Warner Music Group

Increasing online revenue by 300% for Rhino

PROBLEM
Warner Music Group’s catalogue label was stuck in the analogue days and needed to go digital.
SOLUTION
Design a digital multi-track download system that will increase revenue by 3X and iterate a checkout that will increase conversion by 7X.
Rhino music website displayed on laptop, smartphone, and tablet screens featuring Stone Temple Pilots album promotion and music listings.
Smartphone displaying a music store app featuring CORE: 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe 4-CD Remaster with pricing from $19.80 and listings for new releases by Pantera, Gordon Lightfoot, and The Smiths.
ROLE
Research
Product Design
TOOLS
Adobe
Figma
PLATFORM
Responsive Web
OVERVIEW
RESEARCH
DESIGN
RESULTS
OVERVIEW

What is Rhino?

Rhino is the largest catalogue label in the world.  It’s famous for its products - complex and limited edition box sets with deep cuts and never-before-seen content in multiple formats - and for its devoted fans.

Evolve & take the fans with you

Warner Music Group needed an online experience that would meet the emotional needs of their established customer while appealing to new types of music lovers.

In the decline of the record store, Rhino wanted to capitalize on their devoted fanbase and establish a strong Direct-To-Consumer presence that not only exemplified their brand but also facilitated a very complex, multi-codec digital download system.
Challenges

Digital Complexity

Digital multi-codec downloads paired with physical merchandise compounds the complexity of an experience when it comes to shopping or checking out.

Appeal to all users

The site needed to appeal to everyone from collectors to novices - each with different expectations and varying emotional needs

Modern but nostalgic

Rhino had to pay homage to the music while feeling modern – and most of all, having that “Rhino” voice that the brand had become known for.
RESEARCH

Direct access to the fans

Rhino is lucky in that it has constant, direct access to it’s customers - who are very vocal.  It was easy to poll them and interview them about any number of subjects.  Additional market research was provided by Warner Music Group and independent studies capturing just who Rhino wanted to appeal to.
The Rhino brand embodies 6 qualities

Expertise

Rhino is the ultimate fan.  It is the trusted source for not only music, but the culture of music.  In the Rhinoverse, nothing is forgotten.

Quality

Rhino not only knows about quality music, but about music quality.  It is music is packaged with great care and tireless creativity. Nothing is “good enough” for Rhino.  

Confidence

Rhino’s knowledge of & love for music can neither be bested nor doubted.  Rhino embodies a self-assurance that is not loud, but rather uncomplicated.

Masculinity

Rhino is strong, uncomplicated and bold.  It is steadfast, resolute and determined. It is purposeful and proud. (80% of Rhino’s demographic is male.)

Irreverence

Rhino is fully aware that it is the ultimate music geek – a badge it wears proudly.  However this allows Rhino to poke fun at itself and not take itself too seriously.

Transgression

Rhino celebrates a violation of accepted or imposed boundaries. Rhino breaks the rules. Rhino makes it’s own rules.
Research showed the Rhino shopper is made up of 3 distinct personas
CD cover of David Bowie album titled 'ChangesNowBowie' featuring a black and white portrait of Bowie resting his head on his hand.

The Casual Fan

Someone who has a passing interest in a certain band but has not yet been converted into a Collector.  They are interested in bargains and ease of purchase.  They are most likely to purchase random digital songs without context.
  • 50% of the audience, 10% of the revenue.
  • Low engagement and most likely to abandon without scrolling.
  • Arrive via Google to product page.
  • Deal driven.
Album cover featuring a man standing in front of snow-covered mountains under a cloudy sky.

The Crate Digger

Someone who will spend hours browsing and looking for the interesting musical nugget.  Someone with broad taste who is looking to expand their musical horizons.  They appreciate suggestions and musical connections.
  • 35% of the audience, 20% of the revenue
  • Mid-level engagement and most likely to surf through recommendations
  • Mixed arrival
  • Discovery driven
Black box with white Led Zeppelin symbols and the word 'Zoso' on two visible sides.

The Completist

Someone with deep and specific musical knowledge.  They are interested in rare recordings, B-sides, liner notes and historical background.  They appreciate boxed sets and limited editions. They are an audiophile.
  • 15% of the audience, 70% of the revenue.
  • High engagement and most likely to write reviews and participate in forums
  • Arrives via bookmark to Homepage
  • Scarcity and Quality driven
CD cover of David Bowie album titled 'ChangesNowBowie' featuring a black and white portrait of Bowie resting his head on his hand.

The Casual Fan

Someone who has a passing interest in a certain band but has not yet been converted into a Collector.  They are interested in bargains and ease of purchase.  They are most likely to purchase random digital songs without context.
  • 50% of the audience, 10% of the revenue.
  • Low engagement and most likely to abandon without scrolling.
  • Arrive via Google to product page.
  • Deal driven.
Album cover featuring a man standing in front of snow-covered mountains under a cloudy sky.

The Crate Digger

Someone who will spend hours browsing and looking for the interesting musical nugget.  Someone with broad taste who is looking to expand their musical horizons.  They appreciate suggestions and musical connections.
  • 35% of the audience, 20% of the revenue.
  • Mid-level engagement and most likely to surf through recommendations.
  • Mixed arrival.
  • Discovery driven.
Black box with white Led Zeppelin symbols and the word 'Zoso' on two visible sides.

The Completist

Someone with deep and specific musical knowledge.  They are interested in rare recordings, B-sides, liner notes and historical background.  They appreciate boxed sets and limited editions. They are an audiophile.
  • 15% of the audience, 70% of the revenue.
  • High engagement and most likely to write reviews and participate in forums.
  • Arrives via bookmark to Homepage.
  • Scarcity and Quality driven.
DESIGN

Targeting the fans

Wireframes were developed that targeted each of the fans based upon their determined entry point.  Certain pages were targeted towards capturing the casual fan and converting them whereas others were designed to engage the Completist.
Homepage
Wireframe layout of a music website homepage featuring a Rhino logo, navigation menu, promotional carousel, news & articles, new releases list, Rhino Handmade product section, and Rhino Recommends product listings with buy options.
Artist Page
Wireframe layout of a music artist's webpage featuring navigation menu, artist bio, top hits with play buttons and prices, top albums with buy buttons, a section for more content, official links, and merch products.
Product Page
Wireframe of a music product page displaying product options for digital, CD, and vinyl formats, tracklist tabs with play buttons and pricing for MP3 and Hi-Def, user ratings, reviews section, and recommended products sidebar.

Developing a visual language

Inspiration was taken from music “rags”, post-punk xerox posters, music store notice boards, and tabs from crate-digging to synthesize an experience that would be wholly digital but familiar to the seasoned music aficionado.

Graphic exploration in the form of ads, social media units and merchandising modules allowed for the sheer diversity of styles one might find in a music store.  Each was inspired by the synesthetic interpretation of the music itself.   From archival photography to custom artwork, no two were alike and it allowed us to hone in on a visual language that was diverse yet unified.
Collage of vintage music album covers and promotional ads featuring bands like INXS, Temple Pilots, The Germs, The Monkees, and others.

A homepage for everyone

Paying homage to notice boards at famous music shops like Amoeba Records and Tower Records, an immersive homepage was designed to aggregate content and serve up recommendations based on purchase history and radio likes.
Icon denoting an important metric
Analysis showed that the carousel was interacted with a surprising amount indicating an engaged and deal-driven audience
RHINO homepage on laptop, tablet and phone screens
Laptop, tablet, and smartphone displaying the Rhino.com music store featuring the album 'Original Sin (Expanded & Remastered)'.

Product pages designed to capture and convert

The Product Page was the most common entrance to the site and most complex page, requiring heavy amounts of information as well as varying levels of product type - both physical and digital. The placement of every element was heavily user-tested and iterated.
scroll
Rhino Records webpage showing Led Zeppelin's Mothership (Remastered) album with track listing, purchase options, related products, and user reviews.
Tablet and smartphone showing a music store page for Led Zeppelin's Mothership (Remastered) album with track listings and purchase options.
A custom digital track, multi-codec player was created to facilitate exploration, play, and download of either MP3 or High-Definition songs (either FLAC or Apple Lossless).

Changing the format by clicking the format tabs would change the product information and image- including track listings as often, the tracks would be slightly different (for example, tracks on vinyl are often lengthened or shortened - or entirely new songs produced in order to even out play lengths on both sides)
Icon denoting an important metric
Getting the add-to-cart button above the fold increased conversion by 14%

Artist pages designed to capture and redirect

Artist Pages were one of the most important entry points.  Each one had hand-crafted graphics. The large background graphic was instrumental in creating an immersive feel specific to the artist.
Icon denoting an important metric
Getting the Top Hits product above the fold increased their effectiveness by 38%
scroll
David Bowie profile with white hair blowing smoke on pink background, music player sidebar, top hits, albums, merch, interviews, and forum sections on dark-themed webpage.

Cart designed for efficiency

We designed a streamlined commerce funnel that accommodated incredibly complex purchases consisting of both physical goods and downloadable files.  The navigation was simplified to reduce “ADHD bounce” and ended up significantly reducing cart abandonment rate.

Upsells based on your cart content formats would allow you to add to cart without leaving the checkout funnel.
Icon denoting an important metric
Removing the nav helped increased our conversion by 30%
Icon denoting an important metric
Adding a "HELP" section at the bottom reduced calls to customer service by 20%
scroll
Online shopping cart displaying music items to be shipped and downloaded, including albums by Aretha Franklin and Led Zeppelin, with subtotal $170.32 and checkout button.
RESULTS

Outcome

With constant A/B testing and iteration, we were able to achieve numbers unlike anything I’ve seen before in comparison with what we started with – which was a website not optimized at all.  This goes to show what intentional and well thought iteration can do

Achievements

Conversion Rate
up 700%
Revenue
up 300%
Net Margin
up 200%
Average Order Value
up 150%
Acquisition
up 500%
Cart Abandonment
down 40%
Customer Service Inquiries
down 20%
Go-To-Market Efficiency
up 300%
The word RHINO in bold red capital letters with the letter I smaller and centered vertically.

RIP Rhino

Rhino’s foray into the Direct–to-Consumer space was a massive success, achieving record numbers.  

Unfortunately the site was sunsetted as part of Rhino’s redirection away from Direct-to-Consumer and towards Sync & Licensing (which has less overhead and maintenance.)
E-COMMERCE
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FINTECT
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YOU MADE IT!
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© 2026 Matthew Cogswell