Blog | Eric Paul Snowden » Product Development

Bolt Peters / Warner Music Group User Research Case Study

Eric Snowden — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 00:54:00 +0000

Earlier this year WEA, Atlantic Records and Warner Brothers Records teamed up with Bolt Peters to conduct user research across three of our top artist websites. On these sites we conducted automated tests using Usabilia, as well as moderated interviews – all with actual fans coming to our websites.

Check out the full case study on the Bolt Peters website.

Atlantic Records is Hiring a Freelance Designer/Developer

Eric Snowden — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:14:05 +0000

Atlantic Records is looking for a junior front-end designer/developer hybrid with an appetite for new technology. The primary responsibilities for this position include web design and development (with a focus on design) and research into new web technologies. We’re looking for someone with creative ideas and problem-solving abilities. Ability to work both on your own with guidance from senior team members, and as part of a group. This is an on site (NYC) freelance position.

You’ll be joining a team of 25+ digital creatives working in a fast-paced, exciting environment where your work will be seen by millions of people. The Atlantic Records Digital Media team develops and markets all digital initiatives at Atlantic Records including label and artist websites, interactive promotions such as contests and eCards, mobile apps and websites as well as bespoke online marketing projects.

REQUIRED SKILLS

• Ability to design and build for the web, with a desire to learn more about both from senior team members

• Solid Photoshop and Illustrator skills

• Ability to hand code HTML, CSS and Javascript

OTHER QUALIFICATIONS

* Strong attention to detail and an eye for design* Strong desire to explore new technology and make recommendations on best practices and usage* Ability to communicate effectively to technical and non-technical staff

* Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Web/Graphic Design, User experience or equivalent experience

BONUS ROUND

• Knowledge of PHP, JQuery, Actionscript 3.0 and audio/video editing/encoding

* Experience working for or interning at a major entertainment company

Please note the job is ON-SITE and full-time freelance. Pay rate scales accordingly with candidate’s applicable experience.

Interested parties should send resumes and cover letters to careers@atlantic-records.com with the subject line “Freelance Web Designer/Developer”.

Featured in Informationweek’s Brainyard

Eric Snowden — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:11:45 +0000

There is a great recap of the presentation “Data-Driven Bottom Line Results: Making Social Media Actionable A Real World Case Study” that Carmen Sutter and I gave at the Web 2.0 Summit on the Informationweek website. The presentation was about our strategy around social media and how we use analytics and data to convert music fans to customers.

Read the full InformationWeek interview here.

Portugal. The Man Mobile Music with Soundcloud

Eric Snowden — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:19:01 +0000

Today we launched our first HTML5 mobile streaming campaign with Portugal. The Man and Soundcloud. Fans can listen to three songs off the new Portugal. The Man record “In the Mountain in the Cloud” on the band’s mobile website. Fans just need to navigate to the page and enter their email address to listen. Built in house by Michelle Lamoureaux.

Click here to listen to Portugal. The Man on your smartphone.

Atlantic Records is Hiring a Freelance Web Developer

Eric Snowden — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:08:27 +0000

Atlantic Records is seeking a front-end developer who can drive the creation of artist websites, social media applications and help grow our mobile web/app offerings. You’ll be joining a team of 20+ digital creatives working in a fast-paced, exciting environment where your work will be seen by millions of people. You should love researching new technology, and technology companies, and will serve as a digital ambassador to the rest of the label. This is an on site full-time freelance position.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Own the build and qa processes for web development projects
Strong HTML, CSS and Javascript knowledge
Experience using JQuery
PHP/MySQL skills
Ability to consume third party APIs from Twitter, Facebook and other partners
Experience building websites on a platform (WordPress, Tumblr, Drupal etc)

OTHER QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience
Strong desire to explore new technology and make recommendations on best practices and usage
Knowledge of Search Engine Optimization
Strong attention to detail and an eye for design
Ability to communicate effectively to technical and non-technical staff

BONUS ROUND

Magento experience
Mobile website development experience
High level knowledge (with a willingness to dig deep) into mobile app development with Appcelerator
Familiarity with 960.gs, Modernizr.js, Less.js, Node.js
Flash and Actionscript 3.0 experience
Experience working for a major entertainment company
How to Apply:

Submit your resume to careers@atlantic-records.com with the subject line “Freelance Web Developer”. This job is on site in NYC.

What Your Friends Like

Eric Snowden — Mon, 16 May 2011 22:32:34 +0000

A few weeks ago I was inspired by HackNY (where students design/develop/launch an app in 24 hours) and decided to try and fix a recurring problem I’ve been having with Facebook.I often want to segment my Facebook friends based on what they like (places, bands etc) and message them individually. Instead of posting to my wall and spamming everyone I know about an extra concert ticket I have, I wanted to be able to easily message my friends who “Like” the specific band.

So in 24 hours (not consecutive) I designed and built a simple app that accepts a Facebook login and allows you to search through your Friends likes. The first time you login modern browsers will cache your friends’ likes and save them to your computer for quick access. Logging out, or a manual reset, will empty the cache. The app is all Javascript with no database access, so nothing is being stored on my servers.

24 hours is not a long time, so chances are it’s not perfect, but it was fun to build something quickly that solved a problem. I was hoping to launch it later this week, but wanted to get it live today due to the new Bing Facebook integration and wide discussion around social search.

I’ve deployed it as a website here and a Facebook app here.

Songkick and Warner Music Group Partnership

Eric Snowden — Mon, 02 May 2011 23:27:44 +0000

Our new partner Songkick gave us a nice shout out in their New York Times interview. Very excited to start working with such a talented group of individuals.

Read the full article here.

Atlantic Records article on CNET News

Eric Snowden — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:16:04 +0000

Today, Greg Sandoval wrote an article on CNET about how Atlantic Records and our new Atlanticrecords.com strategy. The article focuses our use of the Atlantic archives, the relaunch of the AtlanticRecords.com website and how that site integrates with Facebook to customize the fan experience.

Check out the full CNET article here.

LiveView – Stream iOS Comps from you Mac to your Device in Realtime

Eric Snowden — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:45:03 +0000

LiveView, a new project from NIcholas Zambetti allows you to broadcast your working iOS application designs from your Mac to your device for testing. You start off by installing the LiveView Screencaster on your Mac, and the free LiveView app on your iOS device. The Screencaster app is a simple window, shaped like an iPhone, that you drag around your Mac and overlay on your iOS comps or emulator. As long as your Mac and your iPhone or iPad are on the same wireless network the image from you Mac is broadcast in realtime to your device. You can also enable clicks from the phone to fire off events on the Mac if you want to do deeper testing.

Check out LiveView here.

CodySimpson.com Twitter Application Launch

Eric Snowden — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 20:56:03 +0000

Yesterday we launched a new section of the Cody Simpson website where fans can interact via Twitter with each other and with Cody. Fans can easily follow or read tweets from Cody, Cody’s team or other Cody fans with the ability to filter them by hashtag. Fans can also tweet, reply and retweet without ever leaving Cody’s official website.

Check out Cody Simpson’s Twitter application here.