Detroit music history · recovered from the web

H3ODigital Museum

A living archive of H3O Entertainment and H3OMusic.com—its original members, films, broadcasts, artwork, community, and path through Detroit’s independent music network.

Begin with the story Watch the archive

Recovered H3OMusic.com identity artwork — Recovered H3OMusic.com identity and intro imagery, presented with modern access copies from the preservation archive.

Frame from the recovered H3OMusic.com introduction — Recovered H3OMusic.com identity and intro imagery, presented with modern access copies from the preservation archive.

1999 public origin 820 historical URLs 188 recovered files 14 public films 6 recovered programs

01 / Story

From Detroit studios to a web network

H3O was not just a label site. The recovered pages document production, mobile DJ services, marketing, advertising, record distribution, promotion, merchandising, online radio, artist pages, ecommerce, forums, and community networking.

1999–2000

The first web venture

Public profiles date the venture to 1999. The earliest recovered site material comes from 2000 and includes a listening station, news, storefront, services, bulletin board, and Ghetto Interactive.

Report sources [1][11][45][46]

2001

Playa 1 and GhettoIMusic

The site presented Detroit music by DJ Body Mechanic, DJ Spade: Tha Specialist, Arsinal, Sikeo, Billy Kencade, Taipan, and the H3O family.

Report sources [47][76][78]

2005–2007

Portal, store, podcasts

H3OMusic.com expanded into articles, forums, artist spotlights, downloads, ringtones, compilations, mix CDs, member profiles, groups, and classified ads.

Report sources [49][50][51]

2009–2011

The H3O Netwerk

The last substantial original-era site centered on social profiles, blogs, groups, photos, and a public link between H3O Recordings and Detroit Techno Records.

Report sources [30][44][52]

2014 onward

The next ecosystem

H3OMusic.com redirected to DetroitPromo.com. Detroit Promo TV later developed into The Bassment Detroit, continuing the community and broadcast mission.

Report sources [69][81]

02 / Original Members

The people behind H3O

H3O was built by a collective of DJs, MCs, artists, and creators. This roll call honors the original members and the names behind the music.

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03 / Moving Image Collection

Films and recovered footage

Community films, interviews, performances, Detroit nightlife, and modern access copies of video recovered from the original Flash-era website.

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04 / Listening Room

Recovered broadcasts and mixes

Selected programs from the recovered H3OMusic.com audio archive. Audio remains unloaded until a visitor chooses to play it.

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05 / Photographic Archive

Artists, artifacts, and community

Recovered website graphics and photographs from the H3O family archive, including material contributed by original member Mollison Folson.

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