  of  Magic  Piano  (released  in  April  

2010  for  the  iPad),  there  were  only  five  songs  to  play.    Smule  created  value  by  utilizing  the  inherent  

capabilities  of  the  iPad’s  large  screen,  multi-­‐touch  display,  and  fast  processing.    In  comparison  to  the  

general  Smule  value  creation  evolution,  this  stage  was  remarkably  different  because  the  app  was  

launched  on  a  non-­‐iPhone  platform.    Smule  was  given  exclusive  access  to  the  iPad  tablet  prior  to  

product  release  and  leveraged  this  knowledge  to  create  an  application  that  catered  to  the  tablet  

market.    By  May  2011,  Smule  had  already  upgraded  the  Magic  Piano  product,  marking  the  second  

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stage  of  the  evolution.    Such  changes  included  making  the  app  free,  creating  a  scoring  system  for  

each  song,  and  implementing  premium  content  that  could  be  purchased  using  virtual  Smoola.    The  

underlying  value  creation  proposition  was  to  increase  the  user  base  by  making  the  app  free  and  

adding  popular  songs  (and  premium  content  for  purchase)  to  increase  user  enjoyment.    Magic  

Piano’s  evolution  differed  from  Smule’s  other  products  in  that  users  had  the  ability  to  earn  Smoola  by  

using  the  app,  not  simply  buying  it.    This  showed  a  marked  improvement  in  user  retention.    The  next  

versions  of  Magic  Piano  added  an  interactive  leaderboard  and  expanded  to  the  Android  marketplace.    

The  socially  competitive  nature  of  the  leaderboard  combined  with  the  subsequent  expansion  to  

Android  created  an  explosion  in  both  user  adoption  and  sustained  interaction  while  creating  a  

product  that  still  achieved  Smule’s  central  mission.    The  most  recent  version  (released  in  February  

2013),  continues  to  tactic  of  introducing  “unlockable”  achievements  and  premium  content,  such  as  

releasing  a  new  free  song  every  day,  to  maintain  its  existing  user  base.    This  creates  a  sustainable  way  

for  a  non-­‐paying  user  to  gain  new  content  through  regular  gameplay.    Adding  free  content  increases  

the  product’s  value  to  consumers  while  simultaneously  growing  the  user  base.    

VII.  Problems  and  Opportunities  for  Improvement  

Statement  of  the  challenge     Smule  experienced  rapid  growth  in  value  creation  for  their  initial  products  including  Magic  Piano.    

However,  as  innovations  become  harder  as  the  marketplace  matures,  competition  increases,  and  

customers  become  more  discerning,  it  grows  more  difficult  to  consistently  provide  increasing  value.  

While  Smule  has  combated  these  challenges  by  more  effectively  monetizing  their  existing  products,  it  

must  adapt  its  future  product  design  processes  to  more  efficiently  address  user  needs  and  wants.    As  

users  understand  the  features  and  capabilities  of  their  mobile  devices,  Smule  must  be  reticent  to  that  

fact  in  order  to  drive  new  customer  sales  and  increase  the  long-­‐term  appeal  (stickiness)  of  products.    

  Top-­‐level  challenges  for  the  Magic  Piano  and  new  applications  include  improving:  (1)  the  virality  

of  the  product  (k-­‐factor:  Number  of  recommendations  per  user  to  contacts  times  proportion  of  

referred  people  who  buy  the  product.),  (2)  the  stickiness  of  the  product,  and  (3)  sales  conversions  for  

user.    By  surveying  actual  Magic  Piano  app  users,  these  objects  appears  accomplishable  through  high-­‐

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level  product  improvements  in  ease  of  learning  game  mechanics,  expressivity  of  gameplay,  clarity  of  

pricing,  availability  and  access  to  premium  content,  depth  of  social  experience,  and  use  as  a  music  

making/recording  tool.    Exhibit  6  lists  enhancements  desired  by  these  current  Magic  Piano  users.  

Requirements     All  production  process  or  Magic  Piano  solutions  must  allow  Smule  to  maximize  creativity  within  

the  bounds  of  profit-­‐motivated  decision-­‐making.  Smule  must  also  maintain  a  balanced  product  

portfolio  with  revenue  from  sustaining  products  offsetting  high-­‐risk  and  high-­‐cost  breakthrough  next-­‐

generation  products.  Finally,  products  development  must  continue  within  a  reasonable  budget  and  

project  timeline  given  the  financial  health  and  size  of  Smule.  

Constraints     Smule’s  production  process  is  constrained  by  needs  of  the  product  design  and  management  

teams,  and  the  availability  of  engineering  talent.  Magic  Piano  design  is  constrained  by  technological  

platform  development,  current  and  potential  user  expectations,  and  project  portfolio  and  financial  

concerns.  

Alternatives  –  PDCP  Process  and  Team  Structure  on  Multi-­‐Generation  Products     1)  Create  a  rigorous  brainstorming  “Phase  0”  process  to  discover  new  sources  of  product  value.    

  2)  Shift  to  heavyweight  development  teams  to  increase  the  total  engineering  talent  pool.  

Recommendations  –  Ways  to  implement  process  alternatives  within  Smule’s  constraints     1)  Identifying  new  product  value  is  important  given  the  large  numbers  of  major  design  

improvements  determined  through  a  general  market  print  (Exhibit  6)  and  Kano  Analysis  (Exhibit  7).  

The  slowing  growth  of  perceived  product  value  (with  no  significantly  new  product  features  since  the  

introduction  of  Smoola  as  a  way  to  purchase  premium  content)  must  be  combated.  While  the  current  

“hypothesize  à  test  à  gather  data  à  iterate”  model  process  is  effective  at  improving  efficiency  and  

clarity  of  existing  functionality,  a  more  expansive  model  will  overcome  roadblocks  in  creativity  

(Exhibit  8).  By  sending  engineers  to  conduct  personal  interviews  with  users  in  target  market  

demographics,  Smule  will  be  able  to  more  accurately  refine  product  ideas  in  the  “hypothesize”  phase  

by  discovering  what  current  users  desire.  Smule  will  be  able  to  match  the  product  directly  to  user  

needs  and  wants  as  they  work  to  expand  their  new  derivate  product  offerings.  

  8  

  2)  Given  the  need  for  creative,  system-­‐wide  solutions  for  implementing  new  value-­‐adding  

features,  Smule  should  not  abandon  its  lightweight  team  structure.  Rather,  Smule  should  identify  

low-­‐difficulty  functionality  improvements,  and  assign  those  projects  to  a  separate  team  of  engineers  

who  remain  within  their  functional  group.  The  ability  to  assign  multiple  low-­‐difficulty  projects  to  a  

dedicated  team  with  the  resources  of  a  function  group  will  lower  the  talent  threshold  required  to  be  

an  engineer  at  Smule,  and  will  improve  overall  company  efficiency.    

VIII.  Conclusion  

  Smule’s  current  product  development  process  is  undergoing  a  transition.    As  it  converts  from  a  

purely  innovative  company  to  a  company  that  also  builds  upon  successful  ideas  through  derivative  

products,  it  must  not  overlook  the  necessity  of  market  research  in  early  stages  of  its’  idea  generation.    

While  previously  content  with  “throwing  ideas  against  the  wall  and  seeing  what  sticks,”4  Smule  must  

interface  with  users  to  understand  their  desires.  Mobile  devices  are  no  longer  new  and  

misunderstood.    Their  features  and  capabilities  are  known,  and  there  are  many  competitors  in  every  

market  space.    As  the  user  landscape  shifts,  so  too  must  to  product  development  process.    For  

derivative  or  parallel  products  with  incremental  innovation,  it  is  imperative  to  match  the  new  value-­‐

add  to  customer’s  needs  and  wants.    Smule  was  a  groundbreaking  innovator.    In  order  to  remain  as  

competitive  in  its  new  approach  of  “farming”  existing  winners  for  future  success,  it  must  adapt  its  

product  development  processes  to  include  more  pre-­‐launch  market  and  user  needs  research.  

   

                                                                                                               4  From  an  interview  with  Jeff  Smith,  CEO  of  Smule  

  9  

Exhibit  1:  App  Download  Trends  

 

source:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/appsblog/2012/dec/04/ios-­‐android-­‐revenues-­‐downloads-­‐country  

                                                     

  10  

Exhibit  2:  Current  Lightweight-­‐Autonomous  Team  and  Proposed  Heavyweight  Structure  for  Low  Design  Challenge  Products  and  Product  Features    Current  Product  Development  Team  

 

Proposed  Team  Structure  for  Low  Design  Challenge  Products  and  Product  Features  

 

  11  

Exhibit  3:  Smule’s  Time-­‐To-­‐Market  and  Stop  Gap  Green-­‐Light  Process  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  12  

Exhibit  4:    Evolution  of  Smule’s  Value  Creation  Model  

 

 

Exhibit  5:    Evolution  of  Magic  Piano’s  Value  Creation  Model  

 

 

  13  

EXHIBIT  6:  Kano  Analysis  of  Current  and  Potential  Product  Features

 

                                 

  14  

Appendix  to  Exhibit  6  **Explanation  of  Value  of  Product  Feature    (1  and  2)  Smule  should  incorporate  both  an  “Accurate  Touch”  mode  (app  will  play  a  note  based  on  position  of  touch,  not  just  a  preset  tone),  as  well  as  a  “Visual  Piano”  option  that  shows  a  dynamically  changing  piano  superimposed  behind  the  note  orbs.    This  will  increase  the  realism  of  gameplay  and  the  value  as  a  piano  learning  tool,  without  compromising  gameplay  ease-­‐of-­‐use.    (3  and  4)  While  uploadable  content  would  be  the  ultimate  way  to  address  low  content  availability,  it  is  technically  challenging  to  create  a  music  analysis  and  score  writing  algorithm  that  could  create  arrangements  equally  as  engaging  as  those  made  in  Smule’s  lab.  Furthermore,  this  could  cannibalize  sales  of  premium  content.    Smule  could  still  increase  the  amount  of  desired  content  available  by  targeting  current  popular  songs  to  add  to  the  library.  Currently  only  2  of  the  top  10  ten  singles  of  2012  are  on  the  Magic  Piano.    (5,  6,  and  7)  The  seemingly  random  denominations  of  Smoola  tend  to  confuse  users.  Change  the  pricing  of  songs  to  multiples  of  25  Smoola,  while  selling  Smoola  packages  in  multiples  of  100,  for  easy  off-­‐hand  conversions  of  song  prices.  By  limiting  the  number  of  packages,  the  buyer’s  decision-­‐making  process  is  simpler.  Subscription  services  or  direct  song  purchase  should  be  considered  to  make  purchase  costs  of  songs  100%  transparent.    8)  The  Tapjoy  affiliate  interface  (1)  appears  to  be  a  “nickel-­‐and-­‐dime”  approach  to  achieving  revenue,  lowering  the  perceived  value  of  the  product  and  the  premium  content  that  is  earned  and  (2)  results  in  a  distracting  program  exit  (right),  reducing  enjoyment.  This  should  be  removed  to  focus  the  user  experience  on  gameplay  and  premium  content  purchases.      (9)  Smule  should  implement  an  algorithm  to  break  up  current  song  scores  and  allow  users  to  play  duets  either  live  or  on  delay  (one  person  record’s  their  half  then  uploads  it).  “Duet”  mode  was  available  in  version  1  and  would  increase  interactivity  of  the  social  experience.    (10)  Smule’s  mission  is  to  enable  music  creation  on  a  social  platform.  Creating  a  means  of  improvising  with  someone  around  the  globe  would  maximize  the  achievement  of  both  these  value  propositions.      (11)  “Freestyle”  could  be  enhanced  for  small  screen  mobile  devices.    Small  screen  size  makes  it  difficult  to  either  touch  the  desired  keys  on  the  smaller  keys  of  keyboard.    Provide  the  user  with  the  ability  to  select  major  and  minor  keys,  to  choose  different  types  of  scales,  and  to  use  specific  gestures  to  produce  major,  minor,  or  sustained  chords.    This  will  allow  the  user  to  create  a  truly  musical  and  song-­‐like  experience.  This  will  add  value  at  no  cost.    (12)  Users  desire  the  ability  to  record  their  music.  Allowing  them  to  perform  multiple  overlaid  tracks  on  Magic  Piano  and  export  that  as  a  layered  music  file  or  a  compressed  mp3  will  make  Magic  Piano  useful  as  a  professional  music  creation  tool,  rather  than  simply  an  instrument  representation.      

  15  

 EXHIBIT  7:  Smule  Current  vs.  Potential  Next  Generations  Market  Print  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red  =  Magic  Piano  Version  5 Blue  =  Magic  Piano  Proposed  Version  6 Black  =  Magic  Piano  Proposed  Version  7

  16  

EXHIBIT  8:  Smule’s  Current  PDCP  Process  and  Necessary  Improvements