Onyro.com has just launched the website for EMI’s dance label Positiva Records .
This site isn’t as much about reading than it is about listening. More Winamp than website, it focuses its attention on the music with an integrated streaming audio player sporting a customizable playlist. The navigation even mimics the iPod’s sliding animation.
Onyro have been working with EMI since 2000 and while they are the first to admit that working for the label is a dream gig the expectations that come with it are also quite daunting, “designing the site for a label which has artists such as Paul Van Dyk and Deepdish, people’s music we listen to everyday, was very exciting and we knew we had to try our best. The positiva project started about a year ago with initial designs being sent back and forth. Positiva has a huge heritage from the early UK Dance scene and many of us can remember their logo from record sleeves.”
Most of the time was spent developing the audio player which initially handled video playback. Due to conversion issues Flash video was replaced with RealVideo and Windows Media playback. “EMI couldn’t convert the videos to Flash for launch”, says Anthony Kyriazis, Onyro’s creative managing director. “EMI is looking into switching video technologies by the middle of this year and will focusing on using Macromedia Flash technology.”
