July Design Inspiration: Jordan Puopolo’s Air Canada

Posted on 09. Jul, 2010 by Matt.

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When I first saw these pieces by Jordan Puopolo, I stopped everything else I was doing. It seemed appropriate to just sit there, looking at them. You know how some things just feel right? Well, I hope so. Because it’s a great moment, and one I found in this concept. Vibrant colors fuse with an [...]

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Hi, I’m Matt.

Posted on 09. Jul, 2010 by Matt.

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Hey there. My name is Matt, and I like finding the beauty in things. So much, in fact, that I’ve grown to look for them in any situation I can. This has led to a career in design, a hobby of illustration, and more recently, an offer from Refe.
Refe thought that with all the [...]

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Why Innovation Is Not Enough to Build a Brand (Or a Band)

Posted on 01. Feb, 2010 by refe.

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Innovation is important. It elevates a product beyond simple retail and causes it to become a catalyst for change in the marketplace and culture. Innovation is also notoriously elusive. Today’s stroke of genius could be tomorrow’s old news. Worse, that first-to-market concept you’ve been hustling to get out the door could be short-circuited by the [...]

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Copyright and Music – Do Great Artists Steal?

Posted on 21. Sep, 2009 by refe.

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Last year guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani filed a lawsuit against Coldplay alleging that ‘Viva La Vida’ contained “substantial, original portions” of a track he put out in 2004 called ‘If I Could Fly.’
Coldplay responded by saying that if the two songs were similar it was purely coincidental. Dozens of video mashups, music theory analyses, and [...]

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The Future of Product Innovations in Music

Posted on 15. Sep, 2009 by refe.

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During the reign of the CD there seemed to be no need to innovate. For decades that one product brought in plenty of revenue to keep the industry rich. If it’s not broken why fix it?
Meanwhile, we understand now that new technologies were quietly transforming the markets. At some point the right time to succeed [...]

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The Importance of Innovation in Music

Posted on 31. Aug, 2009 by refe.

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As a music listener, what is the most important factor that determines whether or not you like a particular song, or album, or artist? The last couple of posts I’ve published have produced quite a few comments that seem to consider innovation to be the litmus test. That doesn’t surprise me at all, and I’d [...]

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Imogen Heap Shows Us That DIY Pays Off – And Takes a Lot Of Work

Posted on 13. Aug, 2009 by refe.

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Spend enough time online and you might begin to suspect that some media folks want you to think that the DIY approach will somehow be less work than then a traditional career in music. Strange, given that the term itself implies the opposite. ‘DIY’ does, after all, stand for ‘Do It Yourself.’ More rewarding? Less [...]

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How a Subscription Model Can Enhance Your Release Strategy

Posted on 27. Jul, 2009 by refe.

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It seems redundant by now to say it, but the new music market that artists face today is a lot different than at any time in the past. The way people enjoy music is different, and the way music is purchased is different. I wrote recently about ways artists can respond to these new market [...]

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Artist Uses Innovative Distribution Model in Ambitious Album per Month Project

Posted on 20. Jul, 2009 by refe.

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CreativeCommons.org ran a story last week on their blog about an artist named John Wood who is doing something interesting with his music:
“Beginning this past March, John Wood has written, recorded, mixed, and mastered an album a month. Distributed under the moniker Learning Music Monthly, the music arrives on the first of the month as [...]