Today we’d like to introduce you to Laurie Niles.
Laurie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started Violinist.com in 1997 – at the dawn of the Internet. As a symphony violinist, teacher and journalist who had worked as a newspaper reporter, I had the idea that I wanted to provide a community that would advocate for classical music and hold up examples of excellence in the art of violin playing and teaching. But I had no idea what that looked like! At first, Violinist.com was simply a place for violinists to post their resumes – a sort of “Facebook for Violinists” before Facebook existed. Then we started a discussion board. When my husband Robert suggested that I start writing a blog, I said, “What is a blog?” As a very early blogger, I felt like I was given the opportunity to help invent what a blog is. I found the Internet to be an exciting new medium for journalism, a place where I could write an article with photographs, but where I could also link to other articles, use video, and invite community participation. More than 20 years later, the community is going strong, with 8,000+ unique visitors a day a 200,000 uniques a month. I’ve published two books of interviews with famous Violinists, featuring the many interviews I’ve done over the years for the website, and the Violinist.com has provided countless people all over the world with the inspiration and information they need to study, perform and teach violin.
Has it been a smooth road?
Operating a website for more than 20 years has required a lot of flexibility and adjustment to change. In 1997, there was no social media – no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram. People did not understand or trust the Internet. Also, when we started supporting the website through ads and sponsors, we had to deal with the fact that people only understood print advertising, so they didn’t understand things like rotating ads, and they were easily deceived by competitors who boasted high “hits,” not realizing the influence of bots, etc. Running a discussion board in the early days of the Internet was also fraught with problems – we discovered that people will say anything if allowed to do so anonymously, and so we devised a registration system that allowed us more control. And in the early days, we lived in fear that the site would be spammed with inappropriate content – there is so much more in place to prevent that now!
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m the editor and founder of Violinist.com, a longtime website that includes blogs and articles; an active discussion board; directories of teachers, performers and violin makers and more. Our mission is to hold up examples of excellent in violin playing, performing and teaching, in order to inspire people around the world to participate in classical music. We also invite a diverse audience to participate and highlight the contributions of violinists and teachers of all races, genders and ages. We tend to delve deep into subjects, with articles that really explore violin technique, violin making, the lives of violinists, etc. I’m proud that my readers love long articles about the physics of tone – we definitely do not talk down to anyone. In fact, the idea is to lift everyone’s knowledge and expertise in this subject.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the cultural diversity of Los Angeles and the creativity and innovation of its residents. The weather is also dang nice. I most dislike housing costs, it’s really out of hand and driving good people away.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.violinist.com
- Phone: 6263762755
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/violinist.com_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/violincommunity
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/violinist
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/violinist
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