If you follow Tropicult you must have read about one of King’s Head Records‘ recent throw-downs at The Garret. Perhaps you accidentally wandered in from Grand Central and stumbled into Ben Wash in the mix. Whichever the case may be, it shouldn’t have been long before you were on your feet dancing freely inside the alluring castle of shimmering lights surrounded by Miami’s most beautiful people.
If you haven’t heard of these dudes, get with it! They not only throw killer parties, they produce progressive EDM tracks too. Today, King’s Head Records launched a dope new website that personifies the labels mission and proves their value to artists in the digital age.
The creative forces behind King’s Head Records believe in the democratization of the music industry via technology. The label is composed of a handful of young, ambitious individuals with professional backgrounds ranging from English Literature to Finance. They arrived at sunny Miami Beach from different of North and South America where they came together to share their passion for electronic beats and a vision for the future of the music industry. I’m pretty sure they do not have a printer; what’s paper anyway? From the looks of their site,the artist signing up with King’s Head Records can expect some next level shit.
They thrive to push the envelop in presenting and selling music. Sure, lots of labels out there try to do the same but the difference is that these dudes actually get it (and if you don’t know what “it” is by now, forget it. It’s too late for you now). Perhaps it’s because no one is over 30 and they have the advantage of being the first generation that grew up with the internet..whatever it may be, we expect more great things.
As a website runner, I know first hand that the vast majority of people visit a website for a few brief seconds before becoming bored and moving on. And that goes double for company websites that only exist as a “me too” play> You know the kind I’m talking about – it’s most websites actually. As in, “Hey, do you have a website?” “Yeah of course our company has a website. Cool. I’ll check it out for half a second just to verify that it actually exists.”
The folks at King’s Head wanted something more than a typical corporate website – they wanted something that would give people a reason to stick around and listen to the music. They wanted something interactive.
Visions
It makes sense, too. The technology is there, and yet few are capitalizing on it. I mean, it’s almost 2014, and where’s the spiritual successor to the music video? Music videos were once admired as the pinnacle of the audio-visual experience, but those are last century’s artistic mediums.
Props to King’s Head for taking a chance on the future. I have been assured that they will be producing more and more Visions, each one more awesome than the last, so take these first two as a sign of things to come.
Treznik: Clinik
“The idea of the visions came out of growing up with technology. Even though I work in music I can barely sit for a 4 minute video, I’d rather play around while I’m listening.” Will Garcia, King’s Head President
Ben Wash: Passages
“The Visions came about from us wanting to make some mini-games or visualizations that people could interact with that would hopefully make for an interesting distraction while they spend a few minutes listening to some new music. Each of the Visions is supposed to feel like a natural extension of the site, somewhere between a video game and a music video.” Alex Lopez, Developer
Artists
Since artists are the soul of a music label, they wanted to give each artist their own home on the site. The artist pages also function as one-stop press-friendly media kits, with all the fixings – social networks, upcoming shows, photos, SoundCloud embeds – what more could a marketer ask for? The changing background images are unique to the artist without departing from the aesthetic of the site as a whole.
Upcoming
King’s Head Records merchandise will be available online next week. Check back for beanies, hoodies, tees, stickers and more by King’s Head in house designer, LAW Fashion House. Obviously, they’re in the business of selling music so there will be that.
Heads up, during Art Basel, Ben Wash will be DJing at Brisky Gallery for the Opening reception on December 3rd and the Brisky BBQ, that Sunday afternoon.
Expect the monthly parties at The Garret to continue and new music from Ben Wash soon and you can now catch “Synthesize” with King’s Head Records on Jolt Radio. Spinning head turning electronic music every second Wednesday of the month 4-6pm. Tune In | iPhone App
