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We all make music. Be it in a club, in the shower or
in a lullaby. Music is instinctive to all of us. Making
good music, however, is mostly an exclusive privilege
to musicians : those who have learned to compose,
play and/or mix their music.
And even though big-brand technology came to help the lot
to express their musical urges, it came tainted with pre-recorded
loops and dictative genres that mold our creativity into recycled
tracks.
/ THE IDEA /
We want authentic music, for once, to transcend from the
street to the stage, without being crippled with cumbersome
know-how, nor with predetermined programmed genres.
The Fuck Buttons, a British music band of two, and
a living proof that experimentation with sound can create
something inspiring, will endorse this idea.
/ HOW IT WORKS /
With their pulsing motto, "The Loud And The Free", the
Fuck Buttons will introduce the concept of Sound Democracy:
Anyone with a voice can make music.
On music-devoted websites, like Pitchfork and Last.fm, banners
will feature The Fuck Buttons demonstrating how, with their
voice alone, they can re-create familiar hits. The banner
directs users to the Fuck Buttons homepage.
The site opens to a video demo, of Andrew Hung and Benjamin
John Power humming abstract noises in their studio.
Hung goes "ba-ba-ba-ba..." into a mic. Suddenly, his repetitive
noise can be heard as a beat. He is now flavoring the beat
with a percussion instrument of his choice.
Power flanges a "wah-wah" into his mic. And before we know it,
his sound can now be heard as an electric guitar. He modifies
the melodic sound, changing the pitch, and adding pedal effects.
Once the video is through, the site introduces the concept of
Sound Democracy through a manifesto, written by the Fuck Buttons.
The manifesto comes with a contest video, powered by YouTube.
/ THE CONTEST /
This is the band's open invite to you, to make your own music.
All you need is a mic, and you're set. Using the platform
on the site, you will be able to create and mix tracks out of
thin air, literally.
The purpose is to get you and me and everybody else to
experiment, and put out our best work for the world to hear
on YouTube.
The interface is designed to bring you to generate all melody,
rhythm and vocals of your piece. It is smart enough to advise you
which take is best fitted, say, for a percussion instrument.
You can edit each take, and mess around with it to your heart's
desire, before stacking it up into your tracks. This library
of tracks constitutes your asset reservoir, out of which you can
place a track (now modeled, for example, as a bass guitar strum)
into your final mix.
When you're done recording, you're given the following options:
* Save music for later editing.
* Send music to your phone.
* Share music with friends using myspace, facebook or email.
* Enter the contest on YouTube.
Participating pieces will be posted on YouTube as response
videos to the contest announcement, initially posted by
the Fuck Buttons. This keeps the participants, and their
network of friends and fans, engaged as the contest evolves
with more pieces uploaded everyday.
One week before the deadline, the campaign is refreshed.
The band is here to review the submission posted on YouTube
so far. As a participant, you will receive an email from the
Fuck Buttons, to remind you of the review time and date,
and inform you whether you've been shortlisted.
If you're among the lucky ones whose pieces have been shortlisted,
you will receive a personal video review on the website, where Hung
and Power critique your piece.
One week is left for any more submissions to be posted.
It's the big day, so who's the winner?
To be the winner of this contest, The Fuck Buttons must see
authentic experimentation, and inspiration, in your piece.
The winner is announced in America's biggest live music event,
South By Southwest (SXSW), at Austin, TX. His piece will
be played by the Fuck Buttons, live on stage. The concert
will be broadcast live on the site.
Sound Democracy has been established, and music is now flowing
from street to stage and back again.
Back in the day, streetball used to inspire NBA, and
other championships alike, with style, moves and attitude.
Tables have turned, and streetballers of today are more
likely to mimic what championship stars do or wear, rather
than to be trend setters of their own right.
Midnight Madness, which has become streetballers'
platform to show off their talents for years,
is here this season to change all that.
/ THE IDEA /
We want to tell the story of streetball in an unprecedented
fashion, where Nike's proposition of making the baller
a better player still stands true.
We will capitalize on streetball's irreverence to the rules
by introducing a new basketball concept:
A TOTAL DARKNESS EXPERIENCE.
Not only will the experience embrace the underground spirit
of streetball, it will also introduce next-level game dynamics.
For the first time, ballers will have to face both contender
and court.
/ HOW IT WORKS /
At the beginning of each game, laser-projected court lines
will change to steepen the level of game difficulty, so that
those who know how to play hard will have to play harder.
For example, it will be a closer out line, or a farther
3-point line. Through a one-on-one tournament, the winner
who beats his rival, and survives the modified court layout
will get promoted to the next round.
The triumphant baller, who defeats all contenders of the day,
and adapts to the growing challenge imposed by the court lines,
will be crowned Midnight Madness MVP.
Since the entire event will take place in total darkness,
its media coverage will have to accommodate that.
Shot in night vision mode, videos of the event will be
posted on Midnight Madness YouTube channel, giving
an unrivaled look to the campaign.
Midnight Madness will also work towards "hijacking"
pages on YouTube and Slam Online, converting them into
a midnight, total darkness, theme.
The total darkness experience will host some of the most
admired graffiti artists. Dressed in black, the artists
will work their magic across the walls during intermissions.
The audience will get to see murals in the making,
coming to life out of thin air.
Midnight Madness will make the total darkness experience
live beyond the event. An XBox edition will be released,
embracing the new game dynamics, and putting them in
the hands of thousands of streetball fans.
Beyond the commercial gains, this is a means to give
mainstream ballers a peek at the future of basketball.
As the economy topples down, it's clear that more
and more of us will be standing in the waiting line,
wishing upon an employer to take them in.
Waiting sucks, and the Corporation may have to wait
for years before it opens its doors to you and me
and the rest of us once more.
But frowning upon the crisis won't get us anywhere.
For that, CareerBuilder.com decided to poke fun at
recession, and have the last laugh.
/ THE IDEA /
We want to forge alliances among the seemingly helpless
unemployed, so that the wait for the hiring freeze to
thaw may promptly get replaced by alternative
business ideas.
/ HOW IT WORKS /
In the main squares of prominent capitals,installations
of the Hiring Freeze Victim will be unveiled. These will
contain super realistic, life-sized sculptures, easily
mistaken for street performers. The statue will live
inside an ice cube, which will sit on a pedestal
carrying the web address.
Once on the website, you can browse the victims
by industry or by position. A closer look shows
that most of the hiring freeze victims are actually
quite skilled. They are not out there because they
lack impressive resumes, clear goals or aspirations.
They are only lacking opportunity.
That's why CareerBuilder.com has dedicated this campaign
to generating new opportunities.
Let's not mistake this for a mere showcase of job hunters
out there. This is a space for you to get involved.
By creating your own list of favorite victims (or talents),
you can actively connect with them or connect them to others,
however you see fit.
The economy has left us no other choice but to find the
entrepreneur's spirit in one another. And that's exactly what
the site is here to do.
Connect two or more of the talents to brainstorm with them
about possible collaborations that will pull them (and you)
out of the freeze.
Once you're done with your entrepreneurial match-making,
add a new victim that you know of. He may be spotted by other
users eager to put him to work.
