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"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
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The Jupiter Project
theiiimternroiect com
The Shyness Clinic
him//members irmoii
com/theshynesschmc/
6 steamtunneis.net