Streaming+Vinyl
Icon by Saakshi Vyas
Streaming + Vinyl Integration
Tools & Methods: User Interviews, Competitive Audit, Market Research, Wireframing, Prototyping, Sketch, InVision
Overview
This project examines the current streaming and vinyl music eco-systems and focuses on developing further integration between the two. The goal is to provide users with new discovery and purchase points for vinyl records on the major streaming platforms; Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Prime Music.
View the prototype for my new purchase point concept here. This is an ongoing project, I'll be increasing deliverable fidelity and adding more features over the coming months.
Understanding The Market
Having worked in the music industry for nearly 15 years, I had a solid understanding of the industry going into this project. Vinyl albums are on the upswing and everyone is using streaming services, but what are some hard numbers?
Spotify currently has over 70 million paid subscribers and is growing rapidly
Vinyl sales are currently at a 25 year high
New Vinyl Sales exceeded 14 million units in 2017
It was clear that a lot of people are still consuming music and there is still a real desire for tangible product.
Opportunity Space
After gaining a feel for the current market, I took a look around the streaming platforms. I found a lot of opportunity space for integration:
Currently little integration exists between markets
Spotify is currently the only platform to offer the purchase of physical media
Their current purchase point lacks visibility. It's located only on the artist page and can't be accessed directly from a song or album page. It also takes the user out of the platform to purchase.
Interviews And Persona
I was able to conduct interviews with 4 of my music industry colleagues. Combined, they have over 40 years of experience; purchasing, selling, creating, and promoting albums. Through these interviews I was able to gain an understanding of how user are currently buying records online and develop a persona.
Journey Map And Pain Points
Creating a journey map for my persona allowed me to quickly focus in on one area of the purchasing process. It was clear there were far too many steps from when the user decided to make a purchase and actually did it. Streamlining this process would be the key to increasing usability.
Developing A Solution
With a very specific focus, I developed a plan to streamline this process. To do that, I decided a new purchase point within the current task flow was essential. This would allow the user to make impulse purchases while staying in the platform. Here are some wireframes of the new purchase point I developed:
Discovery Point
Another component of this strategy is to utilize the very effective algorithms streaming platforms are currently using. In addition to suggesting users streaming options, they could also be used to suggest users vinyl purchase options, based on their purchasing habits.
A further discovery point could involve an analog ad campaign, similar to the current iPhone X "selfie" poster series. DSPs could promote exclusive vinyl collaborations with regional record stores.
Here are some wireframes of these discovery points:
Conclusion
With continued growth anticipated for both the vinyl and streaming industries, now is an opportune time for further integration. This integration can lead to an easier purchase space for users.
Increased usability = increased profits for the entire industry