Project Name
4beats music making app V2
4beats is a mobile app that empowers anyone - especially young creatives and children - to easily create, customize, and share original music using high-quality samples, and smart automation, all within a focus-friendly and socially engaging environment.
The challenge
Create a sustainable business by leveraging all the insights and the growing user base gained from version one of the 4beats app - transforming early validation into long-term value, scalability, and impact.
Roles
Creative Direction
App Icon Design
UI/UX Design
UX Research
User Interviews
Roadmapping
Copywriting
Web Design
Illustration
Custom Icon Set
QA
Year
2020
After we confirmed the product-market fit with the first version of 4beats, we saw a steadily growing base of enthusiastic users. Our primary audience included young creative individuals and children, supported by their parents. Reviews in the App Store were mostly positive, and some users even volunteered ideas for new features they’d love to see in the app. Encouraged by this feedback, we began planning how to scale and turn 4beats into a sustainable business. Expanding to a larger market (Google Play) and offering a richer music library were among our main strategies.
Use Cases
Our initial vision was to empower anyone to create music easily, even without musical training. But as users explored the app, new use cases surfaced - creating music for personal videos, indie games, and even composing songs as gifts. Things quickly became more interesting and diverse.
Features in the new version
iOS and Android support
Sharing via Dropbox, SoundCloud, iMessage, and Email
Interactive walk-through for faster onboarding
Easy discovery of audio samples via filtering
Predesigned cover art and song titles
Real-time audio processing
Sample import via Dropbox
Audiobus and Inter-App Audio integration
Fade-in / fade-out effects
Reverb and EQ output controls
Dark theme support
Before finalizing our roadmap, we wanted to validate our assumptions by comparing them with user expectations. Surveys and interviews provided valuable insights, and one surprise stood out: the social aspect was much more important to users than anticipated. This helped us refine our focus - expanding the music library and enabling music sharing became clear priorities. These desires reflected broader human needs for variety and social connection.
Challenges
There was a lot to do - UI design, audio content, development for two platforms, marketing strategy and materials, copywriting, and other critical tasks that would shape 4beats’ future. With just two of us on the team, we had to plan and execute carefully while finding ways to delegate some of the workload. We couldn’t afford to offer full-scale support, so we added an FAQ section to cover most common questions. We also developed an in-app walk-through to help new users get started quickly and independently.
Android development presented a technical hurdle. Since React Native couldn’t support the core audio engine, we had to write the Android version in Java. We hired a developer and successfully replicated the iOS feature set.
Freemium Model
We wanted to support creativity while building a sustainable product. So we opted for a freemium model: the app was completely free to use with limited music samples and features - still valuable on its own. Users could unlock more samples, effects, updates, and other perks through an affordable monthly subscription.
(Premium screenshots)
Social Features
As mentioned earlier, the demand for social functionality caught us by surprise. The easiest win was adding a “Share” feature so users could send links to their songs. More complex features - like community, likes, and ratings - were planned for future versions.
Audio Samples Marketplace
We developed an ambitious plan to create a contributor-driven platform where musicians could offer their own audio sample packs for sale. This would create a new revenue stream for musicians and keep our library constantly expanding for users.
Focus
We deeply understood that creative flow requires focus. Yet in today’s attention economy, staying focused - especially for younger users - is difficult. So we designed features that minimized distractions and streamlined publishing: predesigned album covers, auto-generated song names, and playful avatars. When a song was done, it was ready to be shared instantly.
Further validation
Unexpectedly, we also received acquisition proposals from two different companies - further validation of our assumptions and the potential of 4beats.
Contact
