Itec

Project Proposal

Shaping Music Through Technology

Group 4

ITEC 640-9041 Summer 2020

Jamal Bullock

Lina Ghulam Hassan

Judith Murray

Sneha Vira

Change History

Table of Contents

Introduction 4 Statement of Need 5 Project Definition 7 High-Level Approach to Developing the Plan 8 Phase 1: Planning Phase 8 Problem Definition 8 Issues 8 Requirements 9 Constraints 9 Description of System 10 Phase 2: Development 10 Phase 3: Testing 10 Phase 4: Correction 10 Phase 5: Deployment 10 Time and Cost Estimation 11 References 12

The advancement of technology has led to the improvement and connection of many individuals from different parts of the world. This goes out to businesses, musicians, students, leaders and many others who seek to learn and connect with other people through technology. For instance, the development and advancement of computers and laptops have led to connectedness among people with the same goals or objectives in life. In this case, musicians from different nations come together through video calling or recording live videos using the advanced technology of computers, laptops and phones.

In the current world, the most used platform to interact and connect with people is through social media. Social media has proven to connect people from different backgrounds, ethnic groups, schools, companies and individuals who share talents and are interested in music. It is said that currently if a musician wanted his or her song to be heard by a certain number of people, social media is the Holy Grail. Hence, many musicians are connected by technology since they are given the hope to continue entertaining people through the support they get from their fans and supporters. This project proposal will highlight the significant technologies that can help musicians connect more and share ideas that can help them take music to the next level.

First, they can make use of laptops, computers and social media forums through creating a profile that can attract as many fans as possible (Emmerson, 2016). Accessing a processor of a smartphone these days is easy; hence, if musicians have access to such equipment, then communicating and interacting with each other would be easy. Secondly, finding other musicians with the same agenda of shaping and expanding the music sector can be done through social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram or Facebook where there are millions of users. An individual can come up with an idea of having a live concert on Instagram and inviting other musicians to participate in creating awareness of their music. Also, having podcasts or live talks on social media forums about the importance of music to an individual's life and how music changes the perspective of a person and how they view life. In the shows or podcasts, the musicians could talk about how music has brought people out of stressful, emotional situations like minor depression, sadness, and grief, among other things.

In the current world, some types of music being released by musicians do not have any message or relevance of how it can make an individual feel when listening to it. Hence through the live shows or podcasts done by several artists can touch on the topic of making music relevant and how to convey positive feelings and confidence through their songs. Ideas can be from several musicians from different cultures or those who perform the different genre of songs (Prior, 2018). This would make it more diverse and exciting. Therefore, through technology, more so social media, the conveyance of podcasts or live talks can help in shaping the music industry.

Technology can also be used to shape and expand the music industry through musicians sharing each other's songs and works to their fans and supporters. Supporting other artists in their work, especially in the music industry is one way musicians connect from different places. This is done mostly through social media platforms where musicians support other musicians, hence making them come together, share ideas and collaborate in making music grow and their support club increase.

When it comes to project development, the respective teams must ensure that they gather the right data to form the ultimate foundation for the underlying solution. Requirements form the ultimate foundation for the completion of a given type of project. It follows that the project team must learn more about the underlying solution and activities to guarantee successful completion. In this connection, the key priority is the creation of a website, which will in effect help to increase the level of communication between the various artists around the globe. 

Over the years, the music industry has continued to grow based on the increasing demand for quality products and services by the markets. However, some sector stakeholders are located in areas where resources are limited and not readily available. In this context, these stakeholders may find it hard to achieve the desired goals in creating or delivering content. Therefore, a framework is needed to improve the abilities of these stakeholders to share information, content, and knowledge using a common repository through a website that forms the goal of this project (Prior, 2018; King, 2018). 

When creating this solution, the team responsible will need to address the requirements in the process. The main resources required include workforce, finances, and knowledge. Further, the project should be completed in not more than 90 days. The website construction and implementation process should not cost the team over $4000 since there is no external material required in the procedure. When considering the elements of successful completion of the project, one of the significant issues which the team will need to address is the ability to meet the set goals and objectives. The primary purpose of the project is to develop a system that allows music industry professionals to connect hence facilitating idea-sharing.  

The main barriers that may limit the teams' abilities to achieve the desired outcomes include a lack of sufficient support from the team members and poor planning. The failure of the team to gather adequate details about the project may undermine the successful completion of the work. 

Technology infrastructure:

• Design website

• Select hosting service

• Create content

• Ensure website is mobile-friendly

Business processes

• Provide the ability to create and login with username/password

• Provide the ability to reset username/password

• Provide the ability to securely store user data

• Provide the ability to accept secure payments

The Deliverables will be a website with a user interface, mobile capability and a backend database for storing user data and completing payment processing.

In the first phase, a requirements analysis is done in order to flush out the concept of the project by answering the deliverables below. The issue of musical creation is saturated with trendy and generic formulas for creating music. The music market is overrun with some if not all the same type of music and sound. Which ultimately stifles the growth of creative music and inspiration.

Objectives

The key objective is to create a website that will provide a centralized location for music industry professionals to connect with each other and to access tools, advice and other resources. There are specific business objectives including – ensuring the website design includes mobile-friendly features, selecting a robust and economical hosting service and ensuring the total cost of ownership (TCO) doesn’t exceed defined budget. In addition, there are also website content objectives which include – providing access to audio software; connecting various types of music industry professionals - sound engineers, singers, songwriters, musicians, etc. - to each other and allow collaboration; providing access to a common pool of resources for musical projects; providing the ability to share the costs of recording studio time; creating networking opportunities to help songwriters work together to produce songs and providing opportunities for mentorship.

· Easy to understand user interface for people who use the program

· A website and a mobile application are needed

· A cloud-based system with large storage capacity

· User reviews so we can continue to grow from the data received

The in-depth details of the system will be worked along with developing of the system; creating the user interface and a prototype.

Testing will include the user interface, optimizing the system, checking for inconsistencies within the system and providing a system walkthrough.

Within the final phase, another system walkthrough is to be completed. After the system walkthrough, if all things are going the way they should, then the project is complete.

Completion of the Shape Music Through Technology (SMTT) project is estimated to take approximately 4 – 8 months to complete. Costs are estimated at between $2K-$4K.

Emmerson, S. (Ed.). (2016). Music, electronic media and culture. Routledge.

King, A. (2018). The student prince: Music-making with technology. Creativities, Technologies, and Media in Music Learning and Teaching: An Oxford Handbook of Music Education, 5, 162.

Prior, N. (2018). Popular music, digital technology and society. Sage.

Varajão, J., Colomo-Palacios, R., & Silva, H. (2017). ISO 21500: 2012 and PMBoK 5 processes in information systems project management. Computer Standards & Interfaces, 50, 216-222.