MUSICCONNECT UPDATE
MUSICCONNECT PROFESSIONAL
MUSICCONNECT SERIES

Four years on, Connect is no more – but just how big could it have become, had Apple committed more readily to its relationship with music fans, and its growth?Īt its core, Apple Music Connect was a social media platform embedded into the Apple Music ecosystem. Connect could have been hugely influential.Įxcept it wasn’t. In a world where every streaming service is desperate to differentiate itself, Apple had something really unique.

MUSICCONNECT UPDATE

When Drake high-fived Apple’s Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue (or as Drake calls him, “ that Boy E Que“) and walked back behind the curtain to update his Instagram account, we were all left convinced.

“Instead of having to post your stuff on all these different and sometimes confusing places, it all lives in one, very simple, very easy place, and that is Connect.”

“And instead of having to post your stuff on all these different and sometimes confusing places, it all lives in one, very simple, very easy place, and that is Connect.” “Spend the time on your craft, assemble the right body of work. “We encourage you to spend the time on your body of work,” he added, punching his left hand into his right hand to emphasize his message. “The dream of being a new artist like myself five years ago, and connecting directly with an audience has never been more close and reachable than right now,” evangelized Drake, pacing from stage left to stage right. Since the students had access to the internet regardless of their socio-economic status, I decided that YouTube would be the best medium to pursue this project.As Drake walked out to cheers and applause wearing a vintage Apple varsity jacket, chest emblazoned with the company’s rainbow logo, Apple’s new Spotify competitor was made instantly cool and Connect was made instantly credible. My initial goal of music+connect was to find a way to keep the young musicians engaged during the long periods of time between lessons. Instead, the music director, Jorge, individually teaches over 50 students–with each student often getting instruction once every 3 weeks at best. Because of its lack of funding, the school isn’t able to hire a regular music teacher for the children. This school, the Escuela de Musica Cóbano SiNEM is a publicly-funded music school that provides instruments and a musical curriculum to at-risk children in the local area (similar to Venezuela’s El Sistema). The genesis of this project was in the summer of 2014 when I taught the cello at a music school in rural Costa Rica.

MUSICCONNECT PROFESSIONAL

They are able to play their instruments alongside a professional musician, read the music on screen, and easily repeat a section that they need to practice more.

MUSICCONNECT SERIES

With music+connect, I’ve created a systematic series of music tutorials which not only provide instruction to budding musicians, but also give them a structured environment in which they can practice their music where one could sit in front of the television and have a productive practice while watching a single video.

My current project, music+connect, is a YouTube channel which aims to provide free, structured, and annotated practice video tutorials for beginning musicians.

Musicconnect