Prospectus for institutions

nkoda 2022
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Index What is nkoda? 8

The nkoda library 10
The nkoda music reader 14
Our publishing partners 20
How we work with
institutions 24
Free trial 38
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The nkoda library and the nkoda music reader on iPad

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What is nkoda? nkoda is an ecosystem of tools and services created to

empower music-making. We build apps and products.

There are two apps in the ecosystem:

The nkoda library app currently has over 100,000 titles

comprised of scores, parts and educational materials.
All licensed directly from publishers.

The nkoda music reader is a next-generation score

reading app, designed to make working on digital
scores as fluid and intuitive as possible. It’s free to
use and supports content from the nkoda library,
along with personal uploads.

nkoda is for all musicians, at any stage of their creative

life, no matter who they are. Giving musicians fair
access to musical materials and information was our
founding principle.

We believe that great, simple product design empowers

music-making, and that musicians are made, not born.

We offer custom subscription packages to suit all types

of institutions. Inside this booklet you’ll find more
information about nkoda, and how to book a one-month
free trial or a meeting to learn more.
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The nkoda library

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The nkoda library is the most complete collection of Our content team in London is made up of musicians.
licensed digital sheet music. We offer over 100,000 They publish and curate every work that you see in
titles: scores, full sets of hire parts and the catalogue, they also index it to make searching for
educational materials. music simpler. We’ve built collaborative relationships
with all of our publishing partners, resulting in a
All content is fully licensed, ensuring that contributors continuous feed of new publications every week. This
are remunerated fairly. By subscribing to the nkoda relationship has also made it possible for us to request
library, musicians are investing in copyright protection, works for musicians.
and a fairer ecosystem for digital music-making.
Our main aim is to remove barriers to access so that
The library contains works from the most important musicians can empower their learning, teaching,
figures in musical history, as well as composers who, collaboration and performance. Providing fair access
in the past, did not receive the attention that they and distribution for a global community of musicians is
deserved. Along with all of these, you’ll find music from essential for creating a progressive and more diverse
contemporary composers, with newly created works music industry.
available soon after publication.

Collaboration features are at the heart of the nkoda

library. Personal playlists allow musicians to curate
and share their own collections of music. It’s the tool
to organise materials for lessons and performances.
The library’s sharing features include:

Sharing annotations that were made

in the nkoda music reader.
The ability to share playlists and make
them publicly available.
Sharing any title or individual piece
of material in the library.
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The nkoda music reader

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The nkoda music reader is a free-to-use digital score As an organisation, we’re committed to producing not
reader. Created by musicians, for musicians, we’ve only the most effective tools for musicians, but also the
ensured that its features and technologies are tailored most beautiful. You’ll see in the nkoda music reader
for the best digital score reading experience. that every detail has been carefully designed. We worked
with SPIN, a leading design studio in London, to create
The nkoda music reader is simple to use, and offers a unique visual language for all elements of the reader.
powerful solutions – here’s a list: We wanted to make it a pleasure to use, on both
a functional and aesthetic level.
We’ve created toolboxes for every kind of
musician, containing the annotation tools
needed for marking up their scores and parts.
Multiple toolboxes can be used simultaneously
and can be docked anywhere on the screen’s
edge, or left as floating toolboxes.
It’s completely customisable: musicians can
change all important parameters to suit their
needs, including page-scroll speeds and layouts,
as well as border sizes. They can also build
their own toolboxes.
All tools and preset musical symbols are
editable: size, colour and opacity can
be changed.
Multiple annotation layers can be created for
each score, and can be labelled and managed
for simple collaboration.
For institutional partners, we offer unlimited
upload storage – completely for free. You can
use the same authentication mechanisms that
you would for our library app.
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Toril Azzalini, percussionist

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Our publishing partners We have spent the last five years building close
relationships with our publishing partners.

As well as working with major publishers, we work

with many specialist publishing houses to offer lesser-
known music to the widest possible audience.

We also work with a content aggregator that provides

any composer with the opportunity to distribute their
music to a global community of musicians. We see
providing a platform for those who may have struggled
to find a viable distribution mechanism in the past as
an essential task; ensuring that composers, no matter
their background or means, can be fairly remunerated
for their work.

(pages 22, 23) Our publishing partners

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How we work with institutions All of our products have been tailored for use within
institutions and we offer fair and cost-effective
access. We want to empower librarians to provide
their institutions with the best quality resources for
music-making.

This is how:

The nkoda library app

A month’s free trial and tailored subscription

packages for every kind of institution.
Access using your preferred authentication
mechanism, including: Shibboleth, OpenAthens,
Google SSO, Email Registration and IP
Range Authentication.
An nkoda team member is assigned to your
institution to ensure that you have the
best experience.
 here’s no limit to access whilst you trial.
T
 he catalogue grows all the time and you
T
get access to new publications and product
releases as they happen – all as part of
your subscription.
We work closely with trialing and subscribed
institutions to ensure that access to nkoda is
well integrated and advertised throughout the
institution. We track usage statistics to ensure
that our subscribers are getting the most out
of nkoda – many of our institutional partners hit
a cost-per-download of less than $0.60.
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The nkoda music reader

Available for free.

All members of an institution get free and
unlimited storage.
We will help you integrate the app into your
library’s digital resources.
You don’t need a trial and you don’t need to
purchase an nkoda library app subscription.
 ew updates to the reader are free.
N
 here’s no limit on how many members from
T
your institution can access the reader once
integrated into your digital resources.
Integration is simple. We work with your
preferred authentication mechanisms:
Shibboleth, OpenAthens, Google SSO, Email
Registration and IP Range Authentication.

(opposite) nkoda music reader, highlighter settings

(pages 28 to 31) Our institutional partners
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Linda Merrick Martie Severt

Principal, Royal Northern College of Music Head of Library, Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag

The Royal Northern College of Music is delighted nkoda makes it possible for students and staff to
to partner with nkoda. The unique and rich set of explore a wide range of musical works during lessons
resources nkoda provides is an asset to today’s music and at home. nkoda offers access to many scores and
students, who are at home in the virtual world and parts that are otherwise unavailable. nkoda really helps
welcome the ease of access to core repertory to to broaden the musical horizons of students because it
support their studies. nkoda has proved especially offers such a variety of known and unknown composers
attractive during the pandemic when we have been and works.
working in online and blended formats, and I am
confident students will continue to benefit from these
resources into the future. Birgit Hühne
Music Librarian, Stadtbibliothek Wuppertal

Kate Grigsby The Stadtbibliothek Wuppertal was the first public

Librarian, University of Sheffield library in Germany to give customers access to nkoda.
Therefore the media response was enormous at first
At the University of Sheffield Library, we’ve found and so was the demand. We received overwhelmingly
nkoda invaluable – initially as a way to provide enthusiastic feedback. Our customers were thrilled that
access to scores during limited access to our music in addition to the printed sheet music there was now
collections. nkoda now facilitates a more blended also a digital offer.
approach to learning - supporting students who are
distance learners so can’t easily access the physical
library resources. Academics are also using nkoda
as a teaching resource and feedback from the
department has been really positive.
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Jeremy Chan, pianist

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About us Since launching nkoda in 2018, we have built

connections with institutions and musicians from
all around the world. Our goal is to empower music-
making with fair and unrestricted access to the
materials that musicians need, and to provide this
service to as many musicians as possible.

We have already partnered with over 150 institutions

from all corners of the world: from Japan to Poland, to
Australia to the United States. Our apps are available
in a range of languages including Chinese, French,
German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese,
Russian and Spanish. Every week we welcome new
institutions as nkoda partners and would love to
welcome yours on board soon. On the next page, you’ll
find out how to get in touch with us and start
a free trial.
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Free trial Thanks for reading. We hope it’s helped you to

understand who we are, what we do and how nkoda
might help empower music-making and education at
your institution.

We offer a one-month free trial. Scan at the bottom of

this page or go to nkoda.com/institutions.

We assign a team member to work with you throughout

your trial. Because of this we can’t always promise
there will be slots available – so please book your free
trial soon.

Made by musicians in London, for musicians all over

the world.
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Athena Octavia, violinist

Colophon
nkoda prospectus
2022

Published by
nkoda

Editorial content
nkoda

Printed in London

Typeface
Marfa (Dinamo)

© 2022
nkoda
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