about 2.much//nform@tion

Hello, I'm Curtis Swartzentruber. Thanks for dropping by my simple Web site. I hope you will find the materials here to be useful. I gathered these materials when I was more involved in working with music artists.  Due to the requirements of my IT career, I don't have much time to spend on this anymore.

Since moving to Nashville in 1991 to pursue a music industry degree at Belmont University, I have been involved at least part-time in the music industry.  Lately, my involvement has dwindled as I get more and more involved with Internet development and programming.  I still maintain friends in the industry, but my interest in music right now is mostly as a lover of the arts in general.

I've now moved to Chicago, working as a consultant for Clarity Consulting, a Microsoft Gold Partner solution provider.  I'm putting most of my efforts now into programming related resources, but now and then I'll check in on this resource.  It's no longer updated regularly, but I leave it up in case people still find it useful.

My music industry background includes stints as merchandiser on the 1994 Steve Taylor Squinternational Tour and the Young Messiah Tour. After that, I spent a brief period of time working at R.E.X Music with such bands as Fleming & John, Circle of Dust, Sixpence, & The Waiting.

The Internet is a natural match for record companies and music artists of all types for a variety of reasons. One of the most important is that it allows interaction between artist and fan on a level previously impossible. Most of the consulting work I did was focused on exploring that relationship. This included:

• I partnered with Mark Hollingsworth in Jungo International, handling merchandise fulfillment for Smalltown Poets, Clear, and Fleming & John. This included any "off the road" sales, such as Web, album inserts, concert brochures, and so on.
• I maintained a fan mailing list and handled fan mail for Steve Taylor
• I worked closely with the Mark Hollingsworth Company (who managed Smalltown Poets and Clear).
• I worked as Webmaster of the official Fleming & John Website.
• I designed several other small sites for bands.
• I did some database programming for clients like: Word Entertainment, Squint Entertainment, The Mark Hollingworth Company, and others

I originally put together this Web site to help fill a need I saw in Christian music on the Internet. There are a lot of general Web promotion resources out there which are very helpful, but none specifically geared to help artists & bands promote themselves on the Web. Having a Web site or an email list is just the beginning. The ultimate goal is to build a community of people who enjoy a particular artist's music. If you have questions or comments, you can email me at: tmi@swartzentruber.net.