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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 2000)
TPIPB - ■ flTi n rm; ftfhi i m rrmi "Someday web sites will be what bands are all about. After e Hue experience. It’ll be the most satisfying thing." .. Countless unsigned or independent-label pop musicians are creating their own web sites to boost their self-promotion efforts. In a city like Boston, with a hot music scene, it’s common for local bands to have their own web site. But that wasn't the case just a few years ago. "Most people were not web savvy, or they didn't even have computers at home," says Shaun Wolf Wortis, lead guitarist and singer of the Boston-based band Slide, who posted the first incarnation of his band's web site in late 1995. The site, slide.com, now averages around 3000 visits each month. "At: that time, I remember that 100 visitors a year seemed like a lot," he says. Bar k then, a mention to a Slide fan that his band had a web site was mostly met with blank stares and ( om ments like, "Next time I’m in a c yberc afe,’ I'll try to remember to find you guys,” roc alls Wort is. Now, however, a mention on a popular site can send visitor numbers through the roof. On July 7, 1999, shock wave.com, a site that spe cializes in entertainment soft ware, awarded "site of the day" to another Boston based unsigned band, the Control Group (the-control group.com). That day the band's site received 5000 At the time, the Control Group site offered a free CD if you e-mailed the group your mailing address. The hand only print ed 1000 copies of the CD, and email requests from fans exceeded the supply by several thousands. For small time acts, it can be awfully gratifying to see popular web sites offer the same type of exposure to independent artists as it does to major label artists. Shockwave.com showcases a video in its music section from the unsigned Boston band Jim's Big Ego (bigego.com), next to Beck and The Cure. "The web is an easy way to suck in people who really love music , because the visit ills and the sounds keep all the c yc les of the brain going," says Jim Inlanlmo ol Jim's Big Ego. "Someday, web sites will be what bands are all about. After the live experience, it'll be the most satisfying thing." And even when a band gets signed tea a major label, fans apparently still love to check the web site. The unofficial site of the Old 97's (hitbyatrain.com) an alternative c ountry band from Texas that is now signed tea Elektra, received a mere 900 hits buck in 199S. The site now currently receives an average of 9.000 visits month unique visits, accprding to guitarist and vocalist Andrew King. For the next few months, the site received an average of 10,000 visits a week -sometimes as much as 20,000, said King. site designer Frank Early. Around the time of the band's first major label release,\jlarly ran a contest for visitors to fill out a form detailing the times they called radio stations to request an Old 97's song. The list of radio stations to tar get was supplied by the label, and members of the Old 97’s signed paraphernalia and donated special items as prices. Early got an email from .the web master of one of the radio stations, saying that receiving e-mail from an "entire fan base of a band at once gets a little annoying. I have forwarded your requests though." So log on, rock on. If you ve got a band, and you want to generate a bu/v, the one cheap place to start is the Internet. • For much more info on promoting your band on the Internet, and a guide to indie music magazines, go to steamtunnels.net and search for keyword "indie." indie bands to check out on the Internet: Coleiiitz wwwcoleniiz.com The Sheila Diuine thesheiladiuine.com Wheat iioiimusaK.com/wheat Dennis Brennan ilenmslirennan com I-_ B 1 ■ The Jupiter Project theiiimternroiect com The Shyness Clinic him//members irmoii com/theshynesschmc/ 6 steamtunneis.net
