When the leaves start to change and the air gets crisper, college students wistfully look back on the long, lazy summer days when they had all the time in the world to listen to their favorite music or watch their favorite movies over and over again. The days are over when they could spend hours with a stack of music magazines and the New York Times movie reviews, making mental lists of what to download and what to see on a rainy afternoon. When classes begin, the time to figure out what's new and interesting disappears under a pile of papers and books. What is a good music/movie/book lover to do?
The people from My Hound Media (http://www.myhound.com) have found the answer.
The Web site MyHound.com allows visitors to construct a profile tailored to their music, movie, and literary interests. The site sends an e-mail alert every time something new from a favorite band, author, or director comes out. Users can search for upcoming concerts and special events, both locally or farther afield. Newsweek Magazine pegged Myhound.com as a "Checklist" thing to do this past August, and since the company only started the Web site in May, clearly it's making waves.
The site is easy to use and accessible, even to those who are internet- illiterate. The registration process is quick and painless, only requiring an e-mail address and a password. The best news about this Web site is that it's free. For the students who don't have a lot of spare cash lying around to subscribe to music magazines, this Web site may be the answer to their prayers.
However, it is important to be cautious. Signing up to be notified for too many artists will result in receiving more e-mails from MyHound.com than from the campus digest.
For those students who like to rock out to Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" or read Emily Dickinson, MyHound.com will send an alert, when Beethoven is being performed in the area, and perhaps facilitate the discovery of a newly edited book of Dickinson poems.
There are those who might argue that Myhound.com defeats the purpose of being a true arts aficionado. What's the good of loving music if time isn't spent stalking a favorite artist? What's the fun in all the information being nothing more than a few clicks away?
However, art appreciation is an ever-changing phenomenon. Certainly, there weren't any CDs back in Mozart's day, and the Beatles didn't have iPods, but these technological innovations are not quickly dismissed as ruining the aesthetic experience. MyHound.com is just simply another way to bring music, movies, literature, and performances to the masses.
It will only take a few minutes of precious college time, and the next time the new Johnny Depp movie comes out, advance information from MyHound.com might just help obtain the first seat in the theater.