RATES

Music Streaming

& Sample Finder

Mobile App
by Asit Kumar

Personal Project

Project Overview
Crates is more than an ordinary music streaming application. It helps producers to explore

samples of songs and discover new songs what can inspire them in beatmaking.
It is a personal project and I was working on it from march, 2022 to end of april, 2022.

Emphatize Ideate Design Prototype Test

Problem Statement

Background Research

Persona

Empathy Map

Competitive Analysis

Journey Map

Survey

Research Analysis

Goal Statement

Wireframes

Low Fidelity Prototype

Usability Study

Final Design

Style Guide

Conclusion

Background Research
What is sampling?
In music, sampling is the reuse of a portion (or
sample) of a sound recording in another recording.
Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm,
melody, speech, sounds or entire bars of music,
and may be layered, equalized, sped up or slowed
down, repitched, looped, or otherwise
manipulated.
They are usually integrated using hardware
(samplers) or software such as digital audio
workstations.

Sampling is a foundation of hip hop music, which

emerged when producers in the 1980s began
sampling funk and soul records, particularly drum
breaks. It has influenced many genres of music,
particularly electronic music and pop.

T op 100 songs using samples in 2019

3 % 2
24%

1 % 2
0
1 % 0
1 %

Dance Pop L atin R&B H ip-Hop

59% 83% 33%

op albums using samples

T op producers using samples
T M ost popular decade is 2010’s

Problem Statement
Drew is a music producer who needs a music streaming app what shows connection

between songs because he spends too much time to find samples of songs.

Research Overview

Research Questions
H ow do producers find their samples
H ow much time do they spend with searching
Are they looking for specific records or choose randomly

W hat bases are they choose their samples on

H ow often do they use samples
H ow do they categorize their samples and records
Do they use sample what has already been used by another producer?

Key Performance Indicators Methodology

Number of created own playlist Competitive analysi
number of created profil Person
S treaming tim Empathy ma
User’s feedback S urve
Usability study

Participiants Research Goals

Full-time producer W hat features does the app need
Part-time producer H ow can the app make user’s life easier
S tudents pursuing career in musi H ow can the app help in music producing
H obbyst producer W hat would make this app different
“Melomaniacs” H ow can this app be useful and keep

the joy of “digging in the crates”?

Persona

Drew Drew is an upcoming producer from New York. In the last year
He was able to quit his regular job and become a full time artist.
In the past, He has spent his weekends with digging in the crates
in the local thrift shops where he picked records blindfolded. He
did not know what he purchased therefore large amount of
records aggregated in his home studio. Although, He loves to
explore new songs and artists since the music is his job he needs
to manage his time better.

B irth name: Robin Martinez

Follower
Innovative

Age: 24

Marital status: Single

Disorganized
O rganized

Education: High School

Occupation: Producer

O ld-fashioned
M odern

Location: The Bronx, NY

Inquisitive

Apathetic

Genre: Hip-Hop/Trap

Influence: Jazz, Latin, Funk

Close-minded O pen-minded

Motivations Needs Pain Points

Explore new sample Find specific song L ow-quality recording
Get inspiratio Explore connection Not varied inventor

B ecome organize Find favore artist’s sample L imited inventor

M ore creativit Create own sample librar Expensive rare album
S peed up music search Search and filter by era Not organized well

“I love the classic but I always dress up evergreen melodies in modern outfits. ”

Empathy Map

Says T hinks
L ikes the joy of exploratio Needs more time to find good record

W ants a way to organize his sample Needs to categorize and label record

W ants to be prepared before shopping Is in creative crisis if can not use


purchased records

Does Feels
S pends hours in record stor L ikes the joy of exploratio
Uses Google to find sample Disorganize
Picks and purchases random records Unprepared before purchase

Competitive Analyis

Whosampled
hoSampled contains the world's most comprehensive,
W
detailed and accurate database of samples, cover songs
and remixes, covering the entire history of music spanning
over 1,000 years. The content on WhoSampled gets refined
and built upon day in, day out. It is built by a growing
community of 27,294 contributors and verified by a team of 65
moderators, with updates coming in every hour of the day.

Strengths Weaknesses

Very large databas M obile app is not free like websit

User can contribue (add content L ot of 404 page
Easy-to-us Content is not always accurat
Contains samples, remixes & cover No own streaming function using

different streaming sites (Youtube
W ebsite is free to use
Deceptive patterns (Disturbing ads
UI is okay but not enjoyable

Tracklib
Tracklib is a music service that allows producers to sample
original music and clear the samples for official use. The
platform’s aim to solve legal and ethical issues surrounding
sampling and music clearances. Users can browse and hear
all music before downloading it in WAV to use in a digital
audio workstation. Tracklib functions as an intermediary
between record labels, publishers, copyright owners, and
artists.

Strengths Weaknesses

Copyright content are cleared to us M ost expensive plan is $29.99/

month for

Focus on producers nee 35 downloadable track

Specified filter search (BPM, Keys etc. S amples are not royalty fre
Intuitive user interfac Efficiency causes loss of traditional

crate digging vib
Select and preview loops feature
No information about artists who

has already used specific samples

Journey Map
T his scenario shows a customers journey from finding and obtaining music. In this case the use r

has plan what kind of album or record he/she wants from the record store.

FFind
ind good a

good a
earch the

Search the

S A sk on
Ask forum

on foru FFind
ind loca
local
l
G
Goes through
h

oes throug Purchase

P the

urchase th e

with

good song
good song sample
sample on
on google
google or
or in
in facebook groups
facebook groups record store
record store the
the store s in
store’s inventory
’ entory
v specific
specific album
album wit h

some
some random
random

omebody know
Somebody knows
s

S earch and

Search and

S Asks
A sksemployee

employee

here may be no

TThere may be no
ItItmay
may can be use
can be used

FFeels
eels excited what is the
the sample
visit during

isit durin or
or find
find it
it by
by genre or
r

excited what is sampl e

v g
genre o
search result
search result for
for future
future production
production
of the song
of the song opening hours
opening hours artist
artist name
name

Survey
I placed this survey in a facebook group called Beatmakers/Producers. It contains 10 questions
and 26 people participated. The result shows which answer was the most common.

1 H . ow do you make your music? Sampling

2. How often do you use samples in your music? Very often

3 W . here do you find your samples usually? Old songs

4 H . ow do you record/use your samples? Buy record

5. Do you think sampling is still relevant nowadays? Yes

6. How often do you buy records or download song what are useless? Very often

7. Do you use samples what a famous artist has already used before? Yes

8. Do you categorize and label your records or digital albums? Usually

9. Do you plan what records you will buy in record store? Often

1 0. How much time do you spend in record stores with exploring? 1-2 hours

Research Analysis
According to my research my target user needs can be summarized in three things:

M ake the sample finding

Ability to organize
eep the joy of
K
process faster and easier songs and albums “digging in the crates”

ometimes producers and beatmakers use samples what have been used before by famous artists
S
that means they want to be able to find them. I need to design an app what makes this process faster
without visiting multiple websites and forums.
These people own and listen thousands of songs to find the best one to create a new song.
Sometimes their clients request specific style of instrumentals as well. They have to be organized and
able to find samples to react quickly their client’s needs. A well-built categorizing and playlist creator
feature would be a big help.
Some beatmakers are still old-fashioned and they are not willing to stop using specific method what
are important part of their culture. They love to explore hidden gems and use cd player in their music
production process. According to their needs I have to create a digital environment what keeps this
joy without visiting record stores. A feature what gives them random recommendations by their select
preferences would be good option to satisfy their old habits.

Inspired By Competitors
Whosampled is the closest to our ideas however It does not help to our target user in the production
process that much. This website works only as an encyclopedia and there are many defects. Finding
samples of specific songs is great feature however does not give back the feeling of the crate-digging.
It is lack of own streaming option as well. What I have learnt during analysing whosampled is that my
app library has to contain large library but I have to build in an own streaming feature just like regular
music streaming apps like Spotify or Itunes.

racklib is specified to samples however It does not function like whosampled. It is well designed and
T
make producer’s work faster however does not let the user enjoy the old habits. It gives a feeling that
somebody else has already done their jobs. The users wants to feel that their music was created by
only them. That is the point of the beatmaking. The user finds the sample, the user chops it up and the
user create the new song. My app should focus only to help avoiding the unneccessary tasks what the
user does not want to waste time on.

Goal Statement
ur app will let users find samples which will affect their music producing by finding links between
O
sampled songs and songs what contain samples. We will measure effectiveness by analyzing numbers

of streams.

Wireframes

L aunch Create an account L og in

H ome Artist S ong

Explore M y Profile Add new link

Low Fidelity Prototype

Usability Study

Questions
H ow can user enjoy the music streaming and sample searching simultaneously
Does the app help user to find samples
H ow can a user contribute to the sample library
Does the app keep the original “vibe” of crate digging
Does the design communicate the purpose well?

Participants Methodology
7 participant 1 -5 20 min
Participants between the ages of 14-45 
 Unmoderated usability stud
who create music instrumentals 

as hobby or full-time job W orldwide, Remot
Users were asked to find sample

and explore all features of the app

T hemes

People want acces the player all the time

7 out of 7 total participants said they want access to the player when using the app.

“If I have already used this app, I want auick way to start the player
q
with one click what plays the last song what I have been listening.”

People want to know the terminology

4 out of 7 total participants said they do not understand the words like crates or crate digging.

“I have just started to create beats and I am not that old to understand these

culture-related words.”

People want to know when the sample appears

6 out of 7 total participants said they want an indicator what shows when the sample appears.

“It is good to know what samples a song contains however I want

to know when I hear it in that specific song.”

Insights

Access to
Introduction Sample

player indicator

User needs access to the Introduce terminology

User wants to know when

player always to the user before start the sample appears

Indicator icon

Player icon
2-3 introduction
on the player

always visible pages before start what shows when

sample appears

Final Design

According to the research, users need a short

introduction of the terminology.

Launch Login Create an account

Home My Crates Explore

According to the research, users need access

to the player always.

Song Artist Search

According to the research, users want an indicator what

shows when the sample appears in the song.

Add New link Pop up Window

- My Profile

Style Guide

90%

#FF9068 #FD756C #FFFFFF

75%

#131313 #202020 #FFFFFF

50%

#252525 #2D2D2D #FFFFFF

Century Gothic Bold

Century Gothic Regular

Conclusion
owever this was only a personal project I have conducted my research with

H
real participants. I tried to focus on the competitors and learn from their success

and avoid their mistakes. The design contains most of my ideas and recommendations

from the participants. What I have learned during this study that the target users needs an

easy and fast way to find music and ability to organize their library meanwhile they still want

to feel the classic vibe of crate digging what is related to the culture.