Taylor McKnight from Hype Machine

13Apr09

At SXSW I was introduced to Taylor McKnight, part of the team that runs one of my favorite sites: Hype Machine. He agreed to answer a few questions…

What are your thoughts on SXSW?
It’s utterly exhausting but the excitement keeps me going. Janelle Monae, Deertick, and The Rural Alberta Advantage all gave me goosebumps.

Just give me a little background…what’s your story, how did you get involved with Hype Machine, etc.
After college, I a few years working at University of Florida and Gawker Media doing web development while simultaneously working on a side project with a friend. Podbop gave you a podcast of mp3s frombands coming to your city that very week, a way to discover bands on-the-go. During that time I became friends with Anthony (who founded Hype Machine back in his dorm room in 2005) who was nearing graduation. I decided to jump ship and join him full time on Hype Machine mid-2007. It’s been a truly awesome experience working on something so exciting with a friend. Both of us have complimentary interests that have helped guide Hype Machine along as we slowly develop the site into a proper company.

What what have you gotten out of the experience…some of the key insights and learnings that you have gleaned from running what, in my opinion, is one of the most kick-ass music web sites out there?
It’s been a complete blast working on something that so many people are so passionate about. I’ve learned to appreciate that users care so much about the site instead of being hurt/annoyed when we change something and everyone complains. The flip side is nobody cares about what we do and we wouldn’t hear a peep.

What are the things that your experiences has yielded that other people in the music or media business could learn from HypeM? And, of course, where do you see music going in the future?
Bringing together what is essentially a bunch of friends (or friends you haven’t met yet) recommending you music is invigorating. Knowing there’s a heartbeat behind every song that ends up on our site, somebody falling in love somewhere around the world makes discovery much more rewarding to me than a computer suggesting I listen to something based on tempo. I hope that the web continues to bring together the voices of the individuals to make all types of discovery (not just music but food, events, travel and more) as entertaining of an experience.

What is the first album that you bought with your own money and what format?
I was a late bloomer when it came to music. My first purchase was No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom in 7th grade on CD. Back before they turned into a dance club band.

What have you been listening to lately that you’ve been enjoying? Why have you been enjoying it?
Rural Alberta Advantage is something I’ve been digging a lot lately after seeing it on a bunch of Top 10 of 2008 lists. Everybody describes them as a Neutral Milk Hotelesque sound which sits just fine with me since I’ll probably never have the chance to see NMH live. I saw RAA perform during SXSW at a church and it they live up to their album. Another band that I discovered via a Swedish radio station is Fredrik. Not sure how to describe it just yet, but it’s a feast for the ears.

Are you a festival guy? Going to anything this summer?
I’ve done most of the large festivals and nowadays lean towards more of the multi-venue festivals (SXSW, CMJ) than large outdoor festivals. I’ve had incredible experiences at hot sweaty crowded festivals (Pixies/Radiohead @ Coachella, Kanye/Rage @ Lolla) but I’m looking at Pop Montreal and possibly something in Europe in 2009.

Anything else?
One of the deciding factors of which events I’ll probably attend in 2009 will be decided by my side project SCHED* ( http://sched.org ), a scheduling app for festivals/conferences. It’s been taking off lately and is a good excuse to travel to new places!