Bear Cole · Technology, systems & delivery
Connecting a creative business with common information/data through Mission HQ.
The way Bear Cole is directing development of a single catalog & publication system to support the many music, editorial & commercial websites in the network.
By Bear Cole · September 25, 2026
Problem -
The independent nature of the ever-expanding world wide web has created a lot of repetitive work for those who create content for multiple independent websites. Artist name, release date, credit line, video link and product link all tend to spread out. Fixing one web page does not always fix the other web pages. Therefore, the project required a stable location to manage records and make decisions about when to release content.
My role -
My role within Free the Line is to lead the product development process, design the workflow and conduct reviews of Mission HQ. Development is assisted by artificial intelligence, however human decision-making and quality assurance guides the release of products. My responsibilities include connecting the requirements of artists and the music industry to web architecture, catalog relationships, editorial processes and day-to-day operations.
One catalog, but distinct websites -
The technical architecture of the system allows for separation between records that are shared between websites and the design of each individual website. Artists, recordings, releases, playlists and videos are connected through relationships instead of being presented as separate blocks of text. The individual public facing websites maintain their identity while using a single source of data.
Publication is a decision -
Records exist in the catalog, but this does not mean they are ready for an audience. Prior to publishing, credits, availability and assignment to a specific website must be reviewed. Reporting on readiness identifies missing information, while dated observations provide evidence to differentiate a configured feature from one that has been observed on a public web page.
A specific example of how this was applied -
In a recent rollout, structured data related to music was applied consistently across ten artist websites. This effort included release and recording relationships, track orders, duration times and artist attribution. Additionally, a caching expiration issue was identified and resolved which prevented old catalog data from continuing to appear after updates were released.
Where we are currently -
The public facing websites are now live. Mission HQ is still an ongoing internal development process in staging, and continued catalog review and integration with external platforms are underway. This case study focuses on the methodology that has been used to date; it does not indicate that every record or external platform is fully integrated into Mission HQ.
Why this is important -
Creative systems operate more effectively when it is clear where a particular piece of information came from, who is responsible for it, and whether or not it has been released publicly. This philosophy influences the technical choices made during development more than the number of tools used.
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Web development at Free the Line · Mission HQ case study · Bear Cole’s selected work