Rediscovering College Bands

You probably never thought I’d say this, but it’s time to get the band back together!

Ok, maybe that’s taking it a step too far, but it’s at least time to dig out that record that you and your college band made, which has been lingering in obscurity for all these years.

There now exists an organization whose purpose is to unearth music created by college students, especially from the days before DIY made it so easy for these artists to distribute their own material. It’s called College Band, and bills itself as “the world’s first archival record label of bands from college campuses.”

Check out this track I discovered from Gestures’84 out of Washington University:

The website is still in beta mode, but it seems that anybody who made music while in college is eligible to join.

CollegeBand will digitize and catalogue these recordings, and give each band a profile page to facilitate music discovery and sharing. They have an on-line store, as well as deals with services such as iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify. To take it a step further, CollegeBand will seek licensing opportunities for placements in TV shows, film, and advertisements.

This is obviously a cool opportunity for anyone who produced music while in college. But it’s also great for anyone who is passionate about music discovery. I know I’m looking forward to taking a look back at some lost talent from our great universities.

— Chris Muckley

@cmuckley