This project is an initiative by the host of Hometown Heroes, which is a radio show based in Delaware Valley that showcases local music talent and helps them get visibility. We (a team of 5) worked with them as part of our capstone project to conceptualize and design a digital community platform aimed at facilitating the career growth of local music artists.
The client wanted to extend his support to local artists beyond the radio show.
"Hometown Heroes," hosted by Mark Rogers, is a radio show spotlighting local talent in the Delaware Valley. our client Mark wanted to extend his support for local artists beyond the radio show and its website, through strategies aimed at helping the artists grow professionally and enhance their visibility.
How do we help local music artists grow professionally through a for-profit sustainable digital solution?
Business goal
Make a profitable digital product while helping local music artists.
Constraints
Local music artists shouldn't be asked for excessive monetary investment.
What are the real challenges of local music artists and how can Hometown Heroes support them?
We interviewed 5 stakeholders to understand the holistic landscape of the music industry and the career journey of a music artist.
Participants
3 local music artists
1 artist manager
1 booking agent
1 radio show host
Methodology
1 hour long zoom semi-structured interview sessions
Data collection
5 hours of videos and audio transcriptions
We analyzed our interview data along with doing a market research to ideate key insights
Artists need guidance at multiple points in their journey
but it's hard to find a reliable mentor.
Established artists are always willing to guide early artists
but providing guidance hasn't been monetized for them.
Artists find band members and other opportunities from networking with others in the music industry
but current methods like social media and distribution platforms are not niche and efficient.
Artists are always looking for sources of incomes due to their unstable nature of career.
but current distribution platforms don't pay enough, and it's hard to find opportunities for performing.
Mentorship can help early artists get access to guidance to grow in their career.
Early artists' goal
Get access to reliable mentors to seek guidance
Established artists' goal
Guide new artists and make some extra money along the way
Business goal
Provide the service for free for struggling artist, but try to make some room for revenue
We also did another round of quick research to understand users' preferences on some of the features we were thinking about including in the concept.
High interest in mentorship
Over 95% of survey respondents expressed interest in participating in the mentorship paradigm in some capacity.
Willingness to pay around $50 an hour
Respondents showed a preference for long-term collaborations and were open to various forms of mentorship, including one-on-one meetings, group and jamming sessions.
Areas of interest and values in mentorship
Networking, finding gigs, and representation emerged as the top areas of interest among respondents. Industry experience, and networking abilities were identified as the most valued attributes in a mentor.
We started with sketching out possible flow for this feature. Through early concept testing through wireframes, we could identify some improvements that can guide us to final design.
Copyright Awareness
Adding a disclaimer emphasizing the importance of copyright for shared music.
Non-Monetary Mentor Benefits
Considering non-monetary benefits such as featuring mentors on Hometown Heroes or interviews, expanding beyond monetary incentives for mentorship, opening new avenues for social recognition and appreciation.
Music law and business support
Recognized the need for assistance in understanding music law and business among musicians.
A hybrid commission marketplace and freemium model to monetize mentorship, based on needs of both early and experienced artists.
Commission cut whenever a paid mentorship session is booked
We decided to charge a nominal fee for booking a mentorship session through our platform.
Every mentor has to have 10 free sessions before they start charging
Free sessions can be used by struggling artists that are tight on money, and gives a chance to mentor to build their credibility before they start charging.
Hometown Heroes community platform.
We established a visual direction based on our mood-board of inspiration.
After designing high-fidelity concepts for final concept, we did a usability study to identify any usability issues to fix before handing off final designs.
Allow users to add reviews from multiple points
Users wanted to review the mentor separately from their profile other than specifically prompting them to review a session.
Rephrase sessions into specific mentee and mentor session
Users often got confused between a type of session, and wanted to have different words for their session as different role.
Allow users to add cancel session message
Users also wanted to add a cancel message in case they have to cancel the mentorship session to leave no room for confusion and maintain a good relationship.
The final solution is an integration of mentorship and opportunities features into a Hometown Heroes community platform.
Explore mentors and book mentorship sessions
This feature of the platform helps local music artists find the right mentor for guidance. Mentorship sessions can be 1:1 or group with the option of its mode being virtual or in-person.
Explore and post music gigs & opportunities
This feature helps artists find curated music gigs posted by local entities as well as post a community opportunity when in need of band members or collaborators.
Track and manage all of sessions and gigs at one place
We've also included trackers for mentorship sessions and music gigs that can help users manage all of their activities easily on the platform.
Importance of domain research before diving into designs.
I was completely new to the music industry domain, let alone design solutions for local music artists. Primary and secondary formative research helped me uncover a lot of insights that drove our solution.
Leveraging team members' strengths for a better outcome.
I realized how diving work according to everyone's strengths and having a lead for each area helps the project achieve higher quality and efficiency.
Setting scope for each task to stay on track.
Having this big scale for a project often results in ambiguity and unnecessarily delays the final outcome. After working on such a project in a team of 5, I learned to set goals and scope for each task to stay focused and get important work done efficiently.
