Los Angeles, CA (February 14, 2004). On Valentine's Day, members of LA's premier gothic-influenced rock band, Fetisch, will show their love by launching what could be called the most multi-featured, highly interactive band website currently on the Internet, Fetischmusic.com. No ordinary band website, Fetischmusic.com moves far beyond basic features such as the band's bio, tour dates, photo gallery, merchandise, blog, message boards and music downloads, to create an interactive global online community with its precedent-setting, fan-driven subsite, Findafreek.com.
A mixed-gender quintet comprised of infamous Hollywood troublemakers, Fetisch has drawn comparisons to Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails for its hard-edged, future-modern rock, while a male/female duality in the vocal mix that has fans citing similarities to Evanescence, Garbage, and KMFDM. Together for just over two years, Fetisch recently finished recording its much-anticipated debut album (due for release on April 1, 2004) and sought to develop a website that goes beyond conventional album promotion. "As an artist, you exist to truly connect with your audience," says Fetisch lead vocalist, Angel. "Far too often, the only way to do that is with the ten songs on your CD. At a concert, you have a special opportunity to reach a few more people on a face-to-face level. For who we are as a band, that isn't enough. Fetisch needed to have a more interactive forum to continue band-to-fan dialogue on a frequent basis, while offering fans a place to meet and interact with each other. Fetischmusic.com takes us a step closer to our fans, and expands on our communication beyond recordings, live shows and what you might read about us in the next issue of Kerrang."
During the site's pre-launch testing phase, Fetischmusic.com averaged 60,000 visits in one month. "Based on estimated growth rates," says Angel, "we see these numbers doubling within our first official month of activity, and doubling again in April with the album release. Within our first year, we expect to exceed the number of interactive users on any of Billboard's Top Ten artist's websites. We are deeply thankful to our creative teams who have finally tapped the true power of online promotion. Fetischmusic.com is the missing link in the next evolution of music on the Internet."
Within Fetischmusic.com is FindaFreek.com (also accessible at this separate URL). Says Angel, "Websites like Friendster.com, Myspace.com and LiveJournal.com have opened the door to the huge potential of online community. We have our own Friendster-type engine built into our website, so users can establish personal profiles and search for others by types of tattoos, piercings, hair color/style (Mohawk, etc.) and shared interests. The idea was to build something for the fans. Too many artists build a website to say 'Hey, look at me!' Our approach was to say, 'Hey, look at you!' But this isn't just a fan forum; it's a place on the Internet where anyone who feels like an outcast can find solace. It's a home base for anyone looking for a place to feel that he or she truly belongs. This website is for you to express your uniqueness -- a celebration of individuality -- not a High School clique you must conform to."
FindaFreek.com features include:
Roll Call: Sign up to attend Fetisch gigs and make plans to meet up with your friends at the show. "It's another social aspect of the site," says Angel, "like everybody checking in and saying, "I'll be at that show, let's hook up."
Live Chat and Instant Message Capability: "No matter how lost in life you may feel, Fetischmusic.com is a place where you can find others who are searching for answers; where kinship among the creative exists, prejudiced has been removed, and strangers become friends. You are not alone."
Photo Galleries: Post and share personal photos and photographs from Fetisch shows.
Live Journal Integration: Fans can add links to their LiveJournal entries from their Fetishmusic.com profiles.
"There are so many cool features or subsections of the site," Angel continues. "We hope to link certain sections with product sponsorship at some point. The site is a great outlet for any company to reach an established audience, and it would also be a cool way to introduce our fans to products that might fit it with their lifestyle, such as LipService clothing and MAC Cosmetics, two companies that previously showed interest in sponsoring one of our tours."
"The feedback from fans is incredible," says Angel. "So many people have already made this a part of their daily lives, and say they like it far better than Friendster or MySpace. There are kids across the country logged in at all times, talking and interacting. It's beautiful! Even with major label's million dollar pockets, nobody has created anything exactly like this before. If the future of music promotion is the Internet, we've just seized it with both hands."
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