Walkman: Own Your Damn Sound

People are tired of streaming music! Owning music has been a lost art for decades. It happened way back when Spotify started charging for subscriptions. When Pandora began repeating those god awful, unskippable ads, and when Apple Music "couldn't function" without some WiFi. Walkman was the OG solution to music autonomy and it's time to start curating our own catalogues again.

Three posters advertising wireless sound services, featuring stylized portraits of people with blacked-out eyes and slogans: "OWN YOUR MIDWEST PRINCESS ERA," "OWN YOUR BRAT ERA," and "OWN YOUR GNX ERA."

A smartphone screen displaying a social media story with a green background and black text quoting lyrics about throwing an apple into the sky. Below, there is a loading icon and text about listening without subscription. Part of a cityscape with tall buildings and blue sky is visible at the top of the screen. White text overlay says 'DRIVE TO THE AIRPORT' repeated multiple times.

Digital billboard on bus stop with texting and song information, with a blue banner at the bottom reading 'WALKMAN COMEBACK?!'

A smartphone screen displaying an Instagram post from Walkman, featuring a quote about performing on stage in heels, with an hourglass icon, and options for liking, commenting, and sharing the post.

404 Error? No Problem

On April 16th, 2025, Spotify unexpectedly went offline for almost 6 hours. Users quickly hopped on socials to meme out their anger and dwindling mental states. We saw it fit to throw some shade on Spotify and show support for the music lovers caught in the chaos.

A screenshot of a Twitter post showing a shirtless man with sunglasses and necklaces, looking at the camera. The tweet humorously states that Spotify is down, and the video attached shows the man in a casual setting.

Screenshot of tweets from Spotify Status and Walkman, discussing an outage and offering a discount on services.

A woman with long dark hair appears to be in distress, holding her head with both hands, in a dense forest setting. The screenshot is from a Twitter post.

A meme of a person smiling, with text overlay about Spotify after taking a $10 and turning off servers, with a tweet referencing Steve Miller Band's song "Take the Money and Run".

Pop-Up. Plug In.

Our Walkman x Tower Records pop-ups bring together music downloads and physical releases, so fans can get the best of both worlds in one stop. Tower Records was the go-to spot to meet up with friends, explore/expand one's musical understanding, and walk away with new albums.

A large, colorful, boombox-shaped structure with speakers, buttons, and a digital display. People are waiting in line to enter, and there are digital music player kiosks outside.

A digital music player with a transparent neon green and purple casing displaying a song titled 'NOID - Tyler The Creator' on its screen.

Walkman Redesign

Colorful transparent Walkman portable CD player with orange accents and a CD inside.

Walkman Redesign

AI: Authentic Identity

We’ll use AI to curate one-of-a-kind genres, playlists, and associated album covers, all based on user personality quizzes (think Buzzfeed meets chromesthesia).

Walkman kiosks, available at the pop-ups, will transfer playlists to the listeners’ choice of a cassette or CD, for their new Walkman.

Smartphone screen displaying a message about owning your sound, featuring a black and white collage of musicians and musical icons, with text emphasizing that rock 'n' roll is timeless and independent of monthly trends, and saying owning your sound is just one tap away.

CW: Shawn Robbins

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