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  www.artistdirect.com

Artist Direct

http://www.artistdirect.com

It isn’t Napster but, then again, artistdirect.com doesn’t make users feel like they’ve been stealing money from Dr. Dre and Metallica when downloading a song.   Instead, this online music network offers a plethora of entertainment services, including MP3s, videos, shopping, news and message boards for over 100,000 artists. Furthermore, with millions of links to other music Web sites, artistdirect.com strives to be the one stop shop for any music lover’s needs. Easy to navigate, a user can start a search for their favorite Polka band or post a message about how hot that guy is from Coldplay. It has everything for anyone who has ears and a credit card. With millions of links to other music sites and weekly polls on today’s hottest artists, one can always stay abreast of the ever-changing music scene. One bummer of this site, however, is that many of the songs entered for a search are not available for listening. And what songs the site does have to listen to are only brief little blurbs. It seems, this site wants to make some money. Another feature offers music fiends the option of purchasing advanced tickets for shows coming their way (calling all Hanson fans…), as well as the ability to see venue listings and concert reviews.  Artistdirect.com also provides a “Special Features” section that highlights the top 10 songs of the week, an “On this Day in Music History” link and a weekly editorial column to salivating scandal seekers. The coolest part of Artist Direct is a channel that hooks the listener up to radio stations playing specific genres of music. Be it PJ Harvey or the Geto Boys, artistdirect.com has got it covered. One does need to be prepared to download all necessary equipment, however, to enable the music to be played. All in all, artistdirect.com is the Ackerman Union of online entertainment. They have everything for a pretty high price, perfectly packaged and displayed.

Sarah Monson Rating: 7

Busy Rhino

www.busyrhino.com

For those who thought scalping was illegal, think again. The Internet, with its majestic powers, has struck again, making prohibited things like scalping possible on busyrhino.com. At busyrhino.com, users can auction and buy tickets around the country for just about everything ranging from hockey games to concerts. Tickets for auction range from pop star names like the Backstreet Boys, to big theatrical productions such as the Lion King. Unfortunately, however, not that many tickets are actually available on the site. Sure, there are a few big names, but trying to use the search engine to locate specific tickets usually turns up zero results. The sports section, for instance, seems totally useless. Provided under “Team Listings” is the name of every sports team in the country, for users to click on to see what types of tickets are up for auction. What users will discover, though, is that more often than not, results will turn up empty handed. Some options offered at busyrhino.com, however, do offer potential success for the site, so long as more users begin posting and buying tickets. “Bid option,” is one of these seemingly useful features, which gives buyers the ability to bid up the price of a certain ticket until the auction is finished. This option not only benefits the seller, it also gives users more than one chance to get rare tickets. Another feature that could prove to be workable is “Fire Sale.” Here, users who find themselves with tickets they can’t use and only 48 hours to get rid of them, are given a saviour. “Fire Sale” tickets show up immediately on the front showcase to be advertised to every user who logs onto the Web site. Not surprisingly, no “Fire Sale” tickets are currently listed. BusyRhino.com simply needs to get it’s name out there. The idea is a good one and if it became a household tool, success would inevitably follow. For the time being, however, the site remains less than useful.

Barbara McGuire Rating: 3

World of Dance

www.WOD1.com

WOD1.com, a new dance Internet radio station, is as much pleasure to the ears as concentrated sulfuric acid is to the eyes. This site, recently launched by FlyCatcher Media Ltd., averages 6,000 listeners each day and offers listeners a playlist full of almost identical trance songs that can quickly become tiresome. Features of WOD1.com include top 40 polls, a screen that displays the song being played along with a link to purchase CD’s of the songs, late-breaking entertainment news, and a chat room where listeners can chat with other listeners or the IJs (Internet jockeys). Unless listeners want to talk to an imaginary friend, however, don’t bother with the chat room because neither the IJs or anybody else can be found there. Additionally, the station claims it has 100 percent uninterrupted music 24 hours a day, so they probably forgot to take into consideration those two-minute commercial breaks. This Dublin-based site may suit the needs of people who enjoy British trance music, but it may fall short for American listeners. One drawback, for instance, to this European site, is that it follows the Irish clock. Listeners in Los Angeles, for example, may be logging on during the twilight hours of Dublin and end up hearing a CD of repetitive trance music. If Internet users want to hear a better variety of music, they may have to calculate the difference between their time and Irish time, because this site does not work well when the IJ’s are not there. Overall, this site is not worth a listener’s time. Web users can easily find a radio station or another Internet station better than WOD1.com that can actually entertain. Unless repetitive dull trance music, commercials and an empty chat room are appealing, the site is not worthwhile.

Kathleen Khong Rating: 2

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