China Exclusive: Virtual music maestro

Han Baoqiang, head of the Music Technology Department at China Central Conservatory of Music, began working part-time as a tutor in 1980. At that time, schools and universities across the country recruited students with special artistic skills. The more accomplished one was on the piano, the more chances one had of being accepted to a good school.

"Some people could reach grade 10 (the highest) in two years, because they practiced only the test pieces, over and over again," says Han, who says such training cannot inculcate a love of music.

Wang says his parents did not force him to learn the piano when he showed little interest during his childhood. He developed other hobbies: weaponry, mechanical devices, and computers.

In 2005, Wang became a pioneer of 3D virtual reality technology in China and operated a successful company Zhongshidian Digital Technology Ltd.. When he wanted to unwind after work, the piano, which he had not touched for two decades, came to mind.

Bookstores offered mostly expensive and advanced textbooks, and finding piano scores online was not easy. In 2011, he quit his executive job and started Qule Technology to develop piano music applications.

He did not expect that his app for music scores would top Apple's App Store sales within three months. "It's not easy to get an edge over game apps," says Wang, who boasted that this paid app once had a record of 300,000 users, "but there was a vast market and people wanted it."

Two years later, he was seeking investors when user growth slowed sharply. Wang found that a music app requires a real piano and smart devices, but few people had both.

Meanwhile, mobile Internet use had exploded. By 2011, China had 400 million smart phone users, triggering an entrepreneurial boom and prompting the government to offer greater financial support to Internet startups.

"I didn't want to miss the opportunity," says Wang, whose company began developing the smart piano to run with mobile devices in 2013.

Hundreds of the Geek smart pianos - each costing 3,888 yuan - sold out online within six months of the launch. Brisk sales inspired Wang to develop a guitar, which began selling online in May.

Wang's innovations are very much in line with the "Internet Plus" plan that Premier Li Keqiang unveiled in his government work report during the annual political sessions in March. He proposed integration of the Internet and traditional industries through online platforms and technology, to create a new growth engine.

Many piano manufacturers, however, criticize the smart version for encouraging people to ignore key practice and music theory, while others argue the smart piano will drive piano tutors out of business. But Wang is unfazed.

"The irreversible trend is that all instruments will become smart, and all things need to be smart," Wang says. "People must adapt to the changes brought by the Internet."

Still, he believes his smart piano will never replace the mechanical one, despite having a wider sound range and more functions. His biggest challenge has been making the smart piano as good as the mechanical one in tone, sound and feel.

"My company is cooperating with the world's largest piano manufacturer Pearl River based in Guangzhou and chooses the best hardware so users will have the same feeling as a real piano."

Zhao Yutian, the entrepreneur, sees the smart piano as a "shortcut" to playing music within days - rather than the years it requires to learn to play the traditional piano.

"What's wrong with a shortcut? It helps you find the joy of playing piano in hours or minutes," says Wang.

Piano tutor Chen says children should still learn the same way as earlier generations: "The smart piano is good for an adult, but it won't enable children to develop their own music aesthetics.

"Smart devices should expand the joy of music, rather than stop people learning music."

Wang is now promoting the smart piano in Western markets, where it will sell for under 600 U.S. dollars. "The consumers will not resist the temptation of this cheap but smart instrument."