Client
Columbia Records, Bob Dylan
Goal
Incentivize long-term or new curious fans to purchase catalog material by offering them a unique storytelling / exploratory experience with never before seen content in a tablet and mobile app.
Once we started digging into the project we realized there was an opportunity to approach this as a product that could be pitched to other catalog rich artists. We proceeded in a partnership with Columbia and co-financed the creation of the app.
Process & Methods
User Research:
Record Industry Executives, Artist Managers and Super Fans of artists with deep catalogs were all interviewed. We aimed to understand what content was actually available on average from the Artist and what content would be most appreciated by the fan.
Establishing the MVP:
The goal was to create an easy to use, but content rich experience. We determined it was less about how many features and more about how much content there was for fans to discover. It was about personal connection and new insight into music they likely already have a connection to. We provided one free track so anyone who downloaded it could understand the full value of the product. You could purchase individual songs or the full album through the app.
Prototyping:
Due to the limited amount of time given by Columbia for launch, we could only do quick prototyping in order to get the flow and feeling down of how to move through the content.
User Testing:
A small group of user testers were put together out of our larger staff and Record Industry client base.
Outcome
- 89% iTunes sales increase in Bob Dylan’s catalog
- 82k installs right after launch
- Webby Award for Best App
- Clio Award for Best App
- Press coverage in USA Today, LA Times, Vogue, The Guardian, and Billboard to name a few.
Credits
UX & Design: AJ Annuziata, Julia Murphy, Eddie Velez, and Danielle Mironov
Development: White Widget