SoundStorming
An content platform for exclusive artist-fan engagement.
This was my focus; let's present the concept of the platform to anyone who wants to listen.
Before I started thinking about the product, I wanted to really test my ideas with the people I knew, from friends at Apple to musicians to entrepreneurs.
The excitement was more powerful than the fear of someone copying the idea. Also, during my years working in the creative field of advertising, I was fully aware that the idea doesn't really matter and that execution is everything.
So I went out and bugged everyone I knew. It was hard, painful, and scary, but I couldn't hold myself.
The more I shared, the more I gathered precious feedback and thoughts that kept making the excitement bigger and bigger.
Most importantly, the sharing phase brought me to meet new incredible people that some of them became advisors and others testers waiting to get the platform on their hands.
But what platform? What is the goal? How are we helping music creators? What features are we focusing on? How can I build it? When can I share it?
In hindsight, the fuel that kept me going was the uncontainable excitement and the need to share it.
If they would've told me that years later, I would still be trying to figure out ways to make the right product, I would've given up.
I was desperately looking for answers to my thousand questions, but not knowing was the right answer.
Even though I've been working on advertising for more than 17 years, my true passion has always been music since I got my first guitar at the age of 7.
I started around 2003 working in a digital marketing company in Barcelona, where I am originally from.
I started as a creative developer, messing around with ActionScript, Flash, and other frontend and backend codings.
In 2008 I got some recognition in the industry that gave me enough exposure to get hired by an international advertising company in Amsterdam called Wieden and Kennedy. Then, my vision and understanding of marketing completely changed.
I spent the following 5 years in Amsterdam, working for Nike, Adidas, Lego, and Activision.
Then I moved to San Francisco for a couple of years, and finally to Los Angeles, where I spent the last 8 years.
During all these years, I was using Music to connect with people and make new friends. Jamming over the weekend, sharing voice memos, bouncing song ideas, I was obsessed with understanding artists' creative process of any level and bands.
How do they write music, and what platforms do they use?
How is their brainstorming process?
What platforms do they use to build an audience?
How do they communicate with their audiences?
I was making friends and playing music as much as doing focus groups and learning from anyone I could speak with.
Fast forward, during my last 4 years, I've been a Creative Director leading global campaigns for Apple. All of them with music on their core. From launching Apple Music to AirPods and HomePod.
This job was the combination of my advertising expertise and my real true passion for Music.
One of the biggest challenges we were facing was promoting artists who don't have any new material.
Those lucky ones who have support from big brands will come up with video content and documentaries.
But how about the majority of the industry? Those working isolated in their home or studios and need to focus on coming up with new songs.
I realized the industry's biggest problem: if artists spend the majority of their time coming with new ideas and songs, how can they keep their audience engaged? How do they build momentum ahead of time for the new release? How do they build audiences if they don't have a new hit to promote on traditional social platforms?
Being a musician and involved in some artists' creative processes, I knew they had a lot of valuable audio content created that hasn't been explored its potential.
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