EQ Music or EQ Music Blog (formerly Electroqueer.com) is an independent British music

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

and

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

founded by American digital and music enthusiast Raj Rudolph. Alternative names include EQ and EQ Music; the site supports new

electronic pop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a revi ...

artists alongside its music reviews, features, interviews and video previews. In 2007, with the addition of New Artists Editor Mandy Rogers, the site developed into a multi-author blog; in 2013, pop blogger Luis Gonzalez joined. In 2008, the EQ Music brand began to spoke into several entertainment related divisions including live showcasing, touring,

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

and artist management; together, EQ Music's brands consolidated into a diverse international music

media group A media conglomerate, media company, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, video games, amusement parks, or ...

History

In 2005, digital and music enthusiast Raj Rudolph launched Electroqueer.com as a blog focused on discovering and inspiring new talent in the

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...

genres of music. In 2008, EQ Music Live was formed, with the subsequent formation of the EQ Music Tour in 2011. At the 2008 Weblog Awards, Electroqueer.com was placed as a finalist in the Best Music Blog category. In 2010, Electroqueer.com changed its name, becoming EQ Music Blog. The following year,

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

duo Electrovamp won EQ Music Blog's theme song contest; the band's winning entry, "Electroqueer", became the site's official theme song and was featured on volume one of the ''This Beat Is Poptronik'' compilation album, curated by the blog. In 2012, EQ Music announced co-sponsorship from

Gaydar Radio GaydarRadio is a podcast on Mixcloud streaming service, which used to be a Digital radio in the United Kingdom, British digital radio station for homosexuality, gay men, lesbians and gay friendly people, on Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB multip ...

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...

and Music Jobs Ltd for the inaugural Poptronik Festival held in Spain. In 2013, EQ Music launched its artist management division. In 2015, the brand launched on

Viber Rakuten Viber, commonly known as Viber, is a cross-platform voice over IP (VoIP) and instant messaging (IM) software application owned by Japanese multinational company Rakuten, provided as freeware for the Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, mac ...

Public Chats, giving app users the ability to access the blogsite's music picks and recommendations via the platform's

instant messaging Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of synchronous computer-mediated communication involving the immediate ( real-time) transmission of messages between two or more parties over the Internet or another computer network. Originally involv ...

and

Voice over IP Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also known as IP telephony, is a set of technologies used primarily for voice communication sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. VoIP enables voice calls to be transmitted as ...

(VoIP) software.

Writing style and criticism

At its heart, EQ Music Blog describes itself as "a fun place to discover new music, watch music videos and dig deeper into the lives of the people creating quality electronic pop music, written with a fun and constructive tone." The site's editorial views have been featured in the British press (''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', '' The Metro'' and '' The Daily Star''). In 2009, Australian blogsite PopTrashAddicts accused EQ Music of spending most of its time copying content from other pop blogs; a view EQ called a good laugh. In 2011,

BBC News Online BBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. It is one of the most popular news websites, with 1.2 billion website visits in April 2021, as well as being used by 60% of the U ...

selected EQ Music's Raj Rudolph as an influential UK-based music editor and

Sound of Sound of... is an annual BBC poll of music critics and industry figures to find the most promising new music talent. It was first conducted by the BBC News website in 2003, and is now widely covered by the corporation's online, radio and TV out ...

pundit, an accolade consecutively held since 2011–2015.

Format

EQ Music Live

In 2008, EQ Music expanded its online artist promotion platform to include live music events showcasing both emerging and established pop and electronica artists. In blogger Oli Freke's assessment of the launch night, he wrote "great atmosphere, great crowd and great start to a new electro night." EQ Music Live has celebrated residencies in Underbelly (Hoxton), Barcode (Soho) and Road Trip & The Workshop (Shorerditch). Artists showcased include The Good Natured,

Christian Burns Christian Anthony Burns (born 18 January 1974) is an English singer. He is the son of Tony Burns of the Signs, a Liverpool-based rock band signed to Decca Records in the 1960s. Career Burns was a member of the popular British band BBMak, a ...

Graffiti6 Graffiti6 is a collaboration founded in London in 2009. Made up of Jamie Scott (songwriter and lead vocals) and TommyD, Tommy "D" Danvers (producer and songwriter). Graffiti6 are known for their "blend of characterful voice and crisp, intricat ...

Polly Scattergood Polly Scattergood (born 18 October 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. She has been described as wikt:ethereal, ethereal, dark, intense and quirky, while her musical style has been described as "early 21st century electropop, electro-dan ...

, Parralox,

Bright Light Bright Light Rod Thomas (born 30 October 1982), known professionally as Bright Light Bright Light, is a Welsh electro-pop singer, DJ, composer and producer based in New York City. Bright Light Bright Light incorporates many elements of nu-disco into his mus ...

and Simon Curtis.

EQ Music Tour

On 4 August 2011, EQ Music announced its first North American Music Tour headlined by American electropop singer Adam Tyler. The ten state, thirteen city US tour supported Tyler's debut album, ''Shattered Ice'' (2011).

Tour dates

In November 2011, EQ Music sponsored Daniela Brooker as headliner for their second North American Music Tour. Working in conjunction with

Hard Rock Cafe Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a chain of theme restaurant, theme bar-restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos, hotels and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll ...

on behalf of the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

's global Pinktober breast cancer awareness campaign, the fifteenth date live music tour began in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

(October 17) and ended in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

(November 6).

Poptronik albums and festival

In 2012, EQ Music launched the Poptronik brand which includes the ''This Beat Is Poptronik'' compilation series. On 16 April 2012, EQ Music in partnership with electropop

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

label, Aztec Records released ''This Beat Is Poptronik - Volume One''. ''So So Gay Magazine''s Greg White commented "great quality electro-pop is exactly what we find on this huge compilation." On 1 September 2012, Andy Bell,

Fernando Garibay Fernando Garibay (born December 27, 1982) is an American record producer, songwriter, and author. He was one half of the short-lived pop duo, Kylie and Garibay, which he formed with Australian singer Kylie Minogue in 2014. Career Garibay was ...

Cazwell Luke Eugene Caswell, known mononymously as Cazwell, is an American rapper, record producer, and songwriter. He has released the three studio albums '' Get into It'' in 2006, '' Watch My Mouth'' in 2009 and ''Hard 2 B Fresh'' in 2014, along with vi ...

and

Monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

co-headlined EQ Music's inaugural two-day Poptronik Festival in

Sitges ; , ) is a town about 35 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain, renowned worldwide for Sitges Film Festival, its film festival, Carnival, and LGBTQ culture. Located between the Garraf Massif and the Mediterranean Sea, it is know ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

ʼs Phil Marriott,

Faithless Faithless are an English dance music Band (rock and pop), band that formed in 1995, with its core original members being Rollo Armstrong, Rollo, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. During the band's initial period of success, Sister Bliss and Maxi Ja ...

percussionist Sudha Kheterpal and

Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters are an American pop rock band formed in 2000. The band's current line-up consists of Jake Shears (vocals), Babydaddy (various instruments), Del Marquis (guitar, bass) and Randy Real (drums). Former members include vocalist A ...

' Tour DJ – Sammy Jo were joined by a plethora of new and emerging electronic pop artists. On 27 August 2013 EQ Music released ''This Beat Is Poptronik - Volume Two'' under its own label. The album featured

Carmen Electra Carmen Electra (born Tara Leigh Patrick, April 20, 1972) is an American actress, model, singer, and media personality. She began her career as a singer after moving to Minneapolis where she met Prince (musician), Prince who produced her Carm ...

, Cherry Cherry Boom Boom,

Frankmusik Vincent James Turner (born 9 October 1985), better known by his stage name Frankmusik ( ) (and between 2011 and 2012, by the name Vincent Did It), is an English synth-pop musician. Since 2010 he is based in Los Angeles as remixer and producer. ...

Jessica Sutta Jessica Lynn Sutta (born May 15, 1982) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and former actress. She is a former member of the girl group The Pussycat Dolls. As a solo artist, Sutta shelved her first attempt with a debut album, ''Sutta Pop'' ( ...

(formerly of The Pussycat Dolls),

Private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Max Barskih Mykola Mykolaiovych Bortnyk (, born 8 March 1990), better known by his stage name Max Barskih () and alter-ego Mickolai, is a Ukrainian singer and songwriter. He was raised in Kherson, Ukraine, and moved to Kyiv after his graduation. He has re ...

Dangerous Muse Dangerous Muse is an American electronic rock project founded by vocalist Mike Furey and keyboardist, vocalist Tom Napack. History Dangerous Muse formed when Mike Furey and Tom Napack met as students at Fordham University, New York City. Furey ...

and

Jennifer Paige Jennifer Paige Scoggins (born September 3, 1973) is an American singer. She is best known for her international number-one pop hit "Crush" and another singles " Sober", " Always You" and ''Ta Voix (The Calling)'' in duet with French singer L� ...

. In 2014, the label released Adam Tyler's ''Shattered Ice (Deluxe Edition)'' and Naommon's single, "Beginning Everyday".

Artist management

In 2013, EQ Music launched its artist management operation and currently represents

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n electronic pop duo Parralox, Latin artist Ryan Adamés from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, singer-songwriter Francine from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

based

alternative pop Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

artist Daniel Robinson and EDM prodigy Mi Disguise from

Accolades

* Electroqueer.com ranked fifth amongst Top 10 finalists of the 2008 Weblog Awards for Best Music Blog. * EQ Music Blog founder Raj Rudolph was a guest panellist at the first ever

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

Winter Music Conference The Winter Music Conference (WMC) is a week-long electronic music conference, held every March in Miami Beach, Florida, United States since 1985. It is also known as the premiere platform for electronic dance music. The conference brings togethe ...

2013. * EQ Music Blog ranked amongst Top 100 Music Blogs of 2015. * EQ Music Blog founder Raj Rudolph was consecutively selected to

pundit list of influential online music editors between 2011 and 2015.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
British music websites Internet properties established in 2005