Room for Expansion: The Concert Industry On The Web

One would think that with an industry as illustrious and ever changing as that of live music, the world wide web would be littered with web sites and blogs discussing every possible aspect. Through my extensive internet travels and much to my chagrin, I find that there are not as many wonderful sources as I previously expected. The internet is not without such sources, though I think there is much room for expansion on the subject of not only the live music industry but the live entertainment industry as a whole. As far as blogs, it seems as if not too many people have strong opinions on what is going on in the business other than how well or badly an artist performed recently. Now, do not think that the information super highway is completely absent of sources as there are some informative sites as well as opinionated blogs on the subject that I have chosen based on the Webby Awards and IMSA criteria and I have taken it upon myself to list ten of the most worthy of my findings in my link roll located in the right sidebar. First on the list, a primary source for music industry news for both the public and industry execs, Billboard.biz, is full of current events and stories about various topics in the music industry. Containing everything from videos and polls to articles and archives, Billboard.biz is a very interactive yet informative source. Next up is a link to the Concert Industry Consortium which is an annual event that brings together all kinds of people involved in the concert industry. At the conference announcements concerning industry change are revealed as well as predictions for the future of the business. Though the site is rather bare, the keynote address is often very informative though updated only annually. There are a couple links to other interesting websites as well. It does not contain much other information though and perhaps it could be more helpful by adding a forum where visitors can discuss topics raised at the conference. Following CIC is Digital Music News. Here there is up to date news on digital music. Though the live music industry seems to have little to do with digital music, perhaps concert may begin to stream digitally and this site will be a great source for information on such an occasion. The site also offers links to other blogs as well as a calendar of important conferences and other events. Encore, the weekly performance industry magazine, functions much like Billboard.biz, this site offers current industry news but is not updated as frequently as other sites. On the main page, visitors have access to various news topics from festivals to legal to international news. There are also Billboard album charts and a calendar of industry events. It seems to lean a bit more toward the industry executive as opposed to the general public which can be both good and bad. Encore is on par with Pollstar, but slightly less known. A great source for current music industry news is Forbes' music business section as it has current news. However, the website only features articles in the magazine and is very broad covering all aspect of music business in addition to concert industry news. Though it may not be very interactive, there is often articles covering topics that are not heavily covered elsewhere. Recently, I was turned on to Hits Daily Double, which many people in the industry turn to for up to the minute news. This site is updated several times a day and covers a wide range of topics. The site reads a bit like a newspaper with various sections and even a weekly comic. Unlike the previous sites which deal mainly with industry news, I came across the Live Music Blog. Though this blog focuses more on concert reviews, I found a concert industry archive section which had some interesting insight into the industry. It has not been updated in some time, but can be useful for finding old news that could be currently relevant. The Live Music Blog is a great example of many of the other blogs having to do with live music. Many bloggers focus on reviews of concerts as opposed to industry news. Hopefully, I can help fill in the gap using my own blog. There are many magazines about the music industry, including Billboard which I mentioned earlier and also Music Connection, which again, like Billboard has a corresponding web site. The site is very user friendly and saturated with all kinds of information from band interviews to club reviews to industry news. Unknown to me previously, NPR has a music news section as well which updates the site with one or two headlines daily. Often NPR is discussing a topic I have heard little about and does a good job of shedding light on a wide variety of topics. There is also a link to NPR approved blogs which can sometimes be interesting and informative reads, though the blogs tend to be music reviews such as Pitchfork or Obscure Sound. Lastly is my personal favorite resource, Pollstar(pictured at right). Including everything from concert industry news to artist availability to a comprehensive list of all current tours in North America, Pollstar is cohesive in its coverage of the concert industry. It is also the go to place for many industry executives ala the professionals edition of the site, PollstarPro. Covering a great deal of topics all centered around the live music industry, this website is an outstanding source for information. Although I have scoured the world wide web for various sources of information concerning the concert industry and have listed ten solid links, I feel there is much more that I have yet to find however difficult it may be. However, there is infinite space for more relevant and informative sites and blogs concerning the concert industry and with the current changes happening in the music industry and the shift from record labels to concert promoters perhaps the information super highway will soon witness a traffic jam of live music industry web sites and blogs.