INNOVATION SPECIAL .......................'We're Trying to Build a Service Rather Than a Server'

'We're Trying to Build a Service Rather
Than a Server'

Scott Plagenhoef

VP, programming and editorial, Beats Music
Beats Music app

THE CHALLENGE:

Beats Music—a $9.99-per-month subscription service—represents a bold move into software by Beats Electronics, the headphone company that Apple recently bought for $3 billion. "The design template for organizing your music has often looked like a spreadsheet," says Scott Plagenhoef, former editor-in-chief of the music website Pitchfork. "We wanted to step away from that, put an emphasis on curation, and highlight personalization. We're trying to build a service rather
than a server." The turning point: The design team drew inspiration from Instagram. "It's mobile first. It's simple, elegant, and userfriendly. It literally just frames the content."

THE GOAL IS TO GET YOU TO HIT ‘PLAY’ AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.

THE EXECUTION:

As with the best of design, what you can't see matters most—Beats Music is constantly iterating on algorithms that personalize
your music selection. Tabs and options were minimized for a "fairly clutter-free" interface. "The 'Just for You' menu pretty much frames one playlist and two albums at a time. The goal is to get you to hit 'play' as quickly as possible, not to leave you feeling like you have to make too many choices, and then you give up and listen to the Smiths like you did 100 times in the last 100 days."

THE RESULT:

Three months after its January debut, Beats Music was the most downloaded music app on iTunes--and No. 5 among all apps.

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