Hearitfirst.com

Infobox Website
name = hearitfirst.com



caption =
url = [http://www.hearitfirst.com www.hearitfirst.com]
commercial = Yes
type = Online artist interviews, promotion, community, sales, competitions
language = English
registration = None
owner = EMI Christian Music Group
author = EMI Christian Music Group
launch date = December 1998
current status = Active
revenue =

hearitfirst.com is an online listening post for Christian music. The site is divided into five broad sections:

# [http://www.hearitfirst.com/default.aspx Home]
# [http://www.hearitfirst.com/artist/artistLanding.aspx Artists]
# [http://www.hearitfirst.com/audioVideo/default.aspx Audio+Video+Photos]
# [http://www.hearitfirst.com/community/default.aspx Community]
# [http://www.hearitfirst.com/newsTour/default.aspx News+Tours]
# [http://www.hearitfirst.com/store/ Shop]

Users must create profiles in order to receive newsletters, enter competitions and participate in forums.

History

Based in Brentwood, Tennessee, hearitfirst.com was launched by EMI Christian Music Group in 1998 to promote the Grammy Award winning artists dc talk on the release of their album "Supernatural" [ [http://web.archive.org/web/19981212025523/http://www.hearitfirst.com/ History of hearitfirst.com ] Alexa Wayback Machine; Retrieved June 18 2007] . Over a period of 4 weeks, 2 tracks were streamed from the site for preview. After "Supernatural", hearitfirst.com evolved into a listening post for contemporary Christian music, focusing on the rock, pop, worship and indie genres.

The current site was relaunched in December 2005 and has focused on becoming a nexus for fans, spectators and industry partners of contemporary Christian music. the site was acquired by Spinnaker Media, James Ackerman Chairman, in June 2008 and continues to cover artists on all labels are hosted and promoted. The database of artists ranges from Jars of Clay, Switchfoot, tobyMac, Newsboys, Third Day, Casting Crowns to BarlowGirl, Family Force Five, High Flight Society, Aaron Shust, Dizmas and independent artists/bands. Artist promotion includes album reviews, biographies, video clips, full length song audio clips, photos, tour dates and [http://www.hearitfirst.com/artist/sixDegrees.aspx Six degrees] , a Flash application that positions a chosen artist with six other related artists by genre.

Exclusive video content, including behind-the-scenes coverage of the 2007 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards [ [http://hearitfirst.com/playa/ hearitfirst.com Flash Video Player] ; Retrieved June 18 2007] , frequent contests [ [http://www.hearitfirst.com/community/polls.aspx Official Contest Page] ; Retrieved June 18 2007] and free legal music downloads via newsletter subscriptions [ [http://www.hearitfirst.com/membershiprocks/ Official Membership Page] ; Retrieved June 18 2007] , have become a major promotional tool for the site.

Battle of the Bands Competitions

In 2006 Creation Festival and hearitfirst.com partnered to host their first Battle of the Bands competition [ [http://www.gospelmusic.org/newsmedia/pressRoom_detail.aspx?iid=12681&tid=33 Creation Festival Partners with hearitfirst.com's indiescovery for ultimate Battle of the Bands] Press Release; Retrieved June 18 2007] . The winners were -

Creation East

* The John Reilly Band
* Koo Chung
* Vigilant

Creation West

* Candlefuse
* Daydreamer
* Noel McLeary

This was followed by a partnership with the Gospel Music Association for their 2007 Battle of the Bands competition [ [http://www.gospelmusic.org/newsmedia/pressRoom_detail.aspx?iid=25845&tid=33 hearitfirst.com and the Gospel Music Association present second annual Battle of the Bands Competition] Press Release; Retrieved June 18 2007] . As of writing, submissions have been closed and voting has begun for the first round of the competition [ [http://www.hearitfirst.com/genres/battleVoting1.aspx Voting Page] for 2007 Battle of the Bands; Retrieved June 18 2007] .

WAY-FM Partnership

In May 2007 hearitfirst.com partnered with WAY-FM to begin the "2 minute challenge" [ [http://www.joe538.com/blog/2007/05/23/heartfirstcom-and-way-fm-urge-listeners-to-take-the-2-minute-challenge/ hearitfirst.com And Urge Listeners to take the 2 minute challenge] ; Retrieved June 19 2007] over a 12 week period. The competition began on June 19 2007. According to the rules of the competition listeners of WAY-FM are directed to [http://www.hearitfirst.com/wayfm http://www.hearitfirst.com/wayfm] where they listen to a 2 minute audio clip. After the completion of the audio clip, participants are offered free music downloads from artists including Chris Tomlin, Casting Crowns, Third Day, Jeremy Camp, Mercy Me, Sanctus Real, Hawk Nelson, Kutless, Chris Rice and others. Each week participants can share the promotion with up to five friends and receive an additional bonus download. New downloads are made available each week.

Trivia

* Artists are often invited to write articles on a "Featured Artist Blog" page [http://www.hearitfirst.com/community/blogFeatured.aspx Featured Artist Blog] at hearitfirst.com; Retrieved June 18 2007] . Notable artists include –

: Michael W. Smith: Mandisa Hundley – posted a series of blogs about the 2007 American Idol Competition as it progressed.

* In the lead up to the release of Mandisa Hundley’s first single, "Only the world" [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hcfqxz85ldde Mandisa Hundley: Only the World] All Music Guide page; Retrieved June 18 2007] , from her debut album “True Beauty” [ [http://www.mandisaofficial.com/ Official Mandisa Website] ; Retrieved Jun 18 2007] a video series called “Where in the world is Mandisa?” [ [http://www.hearitfirst.com/mandisa/ Where in the world is Mandisa?] Promotional videos; Retrieved June 18 2007] was featured on the site. The series followed Mandisa as she promoted her then upcoming album.

References

External links

* [http://www.hearitfirst.com Official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/hearitfirst Official MySpace page]
* [http://youtube.com/hearitfirstdotcom Official YouTube page]
* [http://www.godtube.com/groups_home.php?urlkey=hif Official GodTube group page]