Rob Pappagianopoulos, UNH Junior
By: Taylor Lawrence
With the advent of sites such as Frat Music, Grooveshark, and the wildly popular Youtube, it is clear that the Internet is our modern day boom box. The collaborative capabilities of the Internet make it the ideal vessel to make, share, and speak about music. While many music executives scramble to control the explosion of new music erupting on the web, young adults relish in the opportunity to tailor their music taste outside the wrath of the radio.
Rob Pappagianopoulos, a UNH junior, is one of these young innovators who jumped at the chance to be a part of the Internet music revolution. With his site “Dorm Room Tracks,” Pappagianopoulos proves that his ambitions are just as big as his last name.
The site has been produced with the help of UNH sophomore Mary Awad, Northeastern junior Everett Paitchel, and Stonehill freshman Jessie Pappagianopolous. Dorm Room Tracks puts together downloadable music, playlists, and mash ups from artists as well known as Florence and the Machine to the lesser-known college rappers such as Truth Himself.
“We find the music via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, artists websites, submissions, Youtube, and really any other form of media sharing,” explains Pappagianopolous, “Our music is eclectic – we are really trying to include all genres.”
As a college student creating a site for other college students, his point of view is powerful and exemplary of what is catching in the college scene. “I know who my audience is currently and tailor what I put on to them.”
He also looks forward to a more progressive music scene in terms of not only more integrated electro, but a lyrical perspective that holds a message beyond the college cliché and still holds a beat. “It is pretty refreshing to hear from educated rappers. And I’m not talking about just Mac Miller and Asher Roth who talk about partying and stuff, which is pretty relatable and not bad to listen to. But if you dig deep enough you’ll find a lot of rappers that are the same age as us, that actually have interesting things to say beyond that of getting money, smoking weed, and having sex.”
The diversity of music geared towards college students is attractive, yet not unrivaled on the web, so what makes Dorm Room Tracks different? Its distinct voice.
“We would rather offer quality music with longer posts so the reader can learn about artists rather than just throw a bunch of new songs on,” remarks Pappagianopolous.
It is these longer descriptive posts that really give the site an intimate connection with its visitors. “It is pretty cool because we try to feature every once in awhile a ‘fan’ based post where I’ll take submissions from followers and feature their musical taste on a post.” This makes the site read like a friend telling you about this great band they heard rather than a faceless company shoving its music down your throat.
However with the internet cluttered with voices the challenge comes in making Dorm Room Track’s refreshing perspective rise above the rest. Pappagianopolous has started his site’s following modestly. “So far it has been circulating around my group of friends, although there has been a lot of random hits.” A young entrepreneur, Pappagianopolous has already come to understand that the big pay off will come down the road. “A very small amount of profit is being generated; however, right now it’s all going towards paying for the domain name.”
His entrepreneurial inspiration, he says, is Facebook creator Mark Zuckerburg. “He had an idea, created that idea, had numerous chances to sell it (at one point for a billion dollars), but instead held on to his creation. Ten years later its the second highest ranked website and is worth 100 billion.”
With an inspiration as large as Mark Zuckerberg, it should come as no surprise that Dorm Room Track’s founder has big dreams for his site’s growth. To further promote the site he says, “We hope to maybe do concerts in the future, make merchandise that’s desirable, and really any other way possible.” For the site itself Pappagianopolous teases “expect big things.”
“I really want to add other aspects to the music blog. Like playlists, sell merchandise, and some other things I’m keeping under wraps.”
Although small now, it is the founder and his co-workers’ passion for music that makes Pappagianopolous’ dreams achievable.
“The best thing about music is that everyone’s answers to this question will be different. Good music is the fusion of production, mixing, and song. Good music is when you can nail all three—great music is really when you speak about something. Also I feel like if you hear a song and want to play it again you know its good.”
The beat of this site looks as if it has the promise to stay on repeat.
