Webtunes was started as Internotes in 1995 during the Super Bowl By John, Gian, and Anne. The name was changed to Webtunes in December 1995. Working in Manhattan where so much original live music was going on daily created the need to have a guide. We started by adding the Village Voice club advertisements and venue flyers and where ever else we could find listings and adding them to the database. We then started creating band pages and venue pages so users can see who is playing where and the click a link to find out more about the band. As technology allowed, we added links to sound clips. Then later we started going to the shows and filming the bands to post online. With over 200 listings a day in Manhattan at the time it was a daunting task to choose a band to see unless you knew them.
This was very popular at the time and very time-consuming. In 2003, I moved out of NY and the site faded. Eventually, I set up the Eventful API so it would still have listings and was searchable, however, there were not many. Living in Maryland during the pandemic, when Governor Larry Hogan first allowed live music outdoors, we went to our local bar and listened to Michael Kolker. We enjoyed his cover songs but especially loved his originals. This got us thinking to bring back Webtunes so locals can know when and where to get out after the long lockdown. We soon discovered an abundance of original artists in our area with great songs and are trying our best to get them the exposure they deserve.
Since we still have friends and family in NY we added a WebtunesNY page to Facebook. The goal is to get Ambassadors to populate their own areas.
So if you are looking for live music near me tonight or this weekend, this is the place to find it. Maps have been added so you can limit the distance you want to travel.
