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Information
on bands and artists is one of the
most searched-for topics online and as
a result, a large number of sites have
evolved to cater for this demand.
This
field is quite large, with countless
thousands of artists, so many artists
sites will not be able to cover all
that ground and only just just scratch the
surface. But some are already
providing good depth for a large
variety of artists today, and are
starting to offer some of the features
that will be in mainstream demand
tomorrow.
This
choice review looks at the leading
sites, those who provide the best in
this field. The top sites are
summarized in a top 10 directory, and
the top choices from this directory
reviewed.
Specialist
artists portals come of age...
The
days of searching through various
search engines for artist info have
given way to a newer approach, that of
the site which specializes in making
all types of artist info available in
a single cohesive format. So now these
sites make it as easy as just entering
an artist's name to get biographies,
discographies, lyrics, pictures, tour
dates and media files. These are the
specialist artists portals, and it's
no surprise how popular they are
tuning out to be.
Because
they have evolved to provide what
their users want, they are now
attracting a wider audience of repeat
visitors which has made some of these
sites very popular indeed. And with
the interest in music on the Web, this
seems set to continue, especially as
the Web's ability to supply media
files like video and audio continues
to grow.
Media
files are looking like being part of the
future in this area, with more music
labels seeing the potential of
releasing videos and audio clips for
their online audience. At the same time
various steps are being made to go
forward in the big MP3 debate. When
these types of media become more
mainstream than they are now, the
leading artists sites of today will be
at the front of the pack in offering
them. There is some movement in that
direction now, but the biggest
restriction is still bandwidth. When
that changes it will be another
quantum leap for this market, and it
will move forward even quicker than it
is now.
For
now, though, the
same leading artists sites that are
already offering media files are also
the ones who tend to provide the most
in-demand artist info in the best
format today. These are the sites
singled out as top choices in this
choice review, those who provide what
users want today, but with an eye on
tomorrow.
We have taken
the top 10 artists sites and evaluated them from
a users perspective, looking mainly
for the features that the majority of visitors
to artists site want. These include:
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Sites
which provide a good all-round
window of information on a large
number of diverse individual
artists.
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Good
depth of artist information -
including news, information,
pictures, biographies,
discographies, lyrics and media
files.
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Sites
which not only provide what people
want today, but are also in tune
with this topic's future. Sites
which are heading in the same
direction as both the music
industry and the Web.
CR
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1ST
CHOICE
Artists