We wrote this note back in 1999. The world around has changed, and we now take online for granted. But, sometimes, we forget why we did things and why it mattered back then. So we keep it pretty much unchanged.

/// The Stereo Society Web site is our public face.  We'd prefer it didn't have the features of a snake-oil salesman.  The way to make sure that you know what we're about is to provide as much information about our activities and music as possible, and with further diversions such as comprehensive details of artists and extended articles.  We want to present information in depth.  There's no point in imitating a Broadway marquee with a few cartoony graphics and review quotes taken out of context.  You, the visitor, do the editing by clicking to where you would prefer to be and moving on when you wish to.

With our music online, we can present the stuff itself, not just a grainy snapshot or a cardboard replica.  While the experience of listening to streaming audio is not much competition to the blast of a studio playback, you can at least get an instant taste.  We move ahead of all other record company sites [1999] in providing a large lump of every track in its entirety for online streaming audition. A bit more considered than the 30 seconds you usually get.  An unconditionally free track is offered for digital download from each album, as are large chunks of each piece of music. 

Please visit the Help section for full details of the technical issues involved in simple, non-geek terms (they aren't that difficult, but some personality types have a vested interest in keeping you thoroughly confused).  There are very few Web sites that provide clear explanations of the processes involved.  Confusion resulting from jargon can be easily avoided, especially since the Internet remains an imperfect science [still in 2011].

When CD-ROM arrived in the mid-90s, the 'convergence' of multimedia became an unfulfilled cliché.  Even given the limitations of video on a CD-ROM, many productions that we saw were often naïve, hopeless or both.  The medium is now pretty much dead for music and video, chased away by the DVD takeover. 

A more quiet revolution has taken place on the Web, with growing embrace of multimedia.  Where CD-ROM projects would start with video and sound (because that's what you expect from a shiny digital disk), the Web found its feet with text, then pictures, progressing through sound eventually to arrive with video (in a highly compromised form, but it's there).  Moving upwards through the media with each technical advance feels like real progress rather than a CD-ROM letdown. 

The Stereo Society web site integrates media much more than does the typical record company storefront.  Text has little data overhead (it takes little bandwidth and so appears on your screen very quickly).  So we have posted many things that might be of peripheral interest. 

Crucially, though, we want your feedback, in E mail or more extended comment, perhaps for posting.  Mike Thorne's book in progress (provisionally titled Music In The Machine) will gradually appear.  Long articles about and interviews with artists are printed/reprinted in their entirety.  We have optimized the site for speed; higher-resolution versions of graphics are provided on separate, linked pages, where we think you might like them.

Please be sure to sign up for our mailing list.  Every month, you will receive real news, and details of additions and improvements to the site, linked to bounce straight to the appropriate page for your instant gratification.  Write a review if you wish.  Or just make comments, to us or to the artists. ///

Home Albums Artists Contact Downloads Help Links New Shopping Words

We encourage shopping:
Why our CD prices are so low
What you get in packaging
Why CDs sound better
Why you get almost instant satisfaction: wait just three days for REAL quality
We give away HUGE chunks of music so you can REALLY check it out

to the albums page						to the albums page