I'm definitely getting the sense these days that music is poised to explode on the Web to levels we've never imagined before.
Hundreds of thousands of college students are heading back to Internet-wired dorms this week, and you can be sure they'll be setting up MP3 jukebox servers as soon as they can. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of other music fans have created devotional sites about their favorite acts, providing free marketing for every type of music and musician you can think of.
Online music stores are flourishing, and Amazon.com's entry into the arena is sure to bring more music shoppers to the Web. Record companies now routinely use the Web for all sorts of promotional efforts. Why? It's cheap, it hits the right demographics, and you can give away "free samples" very easily.
Let's see. Why don't I pick just one popular band and see how the Web is treating it? My choice: Korn, whose new album just debuted at number one, a surprising achievement for a group known for its...how shall I put it?...aggressive style of "new metal." It's not for everyone, but it's certainly interesting, and Korn's chart success suggests that it's pretty trendy, too.
I'll start, as I always do, at Yahoo!. Wow. There are 54 Korn sites, including four that Yahoo! has classified as "cool." This is pretty amazing. There are Korn chats, Korn guitar tabs for the latest album (which has been out for only two weeks), Korn FAQs, Korn photos, hundreds of Korn sound clips, and lots of Korn lyrics.
Among the sites listed is the official Korn site. Let's have a look. Everything you'd expect is here--photos, bios, tour dates--and the site is highly evolved. There are message boards (some with over 1,000 posts), links to live chat rooms, and even a Korn store. Ha! These guys may rage against society, but when it comes to making money, they're in cahoots with The Man. As Korn so wonderfully puts it: "Gear yourself out in our gear and we won't think you suck!" You can choose from among five kinds of hats (ka-ching!) or 15 kinds of T-shirts (ka-ching!). Auctions are promised soon. Very impressive.
A link off the Korn site takes you the Ultimate Band List, which links in turn to the UBL's own Korn headquarters. At this point, the links start to become redundant as I find myself beginning to surf in circles, heading back to places I've already been; but I also find a link to Korn's record label, Epic Records. It's interesting to note that this "official" site, created by professional marketeers, isn't nearly as good as some of the amateur sites that are out there. Maybe the Epic folks realize they don't have to try too hard given the fact that the fans are doing their work for them. I do find another display of Korn merchandise here, but it's all "currently unavailable." Hmmm. Maybe Korn is doing so well selling at its other store that it doesn't see why it should cut the record company in on the action at all.
So far in my surfing I've had three chances to buy Korn's new CD, and I know that if I go to the online music stores, I'll find more Korn info, clips, and photos. What about Korn news? I start at SonicNet. Here, a simple search leads me to an interview with the band written just the day before. Bassist Fieldy Arvizu says of the new CD, "I love it, man....It's my favorite record. It's so fun to listen to all the way through. People ask me what's my favorite song, and I say, 'The whole record.' " I'm impressed by the quality of the journalism here, and by how fast I get it. No sitting around waiting for Rolling Stone to arrive.
Speaking of which, I check Rolling Stone Online, which has the basic biography and discography (buy now from CDNow!), clips of old radio interviews, message boards, and the like. Not bad.
What does MTV have to say? Not as much. A search for Korn gets me an unorganized list of related articles, but some mention the band only tangentially. My final stop is at Rocktropolis, the music site from the same people who run the online store Music Boulevard. Along with my sixth chance to buy the new Korn CD online, I get another great article about Korn, which says, "Korn has managed to build up a following the old-fashioned way: through endless touring, word-of-mouth, and, of course, scaring kids' parents."
I think my point is made. The Web has profoundly and permanently changed the way music is marketed, especially to the under-35 crowd, which buys most of it. Coming next: cyberspace music distribution that will ultimately mean the end of CDs? To paraphrase what Oracle's Larry Ellison has said of software in general: It's all just bits. Why stick them on plastic platters, wrap them in cardboard, and drive them around in trucks? In the meantime, the Korn boys must be enjoying all that the Web is doing on their behalf. For them, as their 1996 CD title said, "Life is Peachy.
