Hello everyone,
as promised, IEM will relaunch a website. If all goes well, the website will go live before the month of August turns into September. In fact, a version with limited content will go live within a week if the final testing proves fruitful. A few things are different than they have been in the past.
- Reviews are still the centerpiece of the website, but they will be displayed differently. There will be an extensive discography for many of the artists I cover here at Inner Ear Media. This does not mean I reviewed all of these records, but it provides an extra service / context towards what a certain band or musician has accomplished in his/her/their career. Previously written reviews will slowly be added to the website, so if your favorite band or artist is lacking in reviews for the moment, don’t fret, those will be added in a jiffy.
- The site will become a little more interactive, if everything works out. There will be more audio & video (streaming, of course) and every once in a while we’ll have an exclusive download available. Also, community voting, periodic chat (w/ special guests) and contests will be implemented into the website in the next few months. I’m very excited about this part.
- Independent musicians will get more involvement in Inner Ear Media. As you all know, I’ve been covering certain bands and musicians for over 10 years, starting on Myspace when this thing was still called The Music Vault. Some of these artists are being approached to see if they want to check in every so often to write a little guest blog entry. Those entries can be about many different things: little anecdotes from the road, songwriting tips, an insight into the life of an independent musician, talking about inspirations and goals, etc. etc. These artists will get their own subpage on the website which you can find under ‘connected artists’. This doesn’t mean Inner Ear Media is in any way officially affiliated with these artists, but it means they are favorites of the website that I’ve been following for a long time and hopefully they will be able to provide some insight into their work and expression.
- Interviews. In the past, interviews was more or less an additional service on the website, not really a centerpiece. Interviews are often hard to schedule and take some time to conduct, so don’t expect interviews to pop out every week, but there are going to be more regular updates with new interviews.
- News reel. The website will have a news reel with short news messages and behind this reel will be a page on which I will cover some news concerning artists we feel is interesting to share with you. Think of award wins, TV appearances, release notices, etc.
These will be the most important changes to the website, but more, smaller changes will be implemented throughout the next few months. If you have any suggestions or can offer help with the website, you are always welcome to contact me. Any and all help, constructive criticism and suggestions are always welcome. This weblog will continue to exist, alongside facebook, twitter and last.fm pages, so the easiest way to contact is through Facebook, Twitter or comment to this blog.
Thank you all for your support throughout the years. It means the world to me and I hope to see you all visit the new website when it goes live. Thank you!