Welcome to “Beyond YouTube: Mapping Music on the Internet,” an ongoing effort to list as many music sites as possible in a coherent and accessible manner.
YouTube is massive and indispensable. It is our collective memory. That goes for everything, including music. As dominant as it is, there is a rich online music world beyond YouTube. Some of these sites are well known, others are obscure. Some are sleek, others are clunky. They focus on different facets of the broad musical landscape. A music fan who wants to go beyond the superficial will find great value in “Beyond YouTube: Mapping Music on the Internet, Rock Edition.” You’ll find links to …
… band and performer fan sites. Fan sites generally are more comprehensive and interesting than corporate sites because labors of love are deeper than labors of commerce
… sites that offer concert-by-concert and year-by-year setlists for huge numbers of rock acts
… sites that provide musicians and people in the business with important information and resources … graphical music maps. At these cool sites, users type in a band or performer and are offered a graphical constellation of related musicians — with links to check them out. Clicking on one of those acts generates a new web of related performers and bands
… sites that focus on instruments
… sites that focus obsessively on specific subgenres and eras
… sites that provide lyrics, forums for discussing their meanings and untangle those that are commonly misunderstood
… sites featuring in-studio (and in-vehicle) performances
… sites that track music used in TV commercials, shows and movies
… sites that rate music and let parents know what their kids are listening to
… sites that explore song covers and album covers
… sites that provide access to thousands of Internet radio stations.
… sites that offer trivia and interesting “factoids
Please check it out–and, if you know of a hidden gem of a music site–send me a link at this email! I’ll be thrilled to credit you, if you’d like.
