WEB MUSIC LAUNCHPAGE

Sep 1, 2001 12:00 PM, David Battino

Grab your rocket pack. Nearly every month for the past few years, EM has featured articles on getting, putting, buying, selling, viewing, hearing, or making music online. By now, you probably have an inkling of the enormous benefits of showcasing your music on the Internet, but if you're like many musicians, you still haven't taken that next step and actually done it. Or maybe you've uploaded some tunes, but you aren't completely satisfied with the quality or response. Or perhaps you're looking to journey into the new frontier of interactive music.

Good news: whatever your interest in boosting your audio presence on the Web, this issue is designed to help. From “Construction Site,” which explains the absolute basics of how sound moves around the Net, to “Special Delivery,” a step-by-step recipe for building your own music site, this section strives to cover the topic from all sides. In the two-wrongs-don't-make-a-site category, you'll find the articles peppered with tips from other artists on what to do (and what to avoid) if you want to attract and keep fans online.

IF THE BENEFITS, WEAR IT

The advantages of having your music on a global jukebox are undeniable. You'll enjoy low-cost promotion and distribution, a more direct connection with listeners, and a “demo tape” that's always cued up. Think of how many times you've met someone who wants or needs to hear your music — isn't it always when you've just run out of CDs? In those situations, it's frequently too awkward and time consuming to ask the person for a mailing address, but it's easy to jot down your URL. The savings in time, postage, and plastic coasters make the online approach even sweeter.

To take another example, people are leery of buying things they can't try out. If you're selling an original CD, posting previews of it on a Web site is an effective way to put potential buyers at ease. You may also find that the skills you pick up by building a site can easily turn into a significant source of side income. (Handy for the gear junkie in everyone!)

Finally, having a site shows that you're serious about your music, and it also can be fun. Upload a few grooves from your songs and let visitors rearrange them or suggest new directions for you. After all, the Internet has always been about accelerating the flow of ideas.

Although putting your music online may seem like a giant leap, it really just involves a series of small steps. So pick the topic that interests you, flip to the appropriate page, and get ready to blast off.

ANIMATE YOUR MUSIC

Posting audio files on the Web is a great start, but why not give your visitors something to look at as well? Dave O'Neal — composer, sound designer, and animator for 8Legged Entertainment's Deep Fried, Live! (www.8legged.com) — did just that and found the process synergistic. He composed the music in the animation program Macromedia Flash.

“In our ‘King Prawn’ episode, there were several segments that called for a spacey, sci-fi soundtrack that musically highlighted events in the show,” O'Neal says. “So I recorded some creepy ambience; string swells; abrupt piano chords; and eerie, wandering piano lines. Then, I imported them into Flash. As I built the scene graphically, I used the musical elements to articulate actions on screen, such as the confused expressions of the octopus chef or the surprise arrival of a gigantic radioactive shrimp. All the sounds were set to stream, so Flash mixed them to a single audio track as the movie was published. The result was a creepy soundtrack nicely integrated into the scene.”

FILE PREPARATION

“To reduce bandwidth, some sites automatically convert your music to mono when you submit it,” says Kevin Hammer, Webmaster for the Music Technology Learning Center (www.mtlc.net). “So after you've finished your mix, listen to it once again in mono to check for phase cancellation or other problems.”

Hammer, who's in the band Infinity Minus One (www.infinityminusone.com), also recommends being less subtle with your mixes when mastering for the Web. “Some subtleties that might sound great on a CD or a high bit-rate MP3 either get lost or just sound bad when converted to a streaming format,” he says. “For example, sounds in the very upper and lower registers will often disappear. Don't spend a lot of time creating very delicate textures in these regions, because they probably won't be heard by the listener.”

Hammer also recommends being conservative with effects when mixing. “Some sound cards add reverb to audio playback by default,” he says, “so if your song has a lot of reverb on it already, this might put it over the top.”

--Dennis Miller

ALONG CAME A SNYDER

Musician, producer, and novelist Keith Snyder (www.mp3.com/keithsnyder) has helped a variety of artists get online. He offers this advice: “Tap into a hardcore genre audience. My opera artist, Kathleen Haaversen (www.mp3.com/haaversen), gets more downloads than all of my more experimental and pop-oriented artists combined. The listens are much steadier, too — no volatile flash-in-the-pan download patterns.”

Snyder also recommends doing theme events that you can promote to e-mail lists outside your music one. “My two most successful MP3.com projects have been A Criminal Record [music and voice collaborations with mystery writers] and The Ship That Lies at the Bottom [spoken-word pieces about an old ship in New York City],” he says. Although it would have been inappropriate to ask subscribers to a literature list to check out his music, it was perfectly fine to entice them to his MP3.com page to hear recordings of dramatic readings. Once there, they couldn't help but notice the music tracks.

FLASH WOUNDS

“I hate those oh-so-clever Flash intros, and I even do music for them!” says BJ Leiderman (www.bjleiderman.com), the award-winning composer of themes for National Public Radio's Morning Edition, Weekend Edition, and Marketplace. “All they do is put more time between you and the information you want. Before you animate your splash screen, ask yourself exactly how it will enhance your site; if it's necessary; and most important, are you doing it because all of the other sites are doing it? That's a great reason to opt out, in my opinion.

“If you must Flash,” Leiderman continues, “have mercy on visitors without a broadband connection and keep the file size down.” When asked to name a good Flash site, Leiderman mentions www.stratum.net/espresso/flash.html. “I like it because it syncs so well with the animation and lends an air of importance to the site,” he says. “Effective Flash music adds something to the animation; it isn't simply something to listen to while the animation is going on. That's what radio is for.”

SCREAMING MP3s FOR FREE

Emmy-nominated sound editor Skip Adams runs Global Graffiti, a production-music service for TV, film, and radio. “Most people don't realize that they can stream MP3 files from their own Web site just like MP3.com does,” Adams says. “What's more, you don't need a special server or software.”

By using heavy data compression, Adams creates MP3s that stream reliably over 28.8 kbps modems. He encodes the files at 16 kbps, 11 kHz mono. “In terms of sound quality, you won't notice a huge difference between these files and their somewhat larger cousins,” he says. “Better to stream than dream.” As a service to EM readers, Adams has put a streaming MP3 tutorial on a secret page of his site, www.globalgraffiti.com/demo.htm. Click the 16 kbps link and see what you think.

HOW BEZAR

“First gratify, then mystify,” advises Emily Bezar (www.emilybezar.com), a singer and keyboardist who has released three haunting albums of jazzy, electric songs on her own label, DemiVox. “Remember that for people without fast connections, the Web is like an encyclopedia with leaden pages. Don't make them hunt through three levels of Flash animation for your music. Have an obvious link to your sound files on the home page.”

To maintain a sense of mystery, Bezar recommends not playing all of your cards — with sound or with visuals. “One or two pictures of you is enough to intrigue,” she says. “Don't give away your favorite composition.”

HAVE MERCY

Vocalist and composer Amy X Neuburg heads the “electronic avant-cabaret” ensemble Amy X Neuburg and Men. When designing her site (www.isproductions.com/amy), she tried to think like a potential fan. “Even with DSL, I don't have the patience to download entire MP3 songs just to get a taste of what someone is up to,” she says, “so I suggest offering quicker options. On my page, I only include short segments in RealAudio, with links to my MP3 songs at MP3 service sites. That saves time for the surfer and gets the point across. I'm assuming most people won't necessarily want to hear all five minutes of a song just to get an idea of what my music is like; my site is basically for promo. So I pick my favorite 30 seconds or minute and post just that. That also allows me to use my allotted server space more efficiently. I can post lots of short segments instead of just a few long ones.”

JOIN THE RING

If your music falls into a category that other people might share, consider joining or even starting a Webring. Rings are maintained by users (called RingMasters) and provide a link for like-minded individuals to find others of their ilk. You can find a list of many current rings at http://dir.webring.yahoo.com/rw?d=Music and get information about starting your own at http://edit.webring.yahoo.com/h/create_ring.html.

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH IT

“New artists selling music through their Web sites might want to consider programs like Amazon.com Advantage,” says Jon Holland (www.jonholland.com), composer of numerous video-game scores, including Ms. Pac-Man Maze Madness (Dreamcast/N64/PlayStation) and Vectorman (Sega Genesis). “You can place a link to your Amazon.com page on your personal site's ordering page, allowing customers to purchase your CD through Amazon for peace of mind.”

Selling through Amazon also lets you tap into that mammoth site's powerful referral engine, which directs visitors to your music when they browse similar albums. Better, you're paid 45 percent of the retail price you set, even though Amazon sells your CD for a “discount” price.

Holland expects to finish his debut album later this year but has already had success promoting it. MP3.com visitors have played demos from the disc more than 59,000 times, and scarcely a week goes by without a fan writing to ask when the album will be available. In the meantime, MP3.com's Payback for Playback program sends Holland money every time one of his songs is clicked on.