Internet Music Archive

[Bruce Steinberg <bruces@xxxxxxx>]

Recent discussions regarding Winslow's proposal of a HARP-L
tape-distribution program gave me reason to think there might be
some serious group interest in a rapidly growing online project
based here in Santa Cruz, CA, that is enjoying rapidly expanding
worldwide awareness, interest, and use:  The Internet Underground
Music Archive, or simply, IUMA -- the world's first free hi-fi
music archive.

Just about everything one might initially want to know about IUMA
is contained in their easily accessible online info files, so I
hopefully won't take up anymore bandwidth than necessary to point
everyone to it and strongly encourage you all to check it out.

All you need to do to request IUMA info is to e-mail a message
(no specific subject line or message body required) to
info@xxxxxxxx, and a complete index of all available info files
will be sent to you automatically, along with instructions for
subsequent specific file requests.  (I'd suggest reading them
all, starting with at least the "Band Submission" and "FAQ"
entries.)  

All responses are automatic and available immediately by standard
e-mail across the net at all times, so you can be reading any of
it anytime you have a few spare minutes.  (Human contact is, of
course, available by phone and e-mail as well, although not
necessarily on a 7x24 basis. :)

IUMA is based on World-Wide Web (WWW) hypertext/hypermedia http
protocols, so if you have Web access already (e.g., Mosaic, or
even just a line-mode text browser such as Lynx), you can jump in
right now and check it out at http://www.iuma.com.

I know these folks, and they are a great bunch of talented, young
musician/artist/cyberheads with vision and a mission.  I have
talked with them specifically about HARP-L, and they would
welcome all inquiries (and hopefully, participants, either as
individuals, or -- with enough crticial mass -- an entire "harp"
genre, or even "HARP-L" section).  Both the costs and technical
requirements for submissions are nominal and very reasonable.

Basically, I'd suggest that IUMA could either be an alternate or
a supplement to a physical tape-distribution program.  Both
approaches have pros and cons beyond the scope of this discussion
(although the pros of cheap, instant, worldwide, hi-fi
audio-visual presence -- with free access and no human sysops
required anywhere downstream -- are pretty compelling. :)

And of course, it's also pretty interesting to consider all the
possibilities for musical applications of high-quality, online
audio/visual/text hypermedia such as this (besides just songs :).

But now I'm going to lay out and let IUMA speak for itself.
Check it out -- that's info@xxxxxxxxx

Thanks, Bruce