Wall of Sound (website)

Wall of Sound was an American music website that provided news, reviews and information on musical artists.[1] The site was launched and developed in the mid 1990s by Paul Allen's software and website company, Starwave, in Seattle, Washington.[2] In April 1997, Starwave entered into a joint venture partnership with ABC News, which expanded the coverage of the company's internet services into the ABC domain.[2] A year later, Wall of Sound – along with Starwave sites such as Mr. Showbiz, NBA.com and NASCAR Online – was part of a joint e-commerce initiative between ABC and ESPN.[3]

The Wall of Sound offices were located in Smith Tower in central Seattle.[4] The website was named after American producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound production technique.[5] Its editor was Erik Flannigan,[6] who had previously written for The Rocket[7] and co-authored a 1991 biography of Led Zeppelin.[8]

The site's music reviews were often included in Metacritic's aggregate scores.[9] A co-founder of Wall of Sound, Anders Wright served as news editor;[10] over the same period, he also wrote for Mr. Showbiz and ESPN.com.[11] Representing Wall of Sound in February 2000, Wright spoke out against the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), protesting its exclusion of online music journalists from the Grammy Awards ceremony after the Los Angeles Times had published a series of articles alleging corruption within NARAS. In reaction to NARAS' apparent failure to recognize the growing importance of the internet, Alders said: "all they’re doing is making it harder for people to get information about the Grammys."[12] Other regular contributors to the site included music critics Gary Graff and Daniel Durchholz, who together edited titles in the MusicHound album guide series.[13]

By 2004, Wall of Sound was majority-owned by the Disney corporation.[14] The website's URL currently redirects to ABC's Go.com portal.

References
  1. Axford, Elizabeth C. (2004). Song Sheets to Software: A Guide to Print Music, Software, and Web Sites for Musicians. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-81085-027-9.
  2. Progressive Networks (May 15, 1997). "ABC News Internet Ventures, Starwave, and Progressive Networks Team Up to Deliver RealAudio and RealVideo Content for ABCNEWS.com". PR Newswire. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  3. Staff writer (April 11, 1998). "ABC, ESPN get into e-commerce". CNET. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  4. Wright, Anders (March 1, 2001). "Wall of Sound Rocked by Earthquake". ABCNEWS.com. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  5. Durchholz, Daniel (February 2001). "Wall of Sound Review: All Things Must Pass (Remastered)". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on February 3, 2001. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  6. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. pp. xxiv–xxv. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  7. Flannigan, Erik (April 1990). "David Bowie, PNE Coliseum, 3/15". The Rocket. p. 10.
  8. Ray, Michael (ed.) (2013). Disco, Punk, New Wave, Heavy Metal, and More: Music in the 1970s and 1980s. New York, NY: Britannia Educational Publishing. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-61530-912-2.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  9. "Wall of Sound Profile". Metacritic. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  10. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. xxii. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  11. "Anders Wright: Movie Critic: Arts & Entertainment". SanDiegoUnionTribune.com. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  12. Hiatt, Brian (February 25, 2000). "Academy Restricted L.A. Times' Grammys Coverage, Paper Says". MTV.com. Retrieved June 7, 2016.
  13. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel (eds.) (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. xv. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  14. Lovejoy, Margot; Paul, Christiane; Vesna, Victoria (eds.) (2011). Context Providers: Conditions of Meaning in Media Arts. Bristol, UK: Intellect. pp. 195–96. ISBN 978-1-84150-308-0.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
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