“C’mon,” Tiesto’s 2010 collaboration with Diplo, essentially kicked off the Dutch DJ’s Musical Freedom label. Until recently, however, Musical Freedom’s website could only be described as “sufficient,” but as the label acquired several performers over the course of 2012, a major change was in order. That’s why, on December 19, Musical Freedom announced its revamped website, one designed to “offer the best possible user experience for dance music fans.”
The statement for the new Musical Freedom website claims users now have the opportunity to learn about each artist and release through dedicated pages, stream the label’s full catalog, create custom playlists with an intuitive player, and get updates regarding the label, its artists, and general EDM news. Musical Freedom’s artists and friends additionally offered input in the design process.
From the start, MusicalFreedom.com is easy to navigate and informative. The home page highlights the most recent or notable news and releases, offering users a chance to quickly find accurate and up-to-date information concerning the label. Below it are additional up-to-date listings for artist and label news and music.
In navigating to the site’s news section, many of the first page announcements are still visible, along with other relevant stories regarding the latest artist updates, be it Tommy Trash’s Grammy nomination or Tiesto’s World AIDS Day efforts. Among the news stories, all of which are concise and informative, was a brief announcement for the launch of the new website. On a side note, the announcement included a video indicating Musical Freedom TV is coming soon; this would compound to the existing Musical Freedom radio, which features the label’s pool of artists.
Overall, the news section is cohesive, relevant, and provides more than sufficient information about Musical Freedom’s achievements. On the other hand, the tone is never formal, instead inviting the fan into the label’s world rather than keeping the user at a distance.
Music-wise, however, is where Musical Freedom shines and, essentially, moves ahead of other labels. For each release, all tracks are available in full for streaming and can be added to the player. Tracks for all artists can be streamed directly from the Music and individual release pages. The quality, as well, is fairly decent, and each release page provides the options for purchasing the track, album, or compilation, as well as a list of related singles or remixes.
The player ties into the streaming selection of artist releases. While any track can be selected, the player makes recommendations for a playlist, all from Musical Freedom’s roster, that can be removed or arranged. As a bonus, the music does not stop when the user switches between pages of the website.
For the moment, Musical Freedom does not have a huge pool of acts, which means that the Music and Artists pages are not extensive. But, much like users have the opportunity to hear new and previously-released tracks through the Music page, the Artists page provides brief biographies and social media for all performers, from the well-known (Hardwell, Nicky Romero, Tommy Trash) to the many up-and-comers signed over the past year.
Overall, MusicalFreedom.com is everything a website should be: informative, easy to navigate, up-to-date, and thorough. For its artists, the new site essentially goes above and beyond regarding exposure: As the music and artist information is already onsite, the user doesn’t have to put the extra effort in seeking out singles, albums, and Facebook pages and, instead, can find and hear the latest recordings in just a few clicks.
