Transforming the music industry to be proactive and predictive
In 2017, WMG reached out to 13 companies world-wide and invited them to pitch on a challenge they were facing: With the tech industry now disrupting the entertainment and content industry, WMG was not taking advantage of this new era and felt it was losing its grip on the deeper insights regarding its artists, music and performance overall. Digital Service Providers such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon were defining the rules of engagement and overtaking the publishing companies.

To counter this WMG wanted to take more control of their data. CLEVER°FRANKE presented a vision that would take WMG on the journey of data driven digital transformation, taking WMG from being reactive to being proactive and predictive. WMG selected C°F and together set out on a journey that will take the company to a new reality.

Two workshops were held at key locations for Warner Music Group (New York & London), followed by a series of 60 user interviews. The main focus of these were to uncover the insights different users were looking for and define what we call their 'meaningful moments': what are crucial decision moments in their lives where we can support and amplify their creativity with data? Facilitating better decisions ultimately leads to better business outcomes and key opportunities. 'Meaningful moments' still defines the roadmap strategy to this day.

Instead of a monolithic software platform, we created smaller components that would make the lives of users' easier step by step. A flexible, intelligent system that provides users with relevant information and avoid data overload. In designing the style and user interfaces, we steered away from business intelligence dashboard paradigms to keep the presentation and interaction with data as simple as possible. We guide people to actionable insights and help them take their next steps.

The main entry point is the 'OPUS Today' interface, presenting the latest performance results of entities (track, artist, label). OPUS has been equipped with a notification system that allows users to set personalized notifications to their mobile device, email or smartwatch. Thirdly, OPUS runs in lobbies and on screens in WMG offices throughout the world, focused on creating the 'watercooler effect'; one can get a 'feeling' of the performance of artists.

To learn from users and further improve OPUS we perform usability tests and interviews that inform on the day to day experiences. Complemented with usage data, user feedback, we guide the strategy and roadmap of OPUS.

OPUS has achieved over 2500 active users from 35 countries worldwide, for their work on a daily or weekly basis. User feedback acknowledges our approach: "A tool like OPUS is a great answer to provide everyone in the company with the most used insights". OPUS is becoming the single source of truth for data, replacing all the separate tools and platforms people were using. Steve Kaplan, WMG Director Data Operations, said: "The compliments are phenomenal! Coming in from all over the world. Opus is in day-to-day use."

— Transforming the music industry to be proactive and predictive
Warner Music Group (WMG) is one of the 'big three' in the entertainment industry, with labels like Parlophone and Atlantic Records and artists like Cardi B and Ed Sheeran. WMG's mission is to help artists achieve long-term creative and financial success while providing customers with the highest-quality music content available.

In 2017, WMG reached out to 13 companies world-wide and invited them to pitch on a challenge they were facing: With the tech industry now disrupting the entertainment and content industry, WMG was not taking advantage of this new era and felt it was losing its grip on the deeper insights regarding its artists, music and performance overall. Digital Service Providers (DSPs) such as Spotify, Apple Music and Tencent Music were defining the rules of engagement and overtaking the publishing companies.

To counter this WMG wanted to take more control of their data. Rather than presenting an off-the-shelf solution, CLEVER°FRANKE (C°F) presented a vision that would take WMG on the journey of data driven digital transformation, taking WMG from being reactive to being proactive and predictive. WMG selected C°F and together set out on a journey that will take the company to a new reality by 2020.

— Designing to serve people at key moments in the creative process
After four previous projects had failed to reach user adoption, WMG chose C°F to create a solution that goes beyond a business intelligence platform. The challenge we identified was not a technical one, it was about the audience: how do you enable a creative industry to leverage the power of data? Through an extensive discovery and definition phase, tapping into many service design and design thinking principles, we defined our strategy and roadmap. Ultimately, OPUS was born.

OPUS is a multi-dimensional digital ecosystem that allows artist managers, label managers, WMG executives and ultimately artists to understand their performance data from a high-level perspective to the tiniest detail.

Two workshops were held at key locations for Warner Music Group (New York & London), followed by a series of 60 user interviews. The main focus of these were to uncover the insights different users were looking for and define what we call their 'meaningful moments': what are crucial decision moments in their lives where we can support and amplify their creativity with data? Underlying this was also the need to drive business growth. Facilitating better decisions leads to better business outcomes and key opportunities to drive this were also identified. It is these 'meaningful moments' that define the roadmap strategy to this day.

— A personal, intelligent and flexible system
Rather than setting out on a monolithic software platform from the outset, we created smaller components that would make the lives of users' easier step by step. A flexible, intelligent system that knows about their interest and responsibilities, so we can provide them with relevant information and avoid data overload. In designing the style and user interfaces, we steered away from business intelligence dashboard paradigms to keep the presentation and interaction with data as simple as possible. We guide people to actionable insights and help them take their next steps.

OPUS has a diverse set of touchpoints, aimed at different users at different times. It is both obtrusive and unobtrusive. The main entry point is the 'OPUS Today' interface that can be accessed from anywhere at any time, presenting the latest performance results of entities (track, artist, label). OPUS has been equipped with a notification system that allows users to set personalized notifications to their mobile device (WhatsApp / SMS), email or smartwatch. E.g.: "Send me a message when Bruno Mars has hit 5 billion streams". Thirdly, OPUS runs in lobbies and on screens in WMG offices throughout the world, focused on creating the 'watercooler effect'; while getting a coffee one can get a 'feeling' of the performance of artists.

Last but not least, OPUS itself was established as an internal brand within WMG. The name, logo and identity were created to give everyone at WMG the feeling 'OPUS is here to help'; creating support for the project and instil trust back into the project. In addition to the roadshow, short videos were created and emailed to onboard users, and regular updates highlight data that is added or new features that are introduced. Through dedicated support channels, both the WMG data team and C°F are in direct contact with the users to assist them and learn from their experiences. OPUS has grown into their new source of truth, owned and supported by the entire organization.

— Guiding the organization to success
In a close collaboration with business-, data- and interface teams, we are continuously building out next steps in this endeavour. As data coverage grows, we spend time with teams around the world to help them understand and adopt OPUS in their work and provide valuable feedback that informs the roadmap.

To learn from users and further improve OPUS we perform usability tests and interviews that inform on the day to day experiences. Complemented with usage / behavioural data, input from local markets and business requests, we guide the strategy and roadmap of OPUS. Starting out with streaming, playlist, chart and territory insights, we are now working on increasing data coverage, personalization and notifications.

In the first year of development, OPUS has achieved over 2500 active users from 35 countries worldwide, leveraging OPUS for their work on a to provide everyone in the company with the most used insights". With this user adoption it is becoming the one source of truth for data, replacing all the separate tools and platforms people were using. Steve Kaplan, WMG Director Data Operations, said: "The compliments are phenomenal! Coming in from all over the world. Opus is in day-to-day use."

In enabling people to achieve success and use data that supports their (creative) processes, one should not look for standard solutions, but create tooling specific to people in their organization. That way people can leverage data in a way that suits them, rather than becoming slaves to a dashboard.