While major labels do their own online experimentation, some acts such as Hieroglyphics use the Web as their sole means of marketing and distribution.
Originally published in THE WEB Magazine
“Listen up! Music rocks the web” issue
July 1997
Written by James Oliver Cury
While major labels do their own online experimentation, some acts use the Web as their sole means of marketing and distribution. A band called Hieroglyphics, from Oakland, CA, was forced to go independent after Elektra terminated its contract with Del the Funky Homosapien, and Jive Records dropped Casual and Extra Prolific. The band has subsequently generated a buzz and extra revenue through its official Web site.
“To help fund the album we sell older songs and stuff that people wouldn’t normally be able to get,” says the site’s Webmaster Yameen Friedberg (a.k.a. StinkE). “Everything’s on tape. We’re planning to accept credit cards over the Web in a few months; right now people just send checks to a P.O. box. People buy items on our online store. and that helps fund other Hieroglyphics projects that’ll be out in real stores.”
The band’s finished recording its first album and is already tasting success on a few radio stations across the country. Meanwhile, Friedberg continues to develop the site, buoyed by the growing interest. “After [the site] became official, I was motivated to work harder on it, and l had a lot more information to work with, so I began teaching myself more HTML and the site grew exponentially.” he says. “It went from getting 20 or so people day to over 1.000 now.”
James Oliver Cury is senior associate editor at THE WEB Magazine.
Reproduced on Hieroglyphics.org for educational purposes.