Music Discovery Site PureVolume Shutting Down
PureVolume, the music discovery and streaming platform that aided the rise of bands like Paramore and Gym Class Heroes, will shut down April 30th.
A note on the site’s homepage reads: “We reget [sic] to inform you that PureVolume.com is shutting down. If you were storing music here, you will have until April 30th, 2018 to download it. Thanks for all your support.”
PureVolume launched in 2003 with the aim of assisting indie and emerging artists. Arriving as the music industry was beginning to fight back against peer-to-peer file sharing networks – the iTunes Music Store also launched in 2003 – PureVolume gave bands the option to offer songs as free downloads and potentially reach a wider audience. Early social media components were also incorporated into the platform, while the site’s founders – Mitchell Pavao, Brett Woitunski and Nate Hudson – also published editorial content like weekly top picks and live sessions.
As PureVolume grew, it became a hotbed for emo and pop-punk bands of the mid-2000s, including All Time Low, Paramore and Fall Out Boy. Gym Class Heroes notably inked a record deal with Fueled by Ramen after spending a couple of weeks featured on “PurePicks.” In a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone, Hawthorne Heights drummer Eron Bucciarelli spoke about the importance of sites like PureVolume, saying, “We make a point to stay in contact via MySpace or PureVolume.com or our Web site. We’re very, very approachable.”
In 2010, SpinMedia acquired PureVolume, but in 2016 it sold the site – along with Buzznet and Idolator – to startup corporation Hive Media.