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.
Basketball is becoming a global game, and is no longer kept in the confinements of the U.S.A. The last Olympics validate that European teams can be voracious contenders to the NBA's best picks.
European ballers' thirst to a game of their own is growing by the day. Nike has recognized that and joined forces with the Euroleague to release a new basketball.
/ THE IDEA /
We want the European baller to feel he is worthy of Nike's attention as an independent market. We want him to celebrate the new basketball like a baller would.
Nike is not here to tease you. Get your hands on the ball.
Euroleague 4005 is profiled on Nikebasketball.com for all to see. No, not see; to experience. Players will learn how it has been modified to have them play harder.
The interactive platform has been designed to mimic the physical grip and bounce of the ball. Grabbing the ball and bouncing it around will navigate you from one feature to the next.
Ballers are invited to test-drive the ball with two friends in a partner retailer, in each of our key cities.
In store, the team plays a 3 on 3, half-court game of 12 mins; against another challenger team. The best scores go on a leader-board. The winning team wins a ball each.
The city's scores will go on a virtual leader-board on the site. The leader-board can be shared via social networks, so that the winners can show off mastering their game.
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.
