GROOVE THINGS
Channel the Webby Music nominees

by Heather Lalley
05.11.00

The Webby race for best music site pits Charlie Manson against four beauty queens.

That's if you believe the hype surrounding Napster.com, the much-feared and talked-about MP3 application that's been banned on college campuses and taken to court by Metallica. Napster squares off against Farmclub.com, an unsigned band showcase; Launch.com, the corporate darling; Sputnik7.com, a multimedia circus of music, film and anime; and WiredPlanet.com, a personalized streaming-audio site.

With the exception of Napster, all the nominated sites are deftly designed and full of information on bands and artists unheard of by the average Web surfer. But lumping Napster and the others in the same category is like judging an Oscar race between Meryl Streep and the cameraman. The same pickle came up in last year's Webby match-up, when application-based site MP3.com competed against content and information sites like Sonicnet and UBL.com. (Sonicnet ended up taking the honors, with MP3.com winning the popular vote.) Maybe the Webby powers-that-be will consider adding a new category in 2001 for music software applications.

So, here's the skinny on this year's nominees:

Farmclub.com

Odd duck, that Farmclub. It's part unsigned bands, part mainstream music, part downloadable sounds and videos, and part TV show. Ali Landry, Miss USA 1996, co-hosts the Farmclub.com TV show on the USA Network and conducts band interviews streamed on the site. Users can vote for their favorite unsigned bands, with one lucky group eventually scoring a record deal. The site is slickly designed, but provides little in-depth information on the bands or music in general. There are, however, some pinup-worthy shots of Landry. Style over substance is the name of this club's game.

Launch.com

Launch.com is the most accessible and mainstream of the bunch. Not surprisingly, it's also the most corporate. The site is "engaged in strategic relationships" with Sony, EMI, Warner Music, AOL, Microsoft and a Who's Who of other deep pockets. You can log onto Launch to catch an interview with Rah Digga or watch the latest Kid Rock video. Not exactly the place to travel uncharted musical waters. The site, like other nominees, allows users to create audio and video channels based on their musical tastes. There are plenty of contests and record-label tie-ins. And on the off chance you'd want to buy a CD from one of the featured artists, you shouldn't have too much trouble; e-tailer CheckOut.com is another of the site's "strategic relationships."

Napster

And then there's Napster, the black sheep of this Webby family. If you haven't heard about it, then you probably had to have someone print out this story to read it. But for the one guy who hasn't, Napster is an application that allows you to share and trade MP3 downloads. Think of it as an all-access pass to your rich friend's CD collection, available for you to borrow any time. Once you download Napster (sorry Mac users, it's not yet available for you), you can also chat with other users and take advantage of a self-contained audio player. At least three universities banned Napster after Metallica filed a copyright-infringement suit against the site. And other schools have cut off access to the software because it clogs networks like Don King's hair clogs drains.

Sputnik7.com

Too bad for Sputnik7.com that the Webbys don't have some kind of hybrid category. Simply calling it a music site is much too limiting. With by far the most bells and whistles of the nominated sites, Sputnik7.com streams out a real-time mix of music, film and anime. A trip to Sputnik7 is a bit like that first trip to the moon, a sensory assault through unknown territory, filled with swirling graphics and blipping sounds. But if you've got a dial-up Internet connection, fuggetaboutit. When you're not waiting to load, you'll be staring at grainy images like a teen-aged boy trying to spot a nipple on a scrambled porno channel.

WiredPlanet.com

WiredPlanet is like the Burger King of music sites. It pledges to let users have music their way, allowing them to create personalized radio stations with their MP3 files. Listeners can search other users' collections of MP3 songs and add those tunes to their collections. The site also has a strong content base, with interviews, artist bios and photos. No flashy design here. WiredPlanet looks like one of those airport signs geared toward non-English speakers. But the big-button icons are plenty welcoming and easy to use.

My Webby money, though, is on Launch.com. Someday, when we all have warp-speed connections, sites like Sputnik7 and Farmclub will be a blast. For now, though, I'd just like a site that lays out a wide range of music with a good dose of news and information. Launch has videos, it has music, you can personalize it for your tastes. The design could have a bit more oomph, but on the Web these days, ease-of-use still outweighs pizzazz.

Heather Lalley is the rock critic for the Spokane Spokesman-Review

Editor's note: Newcity.com is a sponsor of the 2000 Webby Awards, but its coverage of the event remains independent of that agreement.