ShockHound was an
online music download site,
retail store and
social networking
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...
platform launched by
Hot Topic in 2008. ShockHound music files were available for download in the
MP3 format, making them compatible with most
digital music players, and free from
digital rights management
Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. ...
(DRM) software restrictions. Randy Bookasta (
''Ray Gun'' magazine) and Dan Epstein (
''Revolver'' magazine) were contributing content
editors.
On March 28, 2011, ShockHound posted an announcement stating they would be shutting down for good on May 15, 2011.
Content
ShockHound had an
online social networking platform which allowed users to create and share content. Additional website content included
music reviews,
rock concerts,
interviews,
music videos,
streaming audio, and original programming called ''Shock Shows'', including Taco Tuesday and Stella Can't Cook. ShockHound opened its first retail store in
Torrance, California in the
Del Amo Fashion Center.
Cross merchandising
In addition to
music downloads, music-related merchandise was also available on the website, including band
T-shirts, accessories, posters,
concert tickets, and
Vinyl records. This type of
cross merchandising
Cross merchandising is the retail practice of marketing or displaying products from different categories together, in order to generate additional revenue for the store, sometimes also known as add-on sales, incremental purchase or secondary produc ...
was unique in the
digital audio
Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, sa ...
market. ShockHound utilized a proprietary
shopping cart functionality which combined
music downloads and merchandise purchases into a single transaction.
Concert sponsorships
As part of their opening launch in 2008, ShockHound offered free concerts by
No Age,
Titus Andronicus and
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish–Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in 1994 in Dundee, Scotland. They consist of Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson (musician), Paul Wilson (bass guitar, ...
, to users in
Chicago,
Los Angeles,
San Francisco,
Las Vegas and
San Diego.
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shockhound
Online music stores of the United States
2000s fashion
Internet properties established in 2008
Internet properties disestablished in 2011
2008 establishments in the United States
2011 disestablishments in the United States