Universal Music - March Music Challenge

Technology Advisors
Tech Development Team
Creative Direction and Design

Overview

Universal Music Group is home to the world’s largest catalog of recorded music. Genome was commissioned to produce a responsive destination for their March Music Challenge for the second time since 2014. Built with brackets containing music from various schools in the US, Universal Music Group aimed to capture consumer data while increasing fan engagement by turning their focus toward streaming, the dominant means of consuming music.

UX / UI

This experience was aimed at enticing college students to play and share custom Spotify playlists that represented their schools. Our high-fidelity wireframes provided a clear idea of the content required for this step-by-step composition.

Genome produced a custom backend to create time-based rollout of brackets. The challenging part was squeezing 32 schools into a design that was easily explorable without becoming visually overwhelming.

Every time a school proceeded to a new round, we traced it’s progress by using the school’s color to highlight the name and the progress path.

The playlist page for each school also sported the school colors. Album art from the curated playlist was used in the background graphics which dynamically switched out for every school based on the music that was most popular in that region.

Live polling of social shares, playlist plays, and Spotify follows added to the score for the school. Genome built a logic engine for determining bracket winners based on fan interaction and time.

Website

Discuss this project

More Examples

Case study

Universal Music March Music Challenge | Digital Product Case Study | Genome Studio: strategy, craft, and momentum

Universal Music March Music Challenge | Digital Product Case Study | Genome Studio: strategy, craft, and momentum began as a question about campaign participation. The people involved needed an experience that could explain the value quickly while still leaving room for the detail behind it. We started by looking at the moments when people arriving to watch, listen, and take part need to decide, compare, remember, or act, then used those moments to establish a clearer order for the story.

The central design challenge was joining a strong cultural moment with a clear invitation and an easy next step. Content, layout, and interaction were considered together so that the page could carry atmosphere without hiding the information that gives the project its purpose. Early prototypes helped the team test tone and rhythm before visual polish made any single direction feel inevitable.

The finished campaign participation experience is shaped by real conditions. People may arrive from a small screen, enter at a deep link, skim between sections, or return later looking for one specific answer. Headings, labels, imagery, and responsive behavior therefore work as a connected set of signposts. Each detail has a job in helping people arriving to watch, listen, and take part feel oriented.

Implementation for campaign participation carried the same care into the working system. Reusable patterns make future updates easier, while thoughtful loading behavior protects the first impression. The structure can support new stories, products, or campaign moments without asking the team to rebuild the entire experience whenever the content changes.

The lasting value of Universal Music March Music Challenge | Digital Product Case Study | Genome Studio: strategy, craft, and momentum is the shared understanding it creates. Stakeholders can see how the experience supports a wider goal, content owners have a clearer way to work, and technical teams inherit decisions that communicate intent. That alignment gives this project a better chance of staying useful long after its launch moment.

Compare this campaign participation case study with other digital work, explore the supporting services, or read the studio journal for practical thinking about products and experiences. To discuss a similar challenge, visit contact.