Brooklyn-based producer, songwriter, and visual artist Jonathan Dagan makes music under the name j.viewz. The mission of The DNA Project is to give fans full access to the creative process of making an album.
The Brief
The making of an album is a complex process that people usually don’t get to see, composed of various small moments and collaborations. For an artist, releasing just the final song or album is a little bit like telling half the story. Our idea was to develop a platform that allows fans access to all these individual pieces that make up each song, to give people a new way to engage in an album experience, from its inception, through progress, to completion.
How the final design was conceived
The key question we asked during this process was ‘How do we get people interested in an album before it’s completed?’ The way we consume music today is completely different than 10, even 5 years ago. We’re now accustomed to getting instant access to basically any album we want. Certain artists and labels are trying to disrupt this a bit, releasing free stream-able singles ahead of the album drop date, or giving fan subscribers VIP-type access to exclusive content. But regardless of type of content or release strategy, users are still accessing end products. With The DNA Project, we wanted to go back even further and take people directly into the creation process. Before the production, before the final mix, before the songs are even named. To change the way people consume and interact with music in the digital space.
Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market
The DNA Project is an interactive album-making experience where fans follow along as j.viewz creates his next release. Through video, image, text and audio posts, they’re given access to every moment along the creation timeline: the collection of sounds and beats, writing and recording sessions, even a song’s naming process. Through this real-time view, fans get a deeper understanding of each track’s origins and components - its musical DNA. They can explore this DNA, upload their own content to inspire j.viewz, and join ongoing conversations on the site. Users can also download sound bites and use them in their own creations. This dialogue between artist and fan forms a continuous ‘remix’ of content that can spark new ideas and alter the final product.
When a track is completed, it becomes available for download and the process starts over again. Since its launch thousands of music fans have visited the site and participated in j.viewz’s process, redefining the way music is created in this digital age.