About OnlineRock

OnlineRock was founded in 1999 as an interactive music community providing tools and services for musicians. We have provided quality content relevant to the music industry for over ten years. Our goal in 1999 was to create a networking site where musicians could create websites, interact with other industry professionals and sell their music instantly in a digital format directly to their fans.

We launched these services with a release from Ike Willis, Frank Zappa's former frontman. He had recently been dropped from his label and was looking for an alternative outlet to release his music. Unfortunately with the likes of Napster and other file sharing programs of the time, the price of digitally released music was set to zero. It wouldn't be until Apple launched iTunes that people would be ready to start purchasing downloadable music in masses.

OnlineRock Records, an independent label that drew from the talent exhibited from our members was launched in response to the current climate of the time. Its catalog includes releases from Needle, Gregory Paul, Autumdivers and Ike Willis as well as a few compilations.

Committed to furthering the cause of digital music, OnlineRock continues to provide tools and information to musicians who are looking for new ideas to promote their music and learn about gear, products and services through interviews, reviews and downloads as well as giveaways, discussions and content.

About OnlineRock's Founder:

Steve Beck has been involved in the San Francisco Bay Area music scenic for many years and is the editorial voice behind OnlineRock. He handles the day-to-day decisions on talent recruitment and content development. He also maintains the OnlineRock Blog and has recently conducted interviews with Todd Rundgren, Adrian Belew, Trey Gunn and Doug Martsch. Expect to see more interviews in the near future.

In September 2007 Beck traveled to Zambia on behalf of the US State Department to discuss “Music as a Business” with musicians, club owners and government officials. Earlier that year he visited Sierra Leone to speak and participate in a conference entitled “Moving the Music Industry Forward”. In September 2005 the US State Department sent him to Montenegro to share his views on Intellectual Property Rights as it pertains to the music industry.

Other speaking engagements include the Inside Connection Music Conference in Los Angeles where he addressed the issue of “Music on the Internet” and at the Call to Arts Summit on the “Promoting your Music” panel. Beck also served as Chairperson of the Arts Commission in the City of Belmont, California. He spoke on the "Paper Cuts in the Plastic Age" panel at SXSW 2010.

His most recent band Needle released their debut CD "Songs Your Mother Never Sang You" in 2006 and have toured in support of it. He co-wrote, recorded and produced the critically acclaimed album in his personal studio with Julie Cornette. Needle is working on a follow-up release.

About Our Contributors:

Nikki O’Neill - Interviewer: Nikki is a singer, songwriter and guitar player in Los Angeles. She’s the front person for the Nikki O’Neill Band – a soul and rock band gigging frequently at clubs and festivals in LA and Chicago. She is interviewed in Sue Foley’s upcoming book “Guitar Woman,” which features a who’s-who list of great players like Jennifer Batten, Me’shell Ndegeocello, Nancy Wilson and more. Her first endorsement was with G&L Guitars. Today she is endorsed by Daisy Rock Guitars, Kustom amps and Seymour Duncan pickups.

Christopher j Ewing - Record Reviewer: Christopher is a writer and filmmaker living in Los Angeles with a girl and a designer dog.He is in a band by himself, has a myspace account at www.myspace.com/wastedpotentialproduction and a production company at www.wastedpotentialproductions.com for freelance film, video and journalism work.

Andrew McNair - Record Reviewer and Podcast Host: Andrew lives in Seattle. Aside from producing the OnlineRock podcast and writing record reviews, he spends his days helping people fix their broken internets at a local internet service provider.

Kris Larson - Record Reviewer: Kris Larson works as a freelance writer in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has a degree in English Literature from San Francisco State University and reads an alarming amount of Edith Wharton in her spare time. She can be reached at kris@cementhorizon.com, or you can visit her website at krislarson.cementhorizon.com.

Michael Fiegel - Record Reviewer: Michael is a freelance writer and game designer. His diverse background includes journalism, radio copywriting, technical writing, graphic design and music reviewing. He is best known as the creator of the Internet cult sensation Ninja Burger and the dark, twisted psychological Vox RPG. He can be reached at aeon@aeforge.com or at his website, www.aeforge.com.

David Ehrenfried - The Virtual Musician: OnlineRock’s Virtual Musician knows the ropes in the music industry. An accomplished axeman, The Virtual Musician has gigged, recorded and done the circuit with a number of bands. In his columns he shares his wisdom, ideas and headstrong opinions.

Roland Goity - Record Reviewer and PR Writer: Roland is a writer of fiction, non-fiction and freelance business pieces. His background includes marketing and promotion in the music industry and an inability to capably play his guitar no matter how hard he practices. He can be reached at his web site www.rolandgoity.com.

Erik Jay - Music and Technology Writer: Erik is a writer, designer, and BMI composer/artist who lives in L.A. with one wife and two dogs. At his site, erikjay.com, you can take Door #1 for his editorial and design work, or Door #2 for original music.

Loren Weisman - Music Writer: Loren is an accomplished music producer and drummer based in Seattle, Washington. Having worked on over three hundred albums, Loren has also worked on numerous television, film, video game and radio productions, from New York to Los Angeles, Boston to Seattle. Loren is the founder of Brain Grenade Entertainment LLC, and the author of the Freedom Solutions Recording Plan. Loren has also written “The Artist’s Guide to Success in the Music Business”, a book to help independent musicians achieve self sufficient and sustainable success. He can be reached at www.lorenweisman.wordpress.com.