Interview with Stella Mowen of Shockhound

Stella Mowen works in Label Relations for the online music store Shockhound.  These answers are from an interview originally conducted in March 2009

Editor's Note: I decided to do this interview to help TuneCore users learn a bit more about the Shockhound store.  Many of you are live there already, while others of you may not be because there wasn't enough information at hand when you first submitted.  Whether your material is there or not, I thought it would be helpful to know how, as an artist, label, or manager can you best use this store to your advantage?

Your feedback on this will be very helpful to me moving forward - Would you like to see interviews like these with other stores?  Are there any follow up questions you would like me to ask?  Read the complete interview and share your thoughts here on the TuneCore blog.  Thanks!  - Jake Smith

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TuneCore: How would you explain Shockhound to someone who's never heard of it before?

Stella Mowen: ShockHound (www.shockhound.com) is the one-stop, genre-spanning music site loaded with millions of MP3s, a vast selection of artist merchandise, the latest music videos, and exclusive and compelling editorial content. With a wide array of interviews, album reviews, original “webisode” videos, and individual artist pages, ShockHound not only has the goods on favorite bands, but also promotes discovery of new and emerging artists. ShockHound encourages its members to be an integral part of the editorial voice, offering users the opportunity to join in the never-ending musical dialogue via user reviews, comment sections and personalized user pages.

TC: Let's say I'm already a loyal user of a different service like iTunes or Amazon MP3.  Why should I sign up for Shockhound?  What would you offer me that other music sites don't?

SM: ShockHound satisfies all your music needs in one place.  Where else can you read/watch an interview about your favorite artist, instantly purchase music in a DRM free format, make playlists, buy exclusive merch, become an entrepreneur from your own online Shock Store, while discovering new artists from a trusted community of music lovers all at the same time? Plus, at any given time you can comment or email any of us staff members and talk about music that gets you excited and we are all about it! We love music just as much as you do.

TC: As an artist, why would I direct fans to purchase music at Shockhound over a different online store?  Are there any promotional tools available to me?

SM: As an artist, you can create a Shock Store on our site, send people to the store filled by you, with all of your favorite artists represented (including your own band).  When people purchase anything from your store, you’ll make a commission! That means you get your full royalty from Tunecore and an additional percentage on top of that from ShockHound...and the best part...in addtion, you’ll get a commission for anything sold in your store by any artist you put in your store! It doesn’t even have to be your own merch or music. Why? Because we appreciate the fact that you believe in us as a site and we believe in you as a community member!

TC: Do you generate additional artist content on your own (album reviews, artist bios, additional artist photos, etc.) or do you pull them from an online database like the All Music Guide?

SM: We use an online database to provide bios and photos because we don’t want any artist to be required to manage their pages.  Any artist, however, can have access to their profile page and update their own bios or artist photos. Just contact your Tunecore rep and they’ll walk you through how or email LabelRelations@shockhound.com with your question and we’ll help you out.

TC: Can anyone sell physical merchandise through the Shockhound store?

SM: Not currently, but stay tuned...

TC: Are there any changes coming to the site, either soon or far in the future that artists and users should know about?

SM: We make updates to the site all of the time.  We place these updates on the user dashboard, which you will have access to when you are signed in.  We’ll also keep you posted on any cool new contests or news items on the dashboard as well.

Comments

[MeLLoc Cadafi]

Hello World,

This is MeLLoc Cadafi and I'm giving you all the heads up on my new EP THEY NEVER SAW ME COMING now availble at your online stores(itunes,rhapsody,etc.). Also, check MeLLoc Cadafi out on Myspace.com/melloccadafi4reel

[Wicked Celtics]

After being introduced to Shockhound via tunecore, I have nothing but good things to allow about them and their services. Take ShockTV alone for instance, a dedicated webTV music channel that features artists that MTV & VH1 won't touch for another year, if at all. Obviously, MTV has devolved into a disgusting cesspool of moronic reality shows, that showcase anything but reality or music worth mentioning. It's SHAMEFUL that MTV has gotten to such a low, low point. It makes me that much more grateful for constantly updated, quality music coverage like ShockTV.

Now for the obligatory pitch: go check out my store already.

Officially,
-=Wicked Celtics
"Wicked C" if ya nasty

[Carl]

The only way I'm going to direct users to any store other than iTunes/Amazon is if that company features my band on their web site. Otherwise, it only makes sense to stick with the bigger players that have a wider audience. As far a making money selling other peoples stuff, I'll leave that to WalMart and BestBuy.

No go get your Big Blue X...
www.BigBlueX.com