Fabchannel.com was a Dutch company that aimed to give attention to artists unrecognized by the
mass media
Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets.
Broadcast media transmit information ...
.
The project was founded by
Justin Kniest in 2000 in collaboration with internet service provider
XS4ALL and broadcast facility company
N.O.B.
The website streamed free, live, and on-demand video from the
Paradiso,
Melkweg
Melkweg (Dutch for "Milky Way") is a popular music venue and cultural centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is located on Lijnbaansgracht, near Leidseplein, a prime nightlife square of Amsterdam. It is housed in a former dairy and is divided into ...
venues in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
The Roxy Theatre
The Roxy Theatre (often just the Roxy) is a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, owned by Lou Adler and his son, Nic.
History
The Roxy was opened on September 23, 1973, by Elmer Valentine and Lou Adler, along with ...
venue in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.
With more than 900 live concerts, festivals, performances, debates and lectures, Fabchannel.com built a substantial concert
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...
archive, their claim of being 'the largest concert video archive in the world' however being an exaggeration, given the far larger archives developed by major broadcasters such as BBC.
In April 2007 Fabchannel announced that it has launched its own channel on
Joost
Joost () was an Internet TV service, created by Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis (founders of Skype and Kazaa). During 2007–2008 Joost used peer-to-peer TV (P2PTV) technology to distribute content to their Mozilla-based desktop player; in la ...
, an online TV distribution platform. This channel, ''The Best Of Fab'', shows a selection of the archive.
In November 2007, the city of Amsterdam and Foreman Capital each took a 25% share in Fabchannel. The city of Amsterdam paid 1.25 million euro for the share.
In February 2008 Fabchannel and Universal Music Netherlands announced a recording and multi-territory digital exploitation partnership for concert videos. This was a breakthrough for Fabchannel as this meant Fabchannel was able to record and stream concerts of artists signed by Universal. Despite this deal, the business model underlying Fabchannel proved difficult to maintain, with no clear source of direct revenue from the end users (viewers), and with copyright holders (artists and/or record labels) being reluctant to allow premium value content to be streamed for free. Moreover, notwithstanding tight security measures, Fabchannel content got pirated on places like YouTube and Peer-to-Peer filesharing networks.
On March 6, 2009, Kniest announced that the site would be shutting down the following Friday, March 13.
In an email to subscribers titled "Fabchannel Stops." Kniest wrote:
Awards
*Spin Award: Winner Best Dutch Website Concept of 2003
*
EuroPrix.nl: Overall Winner Best Dutch E-Content Production 2005
*Prix Europa: Winner Best European Website 2005
*
Webby Awards
The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...
: Winner Best Music Website 2006
*
Musikexpress
The ''Musikexpress'' is a monthly German magazine that mainly writes about the rock and pop music. In addition to detailed interviews and articles about important rock, electro, hip-hop, pop, and independent musicians, the magazine offers reviews ...
Style Award: Winner Best Media 2007
*W3 Silver Award: Winner 2007
*Best Dutch entertainment website of the year 2008
References
{{reflist
External links
I want my Fabchannel(interview with founder Justin Kniest)
Defunct Dutch websites
Dutch music websites
Internet properties disestablished in 2009
Internet properties established in 2000
Internet television channels
Defunct video on demand services