A bit about me ...

I’m an Award Winning Creative Director & Technologist / Web Audio & Music Technology Pioneer / Community Builder / Speaker & Author who loves prototyping the future, but not so much a fan of talking about myself and writing pages like this ; ) So here we go….

As a pioneer of the early Web, I placed myself at the intersection of technology, creativity, and community, with a focus on technology's power to amplify human creativity and foster genuine connectivity. I’ve spent decades giving millions of people music-making superpowers. I pioneered online audio, creating Looplabs, the web’s first online music creation platform, revolutionizing interactive audio, social music creation and remixing, receiving recognition from Steve Jobs, SxSW, and the prestigious Webby Awards. I’ve designed innovative interfaces, experiences, and installations, presented at global conferences, and published books on the intersection of technology and art. As a community builder, I’ve built online communities amassing millions of members, organized global (un)conferences, TEDxYouth events, and launched national festivals in Canada (FITC) and Australia (_SOUTHSTART).

Currently, I’m deep down the rabbit hole of Generative AI exploring image, sound, and video creation looking to leverage my decades of experience crafting simple, fun, and powerful creation tools for this next generation of possibilities with AI. ( hit me up if this is your jam )

Check out what I’m doing now.

A bit more….

I was a preteen SYSOP playing with light pens and running a BBS in the 80s, and dropped out of university when exposed to the birth of the web in the early 90s, hanging out on telnet chats and cutting my teeth building music websites for bands as part of the Canadian Music Exchange (Canada's IUMA). In the mid-1990s, pre-Google, I founded CRASH!MEDIA, an award-winning Research & Design Studio dedicated to pioneering interactive developments during the web's early days. In 2000 we received international attention, receiving SxSW's International Design Award for developing the first drag-and-drop interface on a website.

Craig Swann’s CRASH!MEDIA presented a feature that would become a standard part of our lives in the future, dragging images and dropping them into a box area in order to access extra content. Such simplicity offered a significant new means of navigating, and paved the way for countless interfaces not least for shopping carts. - Rob Ford - Founder FWA / The Evolution of the Digital World 1990-Today / TASCHEN

Web Audio Innovator

In 2000, Looplabs, the Web's first music creation platform was born. Years before Tim O'Reilly popularized the term “Web 2.0," Looplabs was democratizing music creation, allowing anyone with an internet connection to create, share, and remix music directly from their web browsers. The viral impact and innovation of Looplabs was recognized by the Webby Awards and personally showcased by Steve Jobs at the launch of the Safari browser, marking its significance at the dawn of the read/write web.

“Another site I want to show you. This is really fun. This is a flash site - to the max. If you haven't seen this one, it's really fun. You can just make music here” Steve Jobs

This groundbreaking achievement not only empowered and entertained millions—giving a musical voice to a newly connected world of all ages and walks of life—but birthed a new world of interactive online audio possibilities as a new platform for sound and interactivity.

For the next decade I had the pleasure and privilege of working on amazingly fun and innovative projects launching national and international marketing campaigns, products, platforms, and experiences for top global brands including : Microsoft / Intel / Coca-Cola / Sony / Bacardi / BBC / Heineken / Napster / Adidas / Vodafone / MySpace / Nokia / Rolling Stone / Calvin Klein / American Airlines / The Discovery Channel / Volvo / Honda / Toyota / Chevrolet / Volvo / Ford / Cadillac / Mercedes / Hyundai / ESPN / Miller Brewing / Absolut / Sapporo / Reebok / Gilette / CBC / Warner Music / MySpace / Napster / Universal Music / RocNation / Honda / General Mills / HP / University of Toronto / Rogers / McLuhan Centre for Culture and Technology / Toronto Symphony Orchestra / Gemini Awards / Boston Symphony Orchestra

“We were looking to break outside the box with a DJ Mixer that would define the category. This technology delivered a home run - the ease of use and the end result made it one of the top performing UGC components in Bacardi to this day. Its effectiveness as a concept and as an online UGC program is proven by the fact that Bacardi used the platform for 4 years -through 2007”

Todd Tilley, Global Creative & Strategy Director, BACARDI Global Brands

Social Media Music & Remixing

While building technology that attracted and engaged millions of users, these campaigns lacked a true sense of community. To remedy this, in 2009, years before Spotify would hit the US, I partnered with Marc Anthony licensing Looplabs into the first social media platform for music creation and remixing. I worked and partnered with brands, music labels and publishers - integrating into Facebook and MySpace - while amassing a community of more than 1 million members collaborating with Artists including Ke$ha, Bob Dylan, Jason Derulo, Wyclef, Willow Smith, Ministry of Sound, Our Lady Peace, the Ting Tings and many more.

“As a partner in the technology startup I invested in, he worked on his award-winning Looplabs technology, and through his efforts was able to grow a company from zero to more than 1,000,000 members. We asked Craig to lead the charge in taking over my online identity, and he was able to grow my online following from 2.5 million followers to well over 10 million followers. His rare and unique ideas on using technology to create new interactive products and experiences both online and through live events provide exciting opportunities not before explored. Whether it’s creating campaigns that integrate thousands of cameras at a live show into a fan-created video or allowing fans to remix and create their own tracks based on artist material to purchase, I fully anticipate that he will continue to make vital contributions to this field.” Marc Anthony 12x Grammy award winner and Top-selling Salsa Artist of All time

Realtime Music Creation & Collaboration

By 2014 technology had evolved as did the way we interact with it. Looplabs was re-imagined , utilizing Web Audio and WebRTC, as an easy-to-use real-time collaborative music studio supporting live audio and video chat, messaging and shared real-time workspaces. It was the first platform to do so, ultimately partnering with Beatport and growing to more than a million members.

“Over breakfast in a matter of minutes Craig pulled out his Mac, fired it up, went to Looplabs, pulled down some beats, took a spoon, beat it on the table and created another sort of a backbeat. That became a track, then he pulled down some strings and then a keyboard and a vocal and within 15 minutes created a song. With the punch of a button, sent it to someone else who put another mix on it and sent it back. Being a part of watching that experience in a short time frame over breakfast pretty much blew my mind.” Les Garland Co-Founder MTV & MTV Awards Co-Founder VH-1

Community Building IRL & URL

As a result of my innovations, I was invited to share my work, thoughts, and experiments on the future of technology and human interactions at International Design and Technology events around the world. Sharing was a big part of my ethos, and culture. Inspired by speaking at events, and being keenly aware of the shift humanity was undergoing, I’ve spent the last twenty years organizing and curating experiential offline events to bask in the glow of human brilliance. Beginning in the early 2000s I curated a series of International events and (un)conferences : Osmosis, Flux and BD4D in Toronto, New York, Amsterdam, Barcelona, and the UK as well as co-launching Canada’s Design & Technology Conference FITC. These gatherings, during the rise of the Flash generation, united a vibrant and dynamic community of early innovators including Joshua Davis, Ze Frank, Brendan Dawes, G-Munk, John Nack, Casey Reas, Jared Tarbell, James Paterson and many more.

Upon arrival in Australia in 2017, I co-founded _SOUTHSTART in my continued journey of connecting people to ideas, possibility and each other. The event has become a cornerstone event for startups, creatives and technologists and a leading festival of innovation, imagination and impact in Australia.

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Holy Cow! You did it! You made it to the bottom of the page! I’m keen to connect with incredible humans and find ways to leverage my unique perspective and experience in helping pioneer the next generation of creation tools. Reach out and say hello if that resonates. craig@looplabs.com

Awards & Recognition

Speaking

Books / Publications

Installations

Events

“In the years I have come to know Craig, I have witnessed his intense determination to bend the future to his will. Craig is an entrepreneur filled with incredible vision, an instinct for strategy and an innate talent for growth. He's an eloquent and inspiring communicator who has proven himself to be a natural leader when it comes to the creative execution of big ideas. When it comes to our collective digital future, Craig has a keen sense of where the puck is going. I look forward to witnessing his ideas and vision become reality.” Jon Diamond Co-Founder of GRP - First record label to release CDs Founder of N2K - First company to launch digital music downloads (1995)

craig@looplabs.com