Some people go out, buy an iPad and end up using it for Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja. But not Jeremiah Seraphine. He and his team of developers purchased the popular tablet so they could develop Groovebug, an app with the potential to become the next generation of the digital music experience.
"What we found is that the digital music experience we currently have is a lot like looking at a spreadsheet," Seraphine, a Northwestern IMC graduate student, said. "What we wanted to do was create something that is much richer that uses all the technology available and that is tailored to the users' interests."
Seraphine helped develop the idea for Groovebug because of his own love of vinyl and the immersive experience he feels music lovers lost with the advent of digital music.
"We started really trying to think about how to recreate the album," Seraphine said. "For a user, the best experience would be to have one application you go to that has your entire music collection and connects it to the wider music universe. So that's kind of how we started thinking about Groovebug."
In January 2011, Seraphine and his team embarked on the project through NUvention Web, a two-quarter class that allows interdisciplinary teams to collaborate and come up with a product and a business. Seraphine's team had a demo of Groovebug by June, then launched Groovebug for public download in September.
Seraphine said one of his company's main goals is to get constant user feedback, which he cites as incredibly vital to his company. In some cases his team has updated Groovebug within a week of getting comments from users, but requested updates are often a little complicated.
"Sometimes we're not able to act as quickly because some of the feedback may take longer, but we definitely listen to everything," Seraphine said.
His team also has plenty of ideas for expanding Groovebug. "We're really trying to build tools that allow communities based around certain kinds of music to interact with one another about the artists they love," he said. "We think music is both very personal and also a very social experience, so we want to make sure we incorporate that."
Seraphine also said his team is developing a full platform that includes iPhone and web. "We want to be the place where, if you want to have an experience around music, when you want to buy a concert ticket, when you want to talk about music, when you want to really explore your favorite artists and follow your favorite artists, we want to be that for you."
In addition to Groovebug updates, Seraphine's company is working on a project with EMI to release an app with full music streaming of the Blue Note jazz collection. "We're really working hard to build some tools that can get people communicating with one another, having artists create featured playlists and interact with fans," he said. "That's something we really feel strongly about."
Seraphine credits Northwestern with much of his product's success. The NUvention Web and IMC program have been helpful in keeping his focus on the customer. Also, the Northwestern alumni network has directed him to the faculty and alums who make up most of his investors.
"I owe a lot to Northwestern," Seraphine said. "I can't say enough great things about my experience at Northwestern. I'm still experiencing it."