m below.The websites that I have listed in the linkroll could very easily be split into two groups of ten. One of these collections, which I will analyze first, only contains websites that pertain to one particular music festival, and mainly discuss issues concerning that specific event. That being said, these festivals were not chosen at random, but are rather an assembly of
many larger, more well-known occasions that are strewn across the United States. Unfortunately for the purpose of this posting, "festival season" is just coming to an end. Summer is classically the time when people attend them given the weather, and the freedom to do so for many young people. It is very unlikely, however, that any of these event's websites will change between now and next summer. In fact, it is very possible that the links to them will remain useful for many years to come. The first of such websites I will discuss is Coachella. Offering all sorts of interactive options such as a virtual tour through the gigantic venue, an extensive photo gallery of the performers and fans alike, live webcasts, and pretty much any other feature you could want out of a music festival's website, it is little surprise that Coachella's site won the title of "Best Festival Website" on MelodyTrip's first ever Festies, "the first annual US music festival awards." Indeed, it was difficult to find anything wrong with the site belonging to the annual extravaganza that takes place in the tiny town of Indio, California. The same could not be said for another festival's website, however, Milwaukee, Wisconsin's Summerfest. While the 11-day event's website is not particularly bad, I found the layout of its homepage to be extremely awkward with a gigantic picture taking up most of the space. All of the necessary applications were there, one just has to look past the clumsy and unattractive setup. Another example of a website that, once again, contained all of the proper services but suffered due to a poor homepage was that of the Virgin Mobile Festival, which looked as though the event's lineup had literally been smeared across the screen. Another site that I found to be rather dull was the Vans Warped Tour page. Although boring, it was very easy to use and offered some exceptional features such as the video blog and a "pit reporter." Quite possibly the most visually outstanding website I looked at was Lollapalooza's. With a multitude of fun effects and graphics, it was truly a pleasure just to search around. Unfortunately all those add-ons seemed to slow the page's loading speed which caused some frustration. Another site that I found aesthetically pleasing and also very easy to operate was the one belonging to Bonnaroo. This event not only has musical acts, but also celebrates comedy, cinema, and art, which the website shows very clearly. When one surveys the Bonnaroo site, they may be drawn in by the warm colors, silly cartoons, and light feel that its page exudes. In stark contrast to this is the Ozzfest website. Ozzfest is meant to appeal to fans of hard rock and metal music and, considering the general feel that the digital bones and chains have given to their page, I'd say that they are doing just that. Definitely one of the most amazing things that I witnessed on any of these web pages was the "ultra-zoomable festival crowd shots" that you can check out on the Austin City Limits Music Festival site. Basically, it allows one to zoom in on someone in a photo from a distance and still be able to see them clearly. The last two festivals whose sites I analyzed take place in Seattle, Washington. First I looked at Bumbershoot's page which I will use as an example for how all of the websites I mention above are very similar in nature. The reason I chose all of these sites for my linkroll is because they all present the necessary information one needs for a good music festival web page in creative and interesting ways, it's just that some do it better than others which is why I mainly focused on their layouts and how simple they are to use. The one exception to this is the website for The Capital Hill Block Party (also in Seattle), which is basically just a MySpace page with some bare-bones information and some really good videos, but I think that it serves as a good example of what a credible website can look like for a smaller festival.
This other set of ten websites do not focus simply on one particular music event each, but deal with broader aspects of the music industry. Pitchfork, for example, is a great source for news occurring in all musical genres, and it would be very useful for obtaining a general overview of the major events going on. If one wanted to continue searching for more information concerning festivals in particular, however, other sites like Rolling Stone: Festivals and Indie Rock Cafe both contain news pertaining to all major music festival events. Also, both have a very easy-to-use archive feature to look up old stories. As far as the business side of the music industry goes, the site Music Industry Today allows you to search for the most up-to-date news by topic, or even by country. Also, as I wrote about in one of my previous blogs, everything in the world of contemporary music is changing due to the fact that we can now download songs digitally, and websites such as Online Music News can help us to keep up with what that means in an ever-evolving industry, (despite the fact that it has far too many advertisements cluttering it up). While some websites like Online Music News are reporting on these subjects, however, others are actively trying to shape and mold what the music industry is becoming. The Future of Music Coalition, for example, has a mission statement claiming that they are "a national non-profit education, research and advocacy organization that identifies, examines, interprets and translates the challenging issues at the intersection of music, law, technology and policy," and offer a number of ways in which one can get involved with their cause. Of course, another great way to get your voice heard is through blogging, and there are some great professional blogs dealing with issues in the music industry that can be commented on such as the Virgin Music Blog and the Jaded Insider. Also, if one wanted to write to a very well-constructed blog with a better chance of actually receiving an answer from the author, I would suggest the Sentric Music Blog, which exists in order to "tell unsigned bands the vital facts they need to know about the music industry." Then, there is always the peer-to-peer blogs in which everyone is equal, like the Archive for the 'Music' Category on p2pnet. This website has a very sloppy setup, but at least everyone can get their voice heard. I know that my understanding of music festivals and the music industry has been greatly broadened by these 20 sites, and I hope that others who visit my blog will learn from them too.
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