Heat.wav Overview
Democratizing music through location-based discovery
TL;DR
Heat.wav started when a fellow classmate who was managing an artist at the time and I met through a branding class at NYU Tisch and bonded over our shared love for indie music. I got to see closely the frustrations of up-and-coming artists and producers and decided to do something.
As much as streaming platforms have lowered the barrier of distribution, the problem of discoverability persists. When you are a new kid on the scene and your latest release immediately gets lost in a catalogue of 50M songs, music is no longer the only thing you have to compete with.
Seeing artists cold emailing to get on popular playlist and running facebook ads just to promote new songs, I believe there is an organic, human side of emerging music that Heat.wav can recover through location.
Iterations
Heat.wav went through multiple iterations. I initially designed a map-based, full-feature web concept based on intensive interviews with artists that was very positively received.
However, the complexity required to achieve the experience I designed forced a pivot to package the foundational blocks of the web concept into a more easily implementable form that is the MVP.
With that in mind, the MVP is designed to gather all the user parameters Heat.wav would need to make the web concept functional in the future. In itself, the MVP aims to create a focused, curious experience that promotes true discovery.
The Journey concept is a speculative reimagining of Heat.wav. It features a circular user journey and a highly interactive experience that is optimized for both user engagement and digital wellbeing.
Maps Concept
A web app for music creators and enthusiasts alike to discover music and each other on a live, interactive map.
MVP
A location-based music discovery app that actually lets you discover new music through curiosity, not familiarity.
Journey Concept
A video-driven concept exploration that aims to maximize user engagement, content interactivity and digital wellbeing at the same time.
Coming Soon
Partners
To all the artists, creatives and casual listeners who let me sit in for 3+ hrs and gave honest feedbacks that may or may not have hurt my feelings because Heat.wav is my absolute brainchild, thank you.
JONBOYICE
WME Music
NXGN
Rap collective based out of NY, founded by Melo-X
JOON
Singer, rapper, producer boy wonder extraordinaire
Ian Green
Creative Director @ Viewpark
Juletta
NASDAQ artist in residence
Ishan
record producer + dj
Commercial
Directed, Cinematography and VFX by Yihan Zhao. Special thanks to Alice Berardi for starring in this production.