Music is meant to be shared, say University of Maryland juniors Matt Brown and Doug Williamson, who recently launched HandsDownMusic.net, a website for discovering, distributing and discussing music with college students.
Brown, a marketing major from Connecticut, began toying with the idea of a music blog or website in Spring 2011. “People would always ask me for the music I had and where I got it, and this way I could share it with everyone,” Brown said. “I recognize good music when I hear it, not just for me, but do I think other people will like it.”
“I used to look at various music sites, but the problem was that as much good music as they posted they also posted bad music. I want to put the best music out there and to be popular starting here at Maryland,” he said.
The site, aimed towards high school and college students and recent college graduates, has music categories such as, hip hop/rap, dubstep, house, electro, country and classic rock. They plan to add mash-ups and oldies soon to expand their audience.
“I really like Hands Down Music because it includes various different genres of music, all of which I am a huge fan of. It’s such a convenient way to hear about new music,” said junior marketing major Nicole Dannehower. “I also use the playlist feature often because sometimes I want to listen to a mixture of songs and some of which I don’t have in my iTunes. It is extremely user friendly.”
Brown and Williamson want to create an interactive music experience where users can submit music, pictures, events and reactions. The team’s goal is to have a presence on every college campus. “We have a blog feature and would love to give people the opportunity to blog for their own school about popular songs and events,” Brown said. Music could be shared from coast to coast via college campuses.”
Over the summer Brown started a blog and would spend three hours a night searching music, researching new artists and writing about it. When a friend, Eddie Hagan, approached Brown saying he loved the idea and wanted to be a part of it Brown welcomed his help. Hagan, a junior history major at the University of Delaware and a photographer for the site, joined up with Brown and about a month later Williamson was added to the team.
“When I hear good music I want to let people in on it,” said Williamson, who does writing for the site. He enjoys being able to employ his writing skills, and uses his signature sign off, “Stay moist.”
Brown came up with the original layout ideas and SharkShark, a website design company, helped fully develop them. Brown who is interested in graphic design says, “You have to get the ‘wow’ factor the first time you go on.”
For the official launch October 20, Brown and Williamson ordered posters, posted on Twitter and Facebook, told friends and sent information about the website over fraternity and sorority list serves. In the first week HandsDownMusic.net got over 1,000 visiting hits.
“As Weezy once said, ‘The sky’s the limit,’” said Williamson, a finance and management major. “We have connections to get people involved on other campuses, and if we keep doing what we’re doing we’ll see numbers grow.”
Brown is looking forward to seeing the site become well known. “I would love for this to be something that’s not just a hobby in college,” Brown said.
The website shares and streams free music but always promotes purchasing music to support artists.