BowieNet was an Internet service provider launched by singer-songwriter David Bowie in 1998 and active until 2012.
BowieNet was an Internet service provider launched by singer-songwriter David Bowie in 1998 and active until 2012.
Bowie was an early user of the Internet, reportedly using email as early as the late 1980s, [1] and in 1996 he released the song "Telling Lies" as an Internet download, the first downloadable single by a major artist. [2] [3]
In 1997 and 1998, Bowie worked with Robert Goodale and Ron Roy to understand the potential of the Internet as a resource for music distribution and fan outreach. [4] BowieNet launched in September 1998, [5] and offered dial-up service access to the Internet for $19.95 per month or £10.00 in the UK. [6] Users with another ISP could pay $5.95 to access www.davidbowie.com. [7] For the service, Bowie partnered with the network services companies UltraStar and Concentric Network Corp (now XO Communications). [7] At its peak, BowieNet had about 100,000 customers. [6]
Some fans criticised the charging of a fee to access the site, claiming that "people were already having to pay for access to the internet, and now if they were going to have to pay for every single thing that they were interested in, that (seemed that) the internet was going to be the preserve of the rich forever". [8] : 23:52 After heavily criticising the charging of a fee for BowieNet on other Bowie fansites, Irish fan Dara O'Kearney claims that Bowie himself started contacting him from the email address "bxqr@mindspring.com", singing off with the initials "db" (lower-case), to find out more about why O'Kearney disagreed with it so much. [8] : 26:05 O'Kearney believed at first that the person was probably a Bowie impersonator, but later became more convinced that the person was actually Bowie, after he was able to put O'Kearney on the guestlist for the Dublin shows of his A Reality Tour in 2003. [8] : 31:55
In an interview with ZDTV, Bowie revealed that "at least two or three times a week I go into the (chat) rooms... on my site and anonymously, generally - there's some times, I have, I have a name that (the fans) know, know me by, so they... I participate (on the chats) a lot more than they think!". [8] : 22:54 He added "I got several, I got several, eh, addresses... so it would be very hard for them to... I know some of you know what they are but, eh, don't spam me...". [8] : 23:26
BowieNet ceased operating in 2006. [9]
Members received an @davidbowie.com-ending email address and had exclusive access to audio recordings, music videos and chat rooms, which Bowie participated in himself. Bowie went by the moniker "Sailor" in chat. He would appear unannounced and talk, with a special guest sometimes joining in, [5] and on the site he would upload personal photos as well as images of his paintings and some of his journals. [5] "Sailor" is an anagram of "Isolar", after which Bowie named his 1976 and 1978 world tours. [10]
In 1999, Bowie ran a contest through his website to help him co-write a song. Over 80,000 people submitted lyrics. The lyrics chosen were written by a 20-year-old American, Alex Grant [11] , about the concept of a virtual existence on the internet. The recording of the song was live-streamed via a 360-degree interactive webcast, a groundbreaking technology at the time. The song titled, "What's Really Happening?", was later released on the album Hours . [5] Hours was released exclusively through BowieNet on 21 September 1999 before its physical CD release on 4 October. The release made Bowie the first major artist to release a complete album for download through the Internet. [12] [13] [14]
In 1997, during Bowie's Earthling Tour, live tracks were recorded for a live album release, but the release was cancelled by Virgin, Bowie's label. [15] Following that cancellation, Bowie assembled and released a different live album, made up of tracks recorded across several of Bowie's mid- to late-1990's tours, exclusively to BowieNet subscribers as LiveAndWell.com (1999). Re-released in 2000, again exclusively to BowieNet subscribers but with a bonus CD of remixes, LiveAndWell.com remained unavailable to non-subscribers until its public (re-)release in 2021, which did not include the bonus CD. [15]
The site offered access to BowieWorld, a 3D environment that allowed users to control an avatar that could walk through a three-dimensional city, decorated with images Bowie chose including pictures of himself and posters, and communicate with other users. [5]
David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter, musician and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft has had a significant impact on popular music.
An online service provider (OSP) can, for example, be an Internet service provider, an email provider, a news provider (press), an entertainment provider, a search engine, an e-commerce site, an online banking site, a health site, an official government site, social media, a wiki, or a Usenet newsgroup.
During his lifetime, English singer-songwriter David Bowie (1947–2016) released 26 studio albums, nine live albums, two soundtrack albums, 26 compilation albums, eight extended plays, 128 singles and six box sets. Since his death, one further studio album, 13 live albums, one soundtrack album, one compilation album, four extended plays and six box sets have been released. Bowie also released 28 video albums and 72 music videos. Throughout his lifetime, Bowie sold at least 100 million records worldwide. In 2012, Bowie was ranked ninth best selling singles artist in United Kingdom with 10.6 million singles sold. As of January 2016, 12.09 million David Bowie singles had been sold in Britain. In a period of 24 months since his death, five million records were sold in UK, 3.1 million singles and two million albums.
Prodigy Communications Corporation was an online service from 1984 to 2001 that offered its subscribers access to a broad range of networked services. It was one of the major internet service providers of the 1990s.
Earthling is the twenty-first studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 3 February 1997 through RCA Records in the United Kingdom, Virgin Records in the United States, and Arista Records/BMG in other territories. Mostly self-produced by Bowie, it was primarily recorded from August to October 1996 at New York City's Looking Glass Studios. Bowie composed the tracks with Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati, who are credited as co-producers, with Mike Garson, Gail Ann Dorsey and Zack Alford providing overdubs later.
Young Americans is the ninth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 7 March 1975 through RCA Records. A departure from the glam rock style of previous albums, the record showcased Bowie's interest in soul and R&B. Music critics have described the sound as blue-eyed soul; Bowie himself labelled the album's sound "plastic soul".
Black Tie White Noise is the eighteenth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 5 April 1993 through Savage Records in the United States and Arista Records in the United Kingdom. Conceived following Bowie's marriage to the model Iman and the disbandment of his rock band Tin Machine, it was recorded throughout 1992 between studios in Montreux, Los Angeles and New York City. Bowie co-produced with his Let's Dance (1983) collaborator Nile Rodgers, who voiced dissatisfaction with the project in later decades. The album features several guest appearances, including previous collaborators Mike Garson and Mick Ronson, and new arrivals Lester Bowie and Chico O'Farrill.
Hours is the twenty-second studio album by the English musician David Bowie. It was originally released on 21 September 1999 through the Internet on the artist's website BowieNet, followed by a physical CD release on 4 October through Virgin Records. It was one of the first albums by a major artist available to download over the Internet. Originating as a soundtrack to the video game Omikron: The Nomad Soul (1999), Hours was the final collaboration between Bowie and guitarist Reeves Gabrels, with whom he had worked since 1988. The album was recorded in mid-1999 at studios in Bermuda and New York City. A song contest conducted on BowieNet in late 1998 resulted in a fan contributing lyrics and backing vocals to one of the tracks.
"Blackout" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie in 1977 for the album "Heroes". Author Nicholas Pegg described the track as "typical of the darkly exhilarating sonic schizophrenia of the "Heroes" album", while biographer David Buckley remarked on "a backing verging on industrial". Regarding its lyrics and subject matter, Bowie himself said in 1999 that the song "did indeed refer to power cuts. I can't in all honesty say that it was the NY one [New York City blackout of 1977], though it is entirely likely that that image locked itself in my head."
"Telling Lies" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, written and released for downloading and as a single in 1996 and later included on his 21st studio album, Earthling (1997). The song was initially an Internet-only release, and was the first-ever downloadable single by a major artist. No music video was produced for the song.
"Survive" is a song by the English musician David Bowie from his 1999 album Hours. It was later released in remixed form as the album's third single on 17 January 2000, reaching number 28 in the UK. Written by Bowie and Reeves Gabrels, it is a reflective number detailing the end of a relationship. Musically, it recalls the sound of Bowie's folk rock music of the late 1960s, and 1971's Hunky Dory. Its music video echoes the reflective quality of the recording, portraying Bowie levitating at a kitchen table with an egg. Critics and biographers praised "Survive" as a highlight of Hours. Bowie performed the song frequently throughout 1999 and 2000.
"The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell" is a song by the English musician David Bowie from his 1999 album Hours. Written by Bowie and Reeves Gabrels, its title references past songs such as "Oh! You Pretty Things" and the Stooges' Raw Power track "Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell". On Hours, the song is a rockier number that contains elements of 1970s glam rock. The lyrics offer views on disillusionment and aging. The song was first released in a different mix in the film Stigmata before being released as the first single from the album in Australia and Japan, replacing "Thursday's Child". An unreleased music video was filmed that depicted Bowie encountering several of his past personas. It was performed live in 1999 and 2000.
Nicholas Pegg is a British actor, director and writer.
The Ziggy Stardust Tour was a 1972–73 concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, to promote the studio albums Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Aladdin Sane. Bowie was accompanied by his backing group, the Spiders from Mars, and integrated choreography, costumes and make-up into the live shows to make them a wider entertainment package. The tour generated significant press coverage, drawing positive reviews and launching Bowie to stardom.
Internet censorship in Ireland is a controversial issue with the introduction of a graduated response policy in 2008 followed by an effort to block certain file sharing sites starting in February 2009. Beyond these issues there are no government restrictions on access to the Internet or credible reports that the government monitored e-mail or Internet chat rooms. Individuals and groups could engage in the expression of views via the Internet, including by e-mail. Irish law provides for freedom of speech including for members of the press, and the government generally respects these rights in practice. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system act jointly to ensure freedom of speech and of the press.
MSN Dial-up is an Internet service provider operated by Microsoft in the United States and formerly also in several other countries. Originally named The Microsoft Network, it debuted as a proprietary online service on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of Windows 95. In 1996 and 1997, a revised web-based version of the ISP was an early experiment at interactive multimedia content on the Internet.
David Bowie Is was a touring museum exhibit displaying history, artifacts and information about the life, music, films, tours, and art of English singer-songwriter and actor David Bowie.
I'm Only Dancing is a live album by the English musician David Bowie. It had a limited release on 29 August 2020 for Record Store Day as a double LP and double CD. It was recorded on the second half of the Diamond Dogs Tour in 1974, which is known as "the Soul Tour" due to the influence of the then-unreleased material Bowie had begun recording for Young Americans (1975). I'm Only Dancing marks the first time performances from this portion of the tour have been officially released.
Brilliant Live Adventures [1995–1999] is a box set by English musician David Bowie, released incrementally throughout late 2020 and early 2021 as a series of six live albums taken from various concerts performed in support of Outside (1995), Earthling (1997) and Hours (1999). Named after the Hours song "Brilliant Adventure", the box set contains a mix of edited single shows and compilations from multiple concerts.
The videography of English singer-songwriter and actor David Bowie (1947–2016). This page gives an overview of his music video singles, music video films and compilations, live music films and music documentaries.
