Something Old, Something New [Post 10.0]

Over the past week I have started to consider different avenues for my degree project. I have started reading the book This is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession. And it has really started to help me form the connection that I want to make with other people and music. Maybe all along, I wanted my audience to share things to give them a sense of belonging when all along, this sense of belonging and connection can be made with a good song and a memory tied to that song.

I was direct to this conclusion from a series of statements and quotations in the book. Most of the quotations were very lucid but this was good because it left more room for interpretation. 

"The unnatural gap that has grown between musical performance and music listening has been paralleled by a gap between those who love music (and love to talk about it) and those who are discovering new things about how it works."

"By better understanding what music is and where it comes from, we may be able to better understand our motives, fears, desires, memories, and even communication in the broadest sense. Is music listening more along the linees of eating when you're hungry, and thus satisfying an urge? Or is it more like seeing a beautiful sunset or getting a backrub, which triggers sensory pleasure system to the brain? Why do people seem to get stuck in their musical tastes as they grow older and cease experimenting with new music?"

After some of these ideas and questions were placed in my heads I want to make my degree project more personal. I believe music controls the mind and controls emotion. So why do we listen to music when we do? How do we know if we're in the mood for some Michael Jackson or some Queen? Is there a difference?

Now, let's circle back around to personal customization. When you're angry, do you want to listen to music that will cheer you up? Or do you want to just sit in that anger for a little longer?

Let's face it, music inspires.

So, here's the question: how can I use graphic design to personalize music playlist that can learn what a single person wants to listen to when they want it and also create an outlet for those people to share with others? 

I am going to create a application that will teach itself what people like or don't like based on what they listen to when they're in certain moods. Let me explain: If an iPhone application can help you change your mood based on what music you hear, it can cheer you up, it can motivate you, it can remind you of what it felt like when you were 16 and driving in your car for one of the first times on a super sunny road with the warm wind blowing. Wouldn't that be nice?