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Type of site | Online music magazine |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Owner | Sean Adams |
| Created by | Sean Adams |
| URL | |
| Registration | No |
| Launched | 1998; 27 years ago (1998) |
| Current status | Active |
Drowned in Sound, sometimes abbreviated toDiS, is a UK-based musicwebzine. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums.
DiS began as an email fanzine in 1998 calledThe Last Resort but was relaunched by founder and editor Sean Adams asDrowned in Sound in 2000.[1]
The site was mostly based on contributions from unpaid writers and has an integratedforum to allow for discussion and comments on interviews, news and reviews. It also included a user-rated database of artists and bands as well as details for most live music venues in the UK.
In 2005, the site launched apodcast calledDrowned in Sound Radio.
Drowned in Sound also launched a label, Drowned in Sound Recordings, in 2004[2] which released albums for a few bands, includingBrett Anderson,Emily Haines,Jeniferever,Martha Wainwright,Metric,Redjetson,The Stills,ThisGirl, andYouthmovies.[3]
In November 2007,DiS teamed up with ad-supported download site RCRDLBL.com to launch an audio and video blog, entitled "Drownload".[4]
DiS was involved with theSummer Sundae festival since 2008, and in 2010 kicked off their 10th anniversary celebrations with a line-up headlined bythe Futureheads andFrightened Rabbit. Previously, they hosted the Friday night billing of the Rising Stage as being presented in partnership withDrowned in Sound.[5]
In April 2019, Pitchfork reported the closure of the site following a Facebook post by Adams.[6] While the editorial content of the site stopped, the community forums[7] remained active.
In March 2023 Adams launched a podcast under the site name.[8] This later extended to a newsletter,[9] record label[10] and a full new website[11] with editorial content.
It is now fully independent, owned by the site founder. Previously, a percentage of DrownedinSound.com (the website) and the Drowned in Sound Recordings record label was owned by Silentway Ltd.[12]
DiS had a short-lived partnership withRupert Murdoch's BSkyB, which ended by mutual consent in August 2008,[13] resulting in the majority of staff being laid off.[14]
On 19 March 2006,The Observer'sMusic Monthly ranked DrownedinSound.com 9th on its list of top 25 websites.[15] In November 2006, it passed the 150,000 unique readers a week mark and was nominated in the Best Music Website category at the 2007 PLUG Awards and the Best Website category at the 2007 ShockwavesNME Awards.[16] The site and a handful of its writers received nominations at the 2006 Record of the Day awards, held in London on 21 November 2006. The site won in the category of Best Podcast and finished runner-up in the category of Best Website for the second year running.[17] In September 2007,DiS was nominated in two categories at the annual BT Digital Music Awards for Best Music Magazine and Best Podcast (audio).[18] In November 2007,DiS was named Best Online Music Publication at the annual Record of the Day awards.[19] In 2010,Drowned in Sound won Best Publication at the Record of the Day awards.[20]