Record Bird
Builder’s Update #1 // April 2015
It’s been close to two months since we’ve on-boarded our first users to our closed beta of Record Bird. Today, we want to give you a brief update on what we’ve worked on ever since and what to expect in the upcoming days.
Mobile Version
Most of our current users already tried Record Bird on their mobile devices, so this is almost old news. So far, the reception has been great and close to 25% of our current users come back on their mobile devices primarily. We’re still collecting your feedback, so in case you have something on your mind, don’t hesitate to share it with us: andreas@recordbird.com
Email Notifications
Until now, we’ve manually pushed out notifications and while it was at no point an exhaustive — or scalable ☺ — solution, it helped us keep our early users engaged and on top of new records being announced and/or released. We’re currently in the final tests of an all-automated notifications system, which we’ll launch in the days to come. You’ll realise once it happened!
Merging Records
Some of our early users have already wondered why the same record is featured 2 or more times in their feeds. The reason is rather simple: An artist might sign with different labels for distribution of her record in various countries. Therefore, each unique release is currently featured in the feed. We’ve racked our brains over the last couple of weeks to find a sustainable solution to ‘clean up the feed’ and combine alternate releases of a record — and we did. Obviously, this had to be implemented before launching our notification system, as we wouldn’t want to send you a reminder for the same record more than once. Also, in the next couple of days we’ll display such alternate versions of a record on the respective detail screens.
Data Quality
The quality of our data is and always will be fundamental to providing a great experience to our users. It is a central aspect of our value proposition:
value = data_quality * data_quantity (…)
You screw up either one — quality or quantity — and the value provided becomes effectively zero. Below are a couple of aspects we’ve worked to improve and which are going to be pushed live soon:
- Data Control Entity
Every now and then, release dates change at short notice. This can happen for various reasons, but mostly results due to shortcomings in the distribution chain. Whatever the reason, it would leave us with outdated information. We’ve therefore built an entity which continually checks the current status of a release date, and updates information if necessary. - Collaborating Artists vs Cover Versions
While it is important to show collaborations of an artist you follow, most users indicate less interest in cover versions. One prominent examples was the band “2Cellos” which covered various classics from “The Beatles” to “Michael Jackson”. This record would then show up in any user’s feed who follows “The Beatles” or “Michael Jackson”, as they were the composers of songs on the record. We’re currently developing a solution which checks whether an artist is “only” a composer, or also a performer. Only in the latter case it will show up in your feed. But as always, there’s one exception: Classical Music — a genre where the composer can be more central to a piece than the performer. Don’t you worry though, we’ve taken this specific case into account!
Artist Match
Currently, we offer you a quick and easy way to follow all your favourite artists based on your Facebook likes. In order to do so, we need to match each name of a Facebook Page (e.g. Slayer band) with the Official Artist Name in our Database (e.g. Slayer). In a nutshell, we’ve now built a highly comprehensive artist database which directly links Facebook pages, with artist names, their official websites, iTunes/Amazon stores and the likes. What does this mean for you? More accurate artist matches and a faster login system, all coming soon!
Search
This goes without much introduction. An in-app search is fundamental to our service and adds massive value for our users. This one’s overdue and we’re happy to launch it soon.
Record Store Day
Finally, RSD 2015 is around the corner, and obviously we’ve got you covered. But that’s all we disclose for now! ☺
We hope this gave you a little overview of what has been happening behind the curtains in the last couple of weeks. Most updates discussed above will be rolled out in the days / weeks to come. We’ll keep you in the loop. Good to have you with us, let’s make this bird fly!
Record Bird notifies you about new an upcoming records from your favourite bands and musicians before they are released. We’re currently in closed beta and keep continuously adding users. Sign up now: recordbird.com
