Website

[Mem098]

I was wondering who runs the official website of Hope Sandoval. In others words, who reads the message you send on the website?(hopesandoval.com) Also, does she have an email or a way that you can communicate with her.

[Hermesacat]

The webmaster at hopesandoval.com is named Colin. He's not very good at replying to emails. Of 3 or 4 emails I sent him over time he responded to one, with a one word response. Others report him ignoring their emails too. He's very slow to post relevant news. The then forthcoming 2013 Mazzy Star tour was in the news long before Colin ever posted an announcement. He never did post an announcement in his "What's New" section about Hope's excellent collaboration with Dirt Blue Gene on the song "Not at All" that came out in March, 2013. If those aren't relevant news items for Hope's webmaster to post in a timely way, what are?

I've had slightly more interaction with him in the forum at now defunct fan site Mazzy Star Boulevard.
He used to occasionally post comments there & reply to comments in the forum . I once commented that I wondered how much input Hope actually has at hopesandoval.com. One thing that made me think she wasn't much involved is the lyrics section has many apparently obvious errors. If Hope was actively involved, surely she'd take an hour one day to correct lyrics. Colin replied to my comment claiming she is involved at the site, or at least he's in touch with her re. the site. But he didn't say to what extent she's involved (probably not much).

Colin eventually belatedly posted an announcement about the 2013 Mazzy Star tour along with links to a couple of press interviews Hope & David did this year. He posted links to a few trivial articles while completely missing the best interviews/articles such as the 2013 Uncut mag one, which may be the best researched, most informative interview/article I ever read on Mazzy Star, including 1990s ones. Emma did a much better job of locating articles & posting links or scans in this forum than Colin did.

Someone, please tell Hope she should get herself a new webmaster for her site, one that takes an active interest in her & her career. Maybe she could recruit Mazzy Star's official Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/MazzyStarOffic ... ion=stream
master for hopesandoval.com, as who ever's looking after their Facebook page seems much more attentive to being up to date & relevant than is Colin.

[Cry,Cry]

Hermesacat,

YOU are the one who should be runnign that website. And YOU are the one who should create and maintain one for Mazzy Star. I mean, for realz.

[Hermesacat]

Cry, Cry:
Well hey, that might be fun working for Hope. Hire me, Hope!

Oh, too bad my resume's rather thin as I know very little about operating, let alone creating, web sites. (I mostly know how to bloviate on other people's web sites -- so long as Emma & others can put up with me!) Worse, I have a blatantly obvious track record of engaging in the shamefully unauthorized uploading of unapproved bootlegs. I'd have the enthusiasm needed, but otherwise I'm disqualified for the job! Darn.

Oh well, I can still enjoy being "channel master" at my youtube channel. And I'm pleased to see Mazzy Star has finally, just in the last few months, started registering copyright claims on youtube uploads of their songs dating from 2011 onward that are on the band's own label so the band now earns ad revenue from people viewing those uploads on youtube. Prior to just recently, only uploads of Mazzy Star's songs (live versions or otherwise) originally found on 1990s albums or singles had copyright claims placed on yt uploads of them. I imagine the EMI co. gets a large percentage of ad revenue on those ones, while band members might receive little on them. Also, some of Hope's Warm Inventions songs I upped live versions of had copyright claims on them. Since Mazzy Star's reportedly no longer signed to a record label, but have their own label now, presumably they earn a much larger percentage now from copyrights on their more recent songs.

I'm somewhat pleased my yt uploads are slightly more "band approved" now than are the file hosting sites ones (not that I feel guilty about those. Anyway, I believe in supporting the band by buying their vinyl & CD releases, merch., & concert tickets). I'm a cheerful volunteer now uploading Mazzy Star recordings to youtube & presumably helping Hope, David, & co. make a few extra coins of pocket change from yt ad revenue. Perhaps even enough to buy a little cat food for Hope's deserving cats. Hey, maintaining cats' health & happiness is important! It is a great honour to be able to feel one may be helping Hope maintain her cats! Ha ha.

[dyerseve]

Although it's sometimes difficult to understand, I realize that Hope and David are pretty hands-off when it comes to a lot of things. Their indifferent attitude to celebrity made them even more endearing to me long ago.

That said, the paradigm for doing business in the music industry has drastically changed. And I think those changes suit Mazzy Star, because bands with established fanbases no longer are beholden to soulless record labels. That's why it would be great to see them engage their fans online -- even if they're not the ones doing the engaging. Let's face it, Mazzy Star fans are starved for all things related to the band and it would be advantageous for the band to seize on that.

Especially when it comes to releasing music. They could drop singles when they feel like it, do really cool/creative collector's sets, or whatever else interested them. It'd be a cool new revenue stream for the band and a way for fans to directly support the band. Personally, I'd LOVE to see the band repress their earlier albums on vinyl. The represses from a couple years ago were horribly mastered and do no justice to the songs.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I think a passionate person to oversee their web presence would go a long way. Likewise, it'd be cool if the band kept interest alive by dropping things here and there. It wouldn't require much effort, and they'd be entirely in control.