Though the beats and guitar riffs may stop pounding from the neighborhood’s scattered bars at a relatively pedestrian 2 a.m., Allston, Mass. — which lacks Los Angeles’ glitz and star-power, New York City’s army of up-and-coming musicians or New Orleans’ tradition of musical innovation and influence — has carved its own important niche in the music world thanks to a few Internet-savvy University of Massachusetts at Amherst alumni who use their unassuming headquarters to bring manifold musicians to the masses 24 hours a day.
“I’m far too young for my age,” said PureVolume.com Artists Relations head Mike Slebodnik. “It’s nice. I ride a skateboard to work and wear a sweatshirt and jeans all day. Or pajamas when I’m particularly hung over from getting wasted with guys from my favorite bands.”
Located in the bowels of Allston, the office of PureVolume.com, a free music networking website that enables bands to attract booking agents, managers and publicists while appealing directly to their fans, looks more like an ideal college hangout than the home of a business. A pool table dominates the center of the room and a big screen television, connected to “Guitar Hero” controls, stretches across half of one wall. But the business is thriving — according to the website of its parent company, Virb Inc., PureVolume.com counts more than 400,000 artists as members.
Slebodnick’s office, littered with overlapping coils of wires from its two Mac computers, take-out containers and empty water bottles, features a guitar signed by Scary Kids Scaring Kids, various autographed band posters and promotional CD cases stacked precariously on desks. His job — a music fan’s dream — consists of hanging out with bands and experimenting with computer programs, he said.
“We have an acoustic studio here, and bands come in, play a few songs and I record them with ProTools and a video camera,” Slebodnick said, adding he also designs custom promotional web campaigns for the visiting bands. “[But] my job is to become friends with guys in bands . . . Or girls in bands. That’s cool, too.”
FROM ALLSTON TO ALL-WORLD
Bret Woitunski, Mitchell Paveo and Nate Hudson founded PureVolume.com after a similar site shut down in December 2003. With help from then little-known record label Fueled by Ramen — responsible for launching the careers of pop-punk bands like Gym Class Heroes and Panic! at the Disco — the new site flourished and its audience grew quickly.
“When we started, we were sort of the source for indie music,” Slebodnik said. “There was almost no competition at that point — MySpace music wasn’t even around.”
Since the three friends launched the site, countless other music destinations have cropped up across the web. Smaller sites like last.fm, PitchforkMedia.com, Stereogum.com, and others in the sprawling blogosphere tailor to niche music scenes, while more well-known sites like MySpace.com, AOL.com and Yahoo.com cater to a more mainstream crowd of music fans.
On the site, bands can tap into a gigantic audience of web-surfing music fans by posting news, photos, tour information and blogging space in addition to audio clips. The homepage also offers coveted spots for extra exposure and features unreleased songs and the live acoustic performances.
“We like to keep the editorial places that get a lot of eyes filled with bands we know or we’ve heard of,” Slebodnik said. “Even up-and-coming [bands] with support from different labels, or a band working on their own to support themselves — basically bands showing initiative.”
Will Noon, the drummer for Straylight Run – created by former members of Taking Back Sunday – said his band immediately enlisted PureVolume.com’s help to start generating buzz among listeners.
“Our band actually started with no label support at all,” Noon said. “Because of sites like PureVolume, we were able to headline a full U.S. tour with only six demo songs up on our website for free download. There was no marketing or advertising — just online word of mouth.”
“These sites are key elements in the sweeping changes that we’re seeing [in the music industry],” he continued. “They allow information to pass directly from the band to audience, or potential audience. They have a ton of information available in one central location, all the while allowing the audience to hear free music.”
DISCOVERING ‘THE NEXT BIG THING’ MADE EASY
Record labels and media companies across the country say they use PureVolume.com to search out bands worthy of a second listen, and maybe even a recording contract.
Fanscape chief executive officer Larry Weintraub said his Los Angeles-based new media marketing company has used PureVolume.com to find talent and gauge artist appeal since its inception. Functioning as a “one-stop shopping” destination for fans and scouts, the site can be a “vital promotional tool” for artists, whether they’re breaking into the scene or already established, Weintraub said.
“I always recommend to our clients [record companies] that they pay for the ability to feature artists who are relevant to the audience of the site,” he said. “If a record company is launching a new album by an artist who would be embraced by PureVolume’s audience, this is one of the ‘must do’ parts of a campaign.”
A band’s popularity on PureVolume.com signals potential for even broader exposure and wrests the power of discovery and ability to make or break brands from a few industry executives and delivers it to the fans, Weintraub said.
“Music is incredibly subjective, and there are a handful of people who are talented enough to spot music that the masses will enjoy,” he said. “But most music doesn’t fit into this ‘mass’ category and it should be judged by its fans and not by a small group of record executives.”
PureVolume.com’s ability to kick-start musical careers and knock out the middle man (record labels) has had serious ramifications within the industry, Slebodnik said. Coupled with declining CD sales and an illegal downloading epidemic, some corporate executives fear the internet music community may be the death knell for major record labels.
“The music industry right now, there’s a lot getting leveled out,” Slebodnik said. “Labels aren’t quite as necessary anymore. They won’t go away, but it’s going to be much more downscaled.”
Instead of months of careful planning and career-building from within the music industry, Slebodnik and his colleagues offer a place for bands to develop their own audience through a few mouse clicks and keystrokes.
“The label used to be the standard to give an artist credibility,” Slebodnik said. “Now, if an artist is out there making money on their own and people like them, it’s the fans giving them credibility.”
Though the music industry may be changing, the future is bright, Slebodnik said.
“[At the very least] it means we’re going to have better music,” he said. “And there is nothing wrong with that.”