music, Entertainment, Internet
Boston: The Hidden Hub of Music and Technology
Wade Roush 10/17/07
(Page 21 of 22)
Virb
Headquarters: Boston
Year Launched: 2003
Founders: Nate Hudson, Mitchell Pavao, Brett Woitunski
PureVolume, owned by Virb, is a straightforward site that links musicians and listeners. Artists and bands can upload songs, photos, blog posts, touring schedules, and the like to their own mini-websites. Listeners can download MP3s free of charge, track their favorite bands, and share music recommendations with friends. Over 400,000 musicians—mostly alternative, indie, and punk rock genres—have used the service, according to the company’s website. The founders at Virb (formerly Unborn Media)—Brett Woitunski, Nate Hudson, and Mitchell Pavao—are all alumni of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and say they started PureVolume partly to fill the vacuum left by the (temporary) shutdown of music-sharing site MP3.com in 2003. The company has also launched Virb, a social networking site that focuses on uniting people with common tastes in music, art, fashion, and film. …Next Page »
Wade Roush is Xconomy's chief correspondent. You can e-mail him at wroush@xconomy.com, call him at (617) 252-7323, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/wroush.
10/17/07 1:20 am
This is all true, as a Boston area musician, I can say that there are much more opportunities here for musicians than most anywhere else. I believe Boston has the most shows than any other city on any given night. The technology is also very true, with MIT, etc. however, it is a very tough business to be in. I own a record label and just released an album for the band theINFORMATI http://www.myspace.com/theinformati And we believe it will explode because of the Boston/Cambridge scene.
10/17/07 8:36 am
Don’t forget Tourfilter, the most popular concert notification service: http://www.tourfilter.com
10/17/07 11:27 am
In addition to Tourfilter, there’s also http://tourb.us and http://bandsintown.com. Boston appears to be a concert tracking hub!
10/17/07 2:18 pm
In terms of local area software companies with some sort of music/media technology, there also is Peermeta (www.peermeta.com) in Acton with a mobile content / Web 2.0 twist.
11/3/07 4:30 pm
So it seem like after Venue Czar conquers Vermont, they should target Boston? Venue Czar is the ultimate localized online booking platform.
11/7/07 5:26 pm
You could add us to this list as soon as we’re out of stealth mode. (http://www.conduitlabs.com)
1/8/09 8:28 am
Backbone Networks is another local company in this space. We provide internet radio automation systems and is the system behind the IBS Student Radio Network. There are over 30 station on the network and a number of them are local including:
Simmons College
New England Art Institute
Babson College
Separately, a non-profit start up is the Public Radio Exchange in Cambridge. They are the online clearinghouse for Public Radio content.
8/4/09 2:28 pm
New England has a great recource of musicians who have many opportunites and folks who are ready to help them with their careers. The cites Boston, Providence & Worcester all offer great venues and support services.