Insound

Last updated
Insound
Type of site
Music Retail
Headquarters Brooklyn, NY
URL www.insound.com
Launched1999
Current statusInactive

Insound was a discounted, online music store. Insound carried CD, vinyl, hard to find items, music accessories and merchandise. The company was located in New York, New York. [1]

Contents

History

Insound was founded in 1998 by Christian Anthony, Matt Wishnow and Ari Sass. [2] [3] Wishnow and Sass had worked together at Elektra. [3] The site took six months to build and first launched on March 1, 1999. [4] The company gradually gained notoriety through its reviews, online zines and promotion of then-small bands such as Death Cab for Cutie. [4] Insound also gained visibility through hosting events at CMJ and South by Southwest (SXSW).

Insound became profitable in 2003. [3] In 2008, more than half of the company's sales come from selling vinyl records, which have made a resurgence in the past decade. [5]

In January 2008, the retailer was acquired by Alternative Distribution Alliance, an independent distributor owned by the Warner Music Group. [6]

On March 19, 2015 ADA disbanded Insound but in October of the same year, the online music retailer was revived by the Warner Music Group and was selling a broad-range of music related products at a discounted price. [7] By April 2020, Insound redirected to the Warner Music Group Official Store.

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References

  1. "Insound". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  2. King, Brad (2000-04-18). "Net Lessons for Labels at Indies". Wired . Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  3. 1 2 3 Khemsurov, Monica (2004-07-01). "High Fidelity with Higher Margins Online". CNN . Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  4. 1 2 "Insound 1999-2009: A ten-year history". Insound. Archived from the original on March 6, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  5. Brown, August (2009-04-06). "In a digital age, vinyl's making a comeback". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2009-10-13.
  6. "ADA Acquires Insound.com". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  7. Phillips, Amy; Gordon, Jeremy (2015-03-19). "Insound Shutting Down". Pitchfork Media . Retrieved 2015-03-19.