DIGITAL L.A. HOW YA GONNA KEEP 'EM DOWN ON THE FARM?

Byline: David Bloom 

If Jimmy and Doug's Farmclub.com seemed to some like an Internet vanity project when it kicked off Jan. 31, observers could be forgiven their assumptions. Despite the down-home name, the people behind the company were anything but just plain folks.

Jimmy is Jimmy Iovine, who heads Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records. Doug is Doug Morris, Iovine's boss and head of Universal Music Group, the biggest record company on the planet (though the AOL/Time-Warner-Turner/EMI aggregation may win that title).

And of course, though the Farmclub was a quasi-independent, kind of low-key operation designed to help unknown bands percolate up into the cultural consciousness, it was backed by two media giants that are very much above ground - Universal and AOL.

The idea was to jump between old and new media, with the deep pockets of big boys but not the procedural and organizational limitations.

The Web site, at www.farmclub.com, specializes in letting no-name bands build audiences. There's a weekly music show, ``Farmclub.com,'' on the USA Network showcasing those no-names in and among big-time acts like Dr. Dre, Bare Naked Ladies and 98 Degrees. And there's a record label that signs the best of the up-and-comers (though controversy broke out when Farmclub's new deals didn't look much better for bands than those of older record labels).

Six months later, how's the ``vanity project'' going?

Probably well enough to swell anyone's ego, according to Farmclub president Andy Schuon, at least within the narrow demographic areas the company has initially targeted.

Most months, the Web site ranks somewhere among the top five music-oriented Net destinations, said Schuon, a top programming veteran of MTV and Los Angeles radio power KROQ-FM. Farmclub.com in June received about 1.1 million unique visitors (the industry measurement for the number of different individuals logging on to a site), according to one ratings service, though Farmclub people say their own numbers are significantly higher.

The TV show, which runs Monday nights after USA's wrestling programming, trails only wrestling shows in attracting male cable viewers 12 to 24 years old.

And the record label has signed four acts already, with the first one, Sonique, about to go gold (that's 500,000 records sold).

The label benefits from the show and Web site immensely, as demonstrated by recent comments from Dynamite Hack, a band that signed with Farmclub because, as one member said on the syndicated radio show ``Loveline'' recently, ``We had a choice (of labels) and decided to go with the one that had the TV show.''

Before Dynamite Hack's album was released, Farmclub.com ran a 10-part series of short pieces to help site users get an idea of the band, said Schuon. That sort of online spade work helps fans connect to a band even before they've heard much of its music.

During a Farmclub taping last weekend at the Universal lot, Schuon showed off the newest gimmick, five specially rigged and painted VW Beetles whose two-person driving teams will be criss-crossing the country the next 2 1/2 months, meeting with bands while talking with Farmclubbers all over, both directly and through the Net.

Farmclub.com visitors can track the cars' locations online through GPS receivers and connect to them through a variety of wireless and satellite links. Built-in computers, microphones and video cameras will keep the cars in contact with the Web site pretty much all the time. There are even TV sets in the trunk playing show episodes that are stored on the computers.

The TV show has concentrated on music that runs from ``more active rock, harder-edged pop, hip-hop, alternative rock, r&b,'' Schuon said. ``We thought we would go where we could get an audience fairly quickly and grow.''

The site's offerings are much broader, dipping into an array of quieter genres that would never play for the testosterone-addled crowd jamming to the vigorous raps of Busta Rhymes.

Arguably, Farmclub.com is one of the first legitimate cross-media success stories, which is good news for Net users who'd like to see a success or two. The bad news, of course, is that it took two behemoths - Universal and AOL - and a boost from two old-media standbys, a record company and TV show, to start reeling in the Web audiences.

But after all the dot-com madness settles out in the next year or two, I suspect this kind of almost-underground, intermedia operation will be much more common, and often with the old-line names behind what eventually surfaces. Farmclub, which appears ready for the big leagues already, is likely to interest competitors and copycats soon enough.

``We do feel it's working,'' Schuon said. ``The traffic numbers are up, the ad revenues, the (TV) ratings, etc., are all ahead of our projections. We're extremely thrilled.''

SITE OF THE WEEK

--Kindle Park: An attractive and fun site for children aged 2 to 6 and their parents.

--Where: www.kindlepark.com

--What's cool: The site is about to add clips of the old Roy Rogers show and other western-themed family fare, the first time the Rogers programming has been readily available since the 1950s when it went off the air.

--Features: A broad array of fun things for children, including kid-rated quick activities for parents and children; a game area; themed videos of animals; the Calliope music area; event calendars; a safe Net search function; and more. Be warned, though: The site's visual attractiveness comes at a price of downloading speed, which may vex eager young ones. This is perhaps best used on a broadband connection, if you're lucky enough to have one.

--You'll like this if: You're very young, you're very fast and you want to play.

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