Songtickets is the result of my self-initiated graduation project at the MSc Industrial Design (2013-2014). For more info about the research and studies of the project, see this page.
Music has been around for ages and has always played an important role in human culture and society. Nowadays, with the coming of cloud computing and ubiquitous, smart, mobile and personal devices, the way we deal with music in everyday life has changed completely. Music streaming services allow us to access any song, anywhere, at any time. In the past people gave each other CDs or mixtapes, but somehow sharing music in the digital world no longer feels as special as sharing it physically. I believe the sharing experience of music can be enriched and therefore become more meaningful. Apart from the loss of the tangible qualities of streaming music, there are new opportunities for this medium as well. The fact that virtually all music in the world is so easily accessible opens up opportunities for innovation in the music business. And that is what this project is about.
In my master graduation project, I investigated how the gift-giving experience of digital media can be enhanced with physical objects. The project resulted in Songtickets, a new way of sharing music as a gift by passing on a physical object, creating a music community together. For more information about the studies that preceded the final design, please have a look here.
The idea is based on the traditions of the Kula ring which is an old ritual of reciprocal sharing of gifts in old Polynesia.
The Songtickets gift-giving cycle is perpetual and works as follows. (1) someone is gifted the Songtickets. (2) They take out their gifted Songticket, and (3) listen to the music that is added by the giver. After a while they are prompted to pass Songtickets on the the next person. (4) The recipient decides who to give it to, and (5) adds new music to an empty Songticket. Next, Songtickets is (6) given to a new person. Then the cycle repeats. The Songticket gives all people that have had the gift access to follow the trail of the Songtickets. (7) Everyone in the Songticket chain can follow the box and listen to the music that is added to the remaining tickets.
The Songtickets app
The Songtickets app was designed in Adobe Illustrator and implemented with Processing for Android
The Songtickets app gives the user access to the digital side of Songtickets. A shell version of the application was developed to demonstrate how the Songtickets would work. This means that the app was not fully working, but I rather used a Wizard of Oz method to make it possible for people to experience how it would work in real life.
The Songtickets
The Songtickets contain a passive NFC chip that can be scanned with any phone that has the Songtickets app. When scanning, the Songtickets app opens automatically and the gift is opened. Later, the ticket can be used to access the music that is added by others later. The tickets are made from balsa wood and include a plexi center with an NFC chip. The materials were cut with a lasercutter and assembled and sanded by hand.
Business
Another significant part of the project was the business development. Songtickets was considered a viable product after applying the Blue Ocean Strategy. We identified direct and indirect competitors, plotted a Strategy Canvas, created an Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create grid, Buyer Experience Cycle, Buyer Utility map, and identified 3 Tiers of Noncustomers. For more information, please refer to the project report.