Webbing Continued...

Web searching...I was not too successful at this approach. I found that my topic is just a little too broad for Google and was given way too many sites to browse through. I tried doing a search for new music and came up with mostly consumer sites trying to sell me CD's. I tried searching with the keywords record label and found lots of websites trying to help artists get signed.

I then tried searching through Google groups. I began by browsing through the Arts and Entertainment groups. There were 535 groups. As I glanced through them, many were discussions on particular groups like Kiss, The Grateful Dead, and Phish. Others were about playing specific instruments (trumpet, accordian or drums). As this browsing was getting a little tiring and I was not really finding what I was looking for, I decided to use the Google search function. I typed in the key words 'acoustic music' because that is one of my favorite types of music. This narrowed my list to 28 groups.

Many were about playing acoustic guitars, recording acoustic music and acoustic guitars. I finally found a group that simply said 'Folk Music' and its description was: 'Folk music group! All about acoustic, roots, traditional and contemporary folk music.' Once I began reading some of the posts I found some to be unhelpful..."DVD Series Guitar Maestros features some of todays most celebrated and respected acoustic guitar musicians. Artists including Martin Simpson, Michael Messer, Big Jim Sullivan, Steve Tilston Wizz Jones and Clive Carroll, have each spent time in making their own individual DVD's. If you are a fan of Martin Simpson, Michael Messer, Steve Tilston, Wizz Jones, Big Jim Sullivan or Clive Carroll check out http://www.soundtechniques.co.uk/ for more information on this fantastic series. " First of all, I don't know who any of these artists are so I don't know if I would in turn like this music...it is a UK website so I don't know if the CD is available in the US, and thirdly, this sounds suspiciously like someone trying to sell me something. Some posts were just plain weird..."Russian music in the United States: Russian musicians, Russian songs, lyrics and translations into english, Russian orchestras and bands, Russian DJs, Russian music Alums and MP3 downloads, Russian musical instruments: balalaika, domra, bayan, garmoshka, gusli, Russian singers and performers: http://www.barynya.com/rm.stm" Uhhhh...what?! So this isn't the group for me, and come to think of it, reading through posts trying to find genuine recommendations for the type of music I like is just too time consuming. I decided that Google groups is not the best tool for this project.

I decided to continue my web search, but this time through recommendations I received from the local dj's I had e-mailed and from tips I received from peers through my blog. I checked out the following websites:

1. allmusic.com
2. vh1.com
3. mtv.com
4. billboard.com
5. rollingstone.com
6. betterpropaganda.com
7. salon.com

AllMusic - While scanning the first page of their website I noticed a link that would suscribe me to their New Release Newsletter. I subscribed and have so far only received a confirmation e-mail, but no newsletter. The site also has an interesting browse feature...you can browse by genre, mood, theme, country and instrument. First, I decided to explore by instrument. Under the 'strings' heading I chose guitar (acoustic). After clicking on the link, a page pops up with several paragraphs talking about the acoustic guitar, where it originated from and how it has evolved through time. Interesting, but not the information I'm looking for. After scrolling down, there is a list of artists. By random, I selected Robert Johnson (I've never heard of him before and he was the first on the list of about 20). There is no information provided on this screen other than the artist's name. After clicking on Robert Johnson, I was given information about when he was born (1911), when he died (1938), when he was musically active (1930's), his biography, who he was influenced by and similar artists. There were also links to his CD's. When I tried to listen to one of his songs, I was told that I must first be a registered member of the site. After registering, I logged into the site and was able to listen to a quick 30 seconds of Johnson's "Come On In My Kitchen" song. It was not the type of music I was looking for so I tried a different approach. For fun, I decided to use the sites search by mood tool. They list everything from silly, to sleazy, to dreamy. What fun! So I decided I was in a relaxed mood. This mood turned up such artists as James Taylor, Fred Astaire, and John Tesh (ack!) This tactic was not working for me...so I decided to try one more browse. This time I chose to explore by genre. Out of the list, I chose folk and then clicked on the subheading of new acoustic. I chose the artists Tuck and Patti. They are still living and I decided to listen to 'Time After Time.' After hearing the song, I recognized the artists and the song...still not quite what I'm looking for....I'll wait and see what their newsletter is like!

VH1 - I clicked on the music tab on their front page and then clicked on their 'You Oughta Know' link which took me to a page with 7 featured artists who VH1 claims to be on the rise. Underneath each artist is a brief synopsis of what their music is like. After clicking on a specific artist, there are four links listed: meet 'em, buy 'em, watch 'em and photos. The meet 'em link provides biographical information and a quote from the artist. The buy 'em links you to the VH1 store where you can purchase a CD. The watch 'em link provides several music videos and/or live performances to watch. The photos link contains several photos of the artist. After listening to each of the artists, I was able to find a couple of artists that I liked! Success! I REALLY enjoyed this site - it is well organized, easy to navigate and provides lots information.

MTV - After getting through the initial shock of all the eye candy and god-I-feel-old sentiment, I clicked on their music tab. After watching a Gillette Fusion commercial I tried to decipher just what all of their links might mean....one link said The Leak...I thought this might be about new artists, you know, leaking out information, a leak in the press, etc... After clicking on The Leak link, I watched another Gillette Fusion commercial and was presented with a rotating graphic that kept flashing the words "The Leak." Utterly confused with nowhere to click but on the massive Gillette razor, I decided to try another link. This time I clicked on the music tab again and chose artists. An Xyience ad popped up this time (don't even want to know what Xyience is...). Finally, I see a new artists link! A list of artists appear (without a commercial) with their pictures and brief information about where they are from and how they got their start. I have no information to go on about the type of music they play other than their photos so I at random chose Armor for Sleep - they look like a reasonable bunch. After clicking on the link to see their video 'The Truth About Heaven' I was treated first to a T-Mobile commercial - not just a pop up. Video and audio, about thirty seconds. Finally their video comes on and they are NOT my type of music. Completely frustrated with this site and all the commercials, I believe I may be too old for the MTV demographic and decided to move on....quickly.

Billboard - I clicked on their artists link and then selected their 'breaking and entering' link. This took me to their featured new artist, Mat Kearney, who is 'breaking into the scene.' I had to chuckle at his quote, "My goal is to try to avoid a genre - I think it's better for people to hear the music and decide for themselves what they think it is." This reiterates my point about why it is sometimes so hard to find new artists...everyone's definition of a music genre is different and it is often hard to describe the type of music you like. You just know it when you hear it! Anyway, back to Mat (with one T). I was able to read the article about him, upon clicking on the bio link there was no bio listed. His discography link told me the name of his CD but provided no links to listening to it. Urg.

Rolling Stone - This site has lots of music news stories...American Idol, Top Selling Albums for the week, and Missy Elliott ringtones. I decided to click on the artist link and was given a list of the twenty top selling artists for the week. I didn't find any information about new artists, however they might have more articles in their actual magazine. I'm not willing to make this investment when I think there are other free online sources where I can learn about new music.

Better Propaganda - This site was recommended by one of my peers through my blog. On their main page they describe themselves as a 'new music discovery tool.' This sounds like it might be what I'm looking for! After browsing through the site, I didn't find that it had the most effective search or browsing tools. The site is basically divided into four genres: rock, pop, hip hop and other. As I've discussed earlier, it is hard to know which of these genres is the kind of music I like. Throughout this research project I have found that the keywords that typically generate the kind of music I like are folk and acoustic. So, I decided to use the site's search engine and I typed in acoustic. I was given a list of 145 (mostly artist) links. By browsing through these links I was able to find some music that I liked. Sucess! Even though I found this site somewhat cumbersom to navigate, I think they really have the type of artists I am looking for. New groups that haven't broken into mainstream music yet. Overall, I found this site to be a very useful tool.

Salon - This was another site recommended by a peer from this class. She recommended the audiofile section of the site. Audiofile is a daily article featuring a free music download. The download for the day when I visited the site was a group called Slow Runner that was compared to Ben Folds. This was promising since I am a fan of Ben Folds. Their featured song was 'Break Your Mama's Back' which had been played on a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy. Another plus in my book because I have often found many songs I like being played on television shows or commercials. So I decided to give the song a listen. Great song!! A little different from what I usually listen to, but I really enjoyed it! I like this article because it features ONE song, it's not overwhelming with information and it would not take a lot of time to give a quick listen to the pick of the day and decided if I liked it or not. Also listed along the side of the page are previous days picks. Chalk this up to another success!

Overall, I found my web searching to be very educational...some of the sites that I thought would be helpful turned out to be real duds, and others I had not heard of turned out to be real winners!

I feel at this point of my research, that I have enough information. I had also listed list-servs and online newsletters as another option for finding information. I did subscribe to two online newsletters, but found them to be no more helpful than the original website. With the other two list-servs that I subscribe to professionally, I just don't think I have the time for a music list-serv. I feel happy with the information I have gathered and am ready to move forward with this project! As Carol Kuhlthau stated in her ISP research model I am feeling a sense of relief and satisfaction as I prepare to present my information.