Web sites put local music in the spotlight

MySpace, iTunes and other major Web sites can put a world of music at your fingertips - maybe too much. A crop of locally owned, run and produced Web efforts is emerging to make finding local music much easier than wading through a sea of millions on the big sites.

"We're still kind of finding our way, but I'm overwhelmed with the response - very happy," said Douglas Dye, who produces and directs content for hamptonroadsmusic.tv, which features mostly acoustic and rock groups. The site has a series called "Up All Night" - a regional broadcast featuring local performances. "To tell you the truth, it was just a lark in the beginning, " Dye said.

"Up All Night" started as a webcast of Dye's rehearsals for his band, a funk-jazz outfit called Xstatix. "We were getting an audience as far away as overseas. It got fairly big, and we decided to expand."

Now hamptonroadsmusic.tv, which started in late November, has four programs up - with footage from different clubs around the area, as well as material from their studio in Williamsburg, where writer and on-air host Mike Griffith also uploads content.

According to Dye, the site's software recognizes a viewer's technological capabilities and decides which of three formats to broadcast, so viewers get the best quality.

Unlike hamptonroadsmusic. tv, www.uploadyourclip.com is user-generated, making it a sort of local, musical YouTube.

The site is a new venture by the creators of a two -year-old DVD compilation called "Rep Ya Set" that circulated in urban clothier DTLR. (In hip-hop terms, Rep Ya Set means "represent your affiliation.")

On this site, most of the acts are local hip-hop artists, yet its owners, Josh Gaines, a former real estate broker, and Franklin Whitaker, a Norfolk State University mass communications graduate, see content from rock groups and models as well. About 250 videos are on the site now.

"People have an advantage here as opposed to MySpace or YouTube because it's music-only," Gaines said. "There are a couple of miscellaneous things like the models, but on other sites there's so much other stuff, people have a hard time finding the music."

Gaines and Whitaker direct traffic to their sites through word of mouth, fli ers and posters. The site also includes footage culled from area concerts done by big-named artists such as rappers Redman, Freeway and DJ Drama. After they get footage of signed artists, Gaines and Whitaker then direct the artists' record label representatives to the site, hoping that they will check out new Virginia talent.

"We don't want to be boxed in," Gaines said. "We want to take it as big as we can."

They're funding the site with cash from filming weddings and videos. They've added a directory on the page to make it easier for businesses to advertise. This site, like hamptonroadsmusic.com, is hopeful that local advertisers will see the traffic and jump on board.

Although it isn't a Web site, "Roc the Mic" also is bringing together the local musical community via the Web. Norfolk State University graduate Rodney Bailey started the "Roc the Mic" newsletter in October.

Disappointed to see the series stop, Bailey - with two full-time writers and some contributors - decided to keep the spirit alive with an electronic magazine, or e-zine.

Every Wednesday, "Rock the Mic" readers get updates about local hip-hop acts, concerts, hot gossip and charity fundraising efforts, as well as updates on famous Virginians.

"The feedback has been incredible so far," Bailey said. "There have been a couple of great jobs as well as some e-mails about spelling mistakes," he admit ted with a chuckle. He says those "oopsies" are often the result of him publishing late at night. Apart from two years Bailey spent writing for The Spartan Echo, NSU's newspaper, he had no previous experience.

The letter goes out to a list that includes artists, their friends, radio personalities and more. Bailey sees it as an effort to inform and unify.

"I think it's very important that Virginia artists support each other." (Bailey has often explained to up-and-coming artists, for example, that they might only bring out a crowd of 100 alone, but four artists with a following of 100 each can pack a venue.) He says local artists are using the newsletter to work together. Next, he plans to widen his distribution list to include record label representatives who are responsible for scouting talent.

"It's helping people to unify," Bailey said, "which will help bring Virginia to the next level in terms of being respected by the record industry."

Malcolm Venable, (757) 446-2662, malcolm.venable@pilotonline.com