Ovi People Interviews: Meet Steven from the Music team!

Let’s be honest, no one likes Mondays. The reason is obvious: the weekend is over But the Ovi Blog readers have something to look forward to: the Ovi People interviews. Today is all about music, and everyone loves music. And when we say music at Ovi we ...

Let’s be honest, no one likes Mondays. The reason is obvious: the weekend is over But the Ovi Blog readers have something to look forward to: the Ovi People interviews.
Today is all about music, and everyone loves music. And when we say music at Ovi we mean Steven Stewart: have fun reading his interview. He rocks!

Hey mister DJ, put a record on, I wanna dance with my baby

What do you do here at Nokia?

I work for Music Product Marketing as Senior Manager, Ovi Music. I do a lot of missionary work – helping bring awareness of all of the groundbreaking & cool things Nokia is doing with music. I work with everything from creating messaging, graphics, & videos to being a demo monkey at events to show real life uses of what we are talking about.

How long have you been working here and what other projects have you been working on at Nokia?

I came to work at Nokia in 1997, so I have been with Nokia for over 13 years. I have been with the music team for about 5 years.

What did you do before you joined Nokia (work + education)?

I got my degree at Brigham Young University in Communications with an emphasis in Advertising & Marketing. My background as a project manager for IBM for about 6 years for their Educational Software division was what helped get me hired at Nokia. But it’s my professional hobby as a songwriter and artist which prepared me for making a meaningful impact for music at Nokia.

What makes you passionate about what you do?

Loving what you do and believing in what you do create a strong passion. As I said, I am a songwriting and I have written songs for artists on all four major labels in Finland. But a funny fact is that I have written many of those songs with the help of my Nokia devices! (Music Player, Recorder, Messaging, etc) So I have seen the huge value that our music powerhouse devices and services bring to my life outside of Nokia. The easy to use and connected technology which is always with me has truly opened doors and changed my way of working.

Is there anything specific you like about working at Nokia?

Having a passion for technology and music, I love being a part of Nokia’s leaps forward in both fields. For example, in less than 2 years, Nokia has become the world’s most globally scaled digital music provider as well as having the #1 digital music store in many countries. And of course, I personally use Nokia’s unlimited music service every day which has truly helped me fall in love with music again.

What word is the first word that comes to your mind when you think about Ovi?

Convenience. For me, Ovi is the door which opens to so many things I use every day. With one ID and password to access everything from mail to apps to music, it’s just so easy to use. It super-powers my phone, but also has a lot to offer from PC, so I can get what I need wherever I am.

What’s your favorite thing you’ve downloaded from Store? Why?

GIG FINDER. Such a cool little app that helps you find live events by artist, genre, city, or venue. I easily found concerts in both the US and the UK when I was travelling and had a blast. It’s a truly connected app, which linked me to Maps to give me direction to the event. It also let me share the concert info on Facebook. Currently it only shows events in US, Canada, UK, & Ireland, but more countries are expected to be added soon.

What was your very first Nokia device?

The banana phone! I forgot the official name, but it was my first mobile phone and I loved it.

What devices do you use right now and what do you mainly do with them?

N97 mini and X6. Because the phones can do everything, I use them for everything. I knew I would use them a lot for phone calls and music listening, but surprised myself with how often I use the camera and web browsing. Having my phone always with me means I never miss the chance to take a picture or video of my kids.

And I have to mention that I use the Nokia BH-905 High-Performance Bluetooth Stereo Headphones all the time for both music listening as well as telco meetings. I especially love that the line in allows me to use them both hands free or plugged in.

What were you looking for the last time you used Maps?

Not the last time, but the most important time was that we used Maps to find the house we bought last year. We did a lot of house hunting in a city neither my wife nor I were familiar with. Maps was easy to use…just type in the address and go…and took us directly to where we needed to be. Last time I used it was a few days ago to get drive directions to a graduation party.

What are your top three favorite blogs/websites?

I read The Drudge Report every day. I love Facebook to stay on top of what my friends are doing. I use it on both PC and my phone. For Twitter, one of my favourite people to follow is @pink who is not only a vocal goddess, but often makes me laugh out loud with her posts. I also read a bunch of various music blogs which buzz upcoming bands as well as other entertainment sites like Deadline Hollywood, Dark Horizons, The Hollywood Reporter, etc.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I love being a dad to three bouncing boys. My biggest joy.

But the question you should ask me which artists you should be listening to! I am always inspired listening to Jonatha Brooke (smart rock/pop…the songwriter I want to be when I grow up) and Imogen Heap (organic electronic…her creativity and attention to detail is mindblowing. Such a music pioneer at a time when folks think there is nothing new to discover). Looking forward to Sarah McLachlan and Paula Cole’s new albums. I’m thrilled that US TV Show GLEE has created a renewed interest in my favourite vocalist Steve Perry’s band Journey. And keep your eyes out for indie artist Stephanie Mabey. Watch for instance this hilarious love song If I Were A Zombie:

Click here to view the embedded video.

What’s your motto?

No amount of success can compensate for failure in the home.

Is there anything you’d like to tell our readers here at the Ovi Blog?

Don’t forget to use your SOFTWARE UPDATE client on your phone to make sure you have the latest software on your phone. Also, be familiar with all the various services available on Ovi. There’s a lot to discover with new things being added all the time. And of course, if you have an Ovi Music store in your country, I highly recommend diving into Nokia’s unlimited music service. It will rock your world. Thanks for taking the time to listen!

Source : http://blog.ovi.com/2010/07/12/ovi-people-intervie...