FINAL 8 STEPS SHEET

Develop Your Idea

For my final, I intend to construct a website that markets Middle Eastern music. I have spent three years gathering, researching, and formulating a mega playlist of Middle Eastern tunes that are largely unheard by the majority of people. I would like to include testimonies from artists that are scattered across the web as well as the music, and reunite them in a shared setting, making it easier for individuals to locate foreign artists and appreciate Middle Eastern tradition and flair.

What are you selling?

I am selling discographies of Middle Eastern/North African musicians that deserve to be recognized and treasured beyond the vicinity of their national origin. I am also opening space and attesting to the ranges of individuality and artistry that can emerge from a region that is usually not seen in a positive light.

What is the problem your website has to solve?

The majority of Arab musicians have very faint information attached to them—in order to learn anything about their past and purpose, you must really dive deep into the workings of the internet. There is a plethora of hidden gems by Middle Eastern/North African artists that can be a creative catalyst to an audience. The Middle East is, on most occasion, cheapend and demeaned by many circles and political actors, conditioning a subordinate view on the region. It exerts a notion that nothing good can ever come out of it—I would like to fix that rhetoric with this website and show beyond doubt, that Arab culture is a rich pursuit that many a people would be lucky to experience.

How will the website solve the problem?

As mentioned earlier, this website will solve the surrounding challenges of ethnocentric ideals for one, and also make it easier for music lovers to locate Arabic musical repertoires, documentation, and testimonies that are difficult to find but deserve to be appreciated by simply creating a space. Without a space inciting an appreciation of Arab culture and music, it gives leeway to further ethnocentrist thought. Without a website, the myriad of music that is scattered across platforms will be even harder to discover.

How it is different from other, similar websites?

A website selling music from a specific demographic is different from other, similar websites and also difficult to locate. I’m having a hard time trying to unearth a prototype adjacent to what I’m working to construct. From what I’ve found, musical websites follow a podcast, radio, or a musical journalism scheme.

Target Audience

Those interested in music in every possible way or role.

Discovery and Research

Pitch Fork is an American online music magazine. It originally covered alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres including pop, hip hop, jazz and metal. The layout really appeals to me; It's organized and very accessible.

Rock's Backpages is the world's largest archive of music journalism. The website has a very peculiar vibe to it that I'm fond of. The typography gives it that archival touch to it.