I was very lucky to be able to go overseas and go to school. Meng Ru Kuok: On a personal basis, I was always into music when I was younger, but it wasn’t really until I went to the United Kingdom that I ‘got into music.’ Singapore is a very young country-it’s just over 50 years old-so culture hasn’t developed in the same way there as in a place like the United States or the U.K. What was your early relationship with music like? When did the spark of your passion get lit? Read our conversation below:Īmerican Songwriter: BandLab is a huge, international operation, but at its heart is a commitment to music and the musicians who make it. We discuss everything from the origins of BandLab to the impact of TikTok to how artists are going to be making money in the future. With streaming, social media and other technological innovations changing the name of the game-especially in regard to how the label system works and where money is actually being generated-the insights of someone like Meng, who has his hands in nearly every sector of the music economy, is invaluable and enlightening. With all of these things going on, Meng is smack-dab in the middle of a very interesting moment in music history… so last week, American Songwriter hopped on a Zoom call with him to talk about it all. As of the writing of this article, it’s the 11th most popular music app on the iOS app store and is outselling Apple’s own GarageBand app. Just since 2019, the app’s seen a 150% increase in the size of its user base and now bolsters over 30 million accounts. But on top of it all, BandLab’s main project, the DAW app, is sky-rocketing in popularity, in part thanks to the pandemic. For a period of time from 2016 to 2019, the company even owned a 49% stake of the powerhouse music press, Rolling Stone.Īll of this alone would be enough to make Meng an incredibly powerful player in the international landscape of the music industry. They own Swee Lee, a trendy music retailer in Southeast Asia Harmony Guitars and Heritage Guitars, two iconic guitar builders and several notable publications, including NME,, Uncut and.

Founded just six years ago by Meng Ru Kuok-the 32-year-old son of Kuok Khoon Hong, a prominent Singaporean billionaire and the CEO of the world’s largest palm oil trader-BandLab also owns a slew of other ventures. Perhaps best known for their popular “pocket DAW” app which allows users to make music anywhere at any time on their phones, the company is actually much, much more. As far as the music industry goes, you’d be hard-pressed to find a company with as much potential as BandLab Technologies.

How many daw users worldwide