PAN-ON-THE-NET makes waves
By Terry Joseph
Tuesday, January 13th 2004
Lovers of steelband music worldwide have been singing the praises of an
initiative by Basement Recordings of New York who, last November launched
what is widely believed to be the first 24/7 pan-music station on the
Internet.
Describing the move as "a model for Internet content on demand," Basement
now reports that www.PanOnTheNet.com is enjoying tremendous popularity, a
position corroborated by correspondents worldwide.
Part of its When Steel Talks global project, which each week posts
interviews with pan composers, arrangers and players and publicizes
steelband events around the world, Basement sees the latest addition as a
major vehicle for gaining popularity for the instrument through actual
performance and sharing of information from all stakeholders via a central
clearing house.
The steelband community has certainly taken advantage of the streaming media
technology employed by
PanOnTheNet Radio, securing yet another leap from
rudimentary approaches into 21st Century communication concepts. Via this
route, more corporations and educational institutions are now seeing and
hearing pan for the first time and businesses have seized the opportunity
for advertising.
Concomitantly, the When Steel Talks website, having already established
itself as one of the most popular pan domains, supplies print and photo
backup. "When we promote Andy Narell's new releases, we find the combination
an effective way to reach his audience," said Mike Wilpizeski, Director-Jazz
and Blues Publicity for Heads Up International.
The webmaster advises that pan connoisseurs from every geographical corner
of the world, Botswana to Japan to Europe and the Americas, all tune in and
actively contribute to the content of the
When Steel Talks
site, which
Basement uses to deliver historical and fascinating audio and video
interviews with pan pioneers and latter-day icons.
The technological synergy between the sites serves and provides a model for
Trinidad and Tobago as the world headquarters of pan, primarily because of
its ability to supply content on demand and, of course, the relative cost
(compared to other modes of carriage) of dissemination.
 is updated weekly and its play list augmented
periodically by new material submitted from artists world wide.
Local performers wishing to have their work included in the web catalogue
should e-mail panradio@panonthenet.com. Bands or organizations should
do the same.
©2004
Express Newspapers, Caribbean Communications
Network.
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