BandLab launches classroom platform aimed at widening access to music creation
BandLab Technologies has launched BandLab for Education 2.0, a new version of its classroom music creation platform designed to make browser-based recording and production easier for schools to adopt.
The platform adapts BandLab Studio – used by more than 100 million creators worldwide – for teacher-managed classrooms, with tools for assignments, student access, privacy compliance and project sharing. It has been rebuilt to run across devices commonly used in schools, including Chromebooks, Macs and Windows computers.
The launch comes at a time when access to music education remains uneven. In the US, the Arts Education Data Project estimates that 3.6 million public school students have no access to music education during the school day. With pandemic-era school relief funding coming to an end, many districts are again facing difficult decisions about staffing, summer programmes and arts provision.
BandLab for Education 2.0 is available at $2.50 per student per year, with free access for eligible Title I schools in the US and comparable support planned in other markets. The company says the aim is to lower the technical and financial barriers that can prevent schools from offering music technology and contemporary music-making.
Teachers can create classrooms using join codes, set assignments and distribute them through existing systems such as learning management platforms, Google Classroom, shared drives or email. A new BandLab for Education file format allows teachers to package starting materials and instructions as a single reusable assignment file.
The platform includes access to BandLab Studio, AutoPitch vocal tuning, samples, one-shots and loops from the BandLab Sounds library. Stand-alone versions of BandLab’s metronome and tuner are also available outside the Studio environment for use in lessons, rehearsals and practice.
BandLab says the new version also expands its compliance flexibility, building on existing support for US federal standards including COPPA and FERPA, and allowing for the dedicated data privacy agreements required by many US states, districts and schools internationally.
Meng Ru Kuok, CEO and co-founder of BandLab Technologies, said, ‘The tools to make music should be in the hands of everyone, everywhere, and nowhere does that matter more than in a classroom.
‘Since launching BandLab for Education in 2018, we’ve learned what schools, teachers and students want, and with 2.0 we’ve gone further than ever to deliver it. Our goal is and always has been to empower the next generation of music makers with everything they need to set them up for success on their creative journey, wherever it may take them.’
The existing BandLab for Education platform will continue to be supported for current schools, teachers and students, with classrooms and projects remaining available. Schools wishing to move to 2.0 will be offered migration support.
BandLab Technologies is headquartered in Singapore and is part of Caldecott Music Group. Its portfolio includes BandLab, Cakewalk, ReverbNation and Airbit.