Mobile App
Building the future of music curation
Sync is part of my thesis project on data applied to the music industry. It is a mobile app that allows users to become music curator and share music accross platforms.
Mission
How can we dismantle the corporate barriers in the music industry? I aimed to create a product that serves users, harking back to the original digital space, rather than the "digital fiefdoms" Yanis Varoufakis describes. This product empowers both users and artists, challenging the tyranny of data.
Objective
My goal was to simplify music sharing and discovery, as current restrictions from streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music hinder playlist sharing and discovery, creating a hegemonic power.
Research
For produt discovery, I used the FOCUSED framework and worked step by step towards understanding the users while in parallel, making research to gain a more thorough understanding of the music industry and its evolution in the digital age.
I based a lot of my analysis on both Yanis Varoufakis works on techno feudalism and Shoshana Zuboff’s concepts of surveillance capitalism.
I based a lot of my analysis on both Yanis Varoufakis works on techno feudalism and Shoshana Zuboff’s concepts of surveillance capitalism.
1st iteration
The initial prototype was essentially a music-focused clone of Twitter. It replicated Twitter's cognitive mechanisms and attention-grabbing techniques to ensnare users in a continuous loop of echo chambers, data mining, and engagement. However, this approach did not align with the insights gained from the works of Varoufakis and Zuboff, which advocated for a digital space free from predatory practices.
Learning
The biggest mistake here was jumping into hifi prototyping without completing the product discovery first. So this prototype didn’t live up to my research.
2nd iteration
I waited until I completed my research to go back to prototyping. I had focused my research on a 16 to 30 year-old audience divided into sub categorties. They reported that they primarily used Pinterest for inspiration and discoveries in general, and that they liked how laid back it is. On my end, I also took inspiration from Bento, which is a link aggregator that is extremely cusomizable and easy to use.
Feedback
I tested this design with a diverse panel of potential users, including curators, musicians, and music enthusiasts.
Those who were less enthusiastic about the product were the musicians as it lacked some promotional features. But they saw the potential in contracting with future curators to be included in their playlists.
Those who were less enthusiastic about the product were the musicians as it lacked some promotional features. But they saw the potential in contracting with future curators to be included in their playlists.
Product Marketing
In the effort to market an MVP, I used a combination of low-code and no-code tools such as Framer, Zappier and Webflow to build the landing page and capture leads.
Then I created the pitch deck on Gamma AI, mostly focusing on early adopters and business angels. I the emphasis on the edginess of the product regarding its embarked technologies and revolutionary possibilities.
Then I created the pitch deck on Gamma AI, mostly focusing on early adopters and business angels. I the emphasis on the edginess of the product regarding its embarked technologies and revolutionary possibilities.
