CAMD alumnus Drew Schweppe, who graduated with a Master of Music Industry Leadership, has been busy since graduating in 2014. He recently launched a mobile app, Informusic, designed for music students and music fans as the all-in-one music history and composer resource. The app, inspired by Drew’s intensive studies in music, allows users to quickly and conveniently access a wealth of detailed music history facts and information – all in one place.

Informusic grew out of Drew’s frustration of having to bounce between a number of different sources and media throughout his education. It did not initially begin as an app, however, but as a comprehensive timeline highlighting the interactions between composers, performers, and musicians with other artists and how corresponding world events influenced the creation of various compositions. Drew worked on this timeline as a hobby and then as an independent study under the guidance of Dr. Mark A. Radice, who is now chair of Informusic’s Advisory Board, at Ithaca College and in Vienna, Austria.

“As I continued my studies, I discovered the huge void in music education regarding up to date technology for the field of music history. I quickly realized the advantages a comprehensive music history app might offer to performers, students, and fans of classical music,” explained Drew. “After studying Music in London and Music Industry Leadership at Northeastern, I set out to create the first all-in-one mobile music history resource, combining all the tools required for music students with the interactive timelines that had been conceived a few years prior.”

Although the foundation of the app began in Ithaca, New York, and was developed in Vienna, Austria and London, Northeastern was where Drew ran through ideas about what the app is, what it does, and how it would be created. While at CAMD, Drew found the mobile technology course taught by Robert Lyons, Visiting Lecturer, useful in exploring the app’s feasibility and what it would take to create a tangible product.

“In the summer semester, a classmate and I then went on to create an independent study with Lyons in which we developed a business model, marketing plan, and functional spec, and interviewed prospective developers,” continued Drew. “Thank you to Nick Rudy, Melissa Ciociolo, Cori Bodley, Fabienne Rudolph, and Hexuan Li, who participated in some of the feasibility studies conducted in Lyons’ mobile technology course, as well as CAMD Music Department Chair Dr. Godfrey for being extremely supportive.”

So far, the response from students, professors, deans, and classical music fans toward Informusic has been very positive. With finals happening during the next few weeks, the app has experienced record breaking sales.