top of page
  • Jeff Greene

Three Chords and the Tech: How Utab’s Proprietary Technology Turns Sound Files into Play-Along Dynam


Some music lovers do more than passively groove to their favorite hits. They play along. And there are a lot of them: More than half of households in the US and Western Europe have at least one member who plays an instrument for pleasure, according to recent numbers from Gallup. These active music lovers have a new one-stop place to find the chords, notes, and lyrics they want, all synched to the track, all ready to rock. That place isUtab. The service uses machine learning-based technology to create videos that give players a visual representation--chord diagrams for guitarists, a keyboard with highlighted hand positions--of the key elements they need to play. “Utab combines two proprietary technologies our team created,” explains Ofer Oved, Utab’s CEO, who comes to the platform with decades of experience in tech, mobile, and media. “One is able to programmatically extract the chords from a song. Another can automatically generate videos that synch musical notation systems and lyrics to sound files. It’s the dynamic development of what music lovers have had to rely on in the past.” Based in Tel Aviv, the Utab team took a passion for music and machine learning and put the two together to create a video-based streaming music school that can stream anywhere, on any device. Players can browse playlists by mood, genre, occasion, and era. They can trade licks with fellow Utabers, or even upload their own videos to the site (which will add chords and lyrics).

The service uses machine learning-based technology to create videos that give players a visual representation--chord diagrams for guitarists, a keyboard with highlighted hand positions--of the key elements they need to play.

“The legacy companies in the informal music education space are struggling to woo young buyers,” says Oved. “For millennials and generation Z , for younger players, you need to visualize the message and the information and get it on mobile and smart tv, as well as desktops. If you don’t move in this direction, you will lose this key segment. When you’re talking about engagement, you have to bring all the elements together in a single video.” These single videos are targeted at a large, but relatively neglected segment of the music markets. Streaming subscription services, for example, thrive on super fans and music aficionados, but don’t offer much to fans who also play music. “There are a lot of great platforms and services for people who love to listen to music,” muses Oved. “And there are a lot of great resources online for professional musicians and their business teams. But there isn’t much for people who simply love to play music at home, or in less formal settings.” In addition to strong technologies, Utab has teamed up with publishers worldwide to make sure the songwriters behind the videos’ compelling music get paid. “It took nearly a year to secure all the deals, but it was important and we did it,” comments Oved. Music lovers can start exploring and jamming at https://premium.utab.com

Utab Go To Market strategy is based on partnering with Media & Music companies that would like to provide their users with a new exciting cross platform music service with no development investment and in no time.

bottom of page