Remembering the ISP that David Bowie ran for 8 years

The seeds of the Internet were first sown in the late 1960s, with computers laced together in continent-spanning networks to aid in national defence. However, it was in the late 1990s that the end-user explosion took place, as everyday people flocked online in droves.

Many astute individuals saw the potential at the time, and rushed to establish their own ISPs to capitalize on the burgeoning market. Amongst them was a famous figure of some repute. David Bowie might have been best known for his cast of rock-and-roll characters and number one singles, but he was also an internet entrepreneur who got in on the ground floor—with BowieNet.

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The BowieNet website was very much of its era. Credit: Bowienet, screenshot

Bowie’s obsession with the Internet started early. He was well ahead of the curve of many of his contemporaries, becoming the first major artist to release a song online. Telling Lies was released as a downloadable track, which sold over 300,000 downloads, all the way back in 1996. A year later, the Earthling concert would be “cybercast” online, in an era when most home internet connections could barely handle streaming audio.

These moves were groundbreaking, at the time, but also exactly what you might expect of a major artist trying to reach fans with their music. However, Bowie’s interests in the Internet lay deeper than mere music distribution. He wanted a richer piece of the action, and his own ISP—BowieNet— was the answer.

The site was regularly updated with new styling and fresh content from Bowie’s musical output. Eventually, it became more website than ISP. Credit: BowieNet, screenshot

Bowie tapped some experts for help, enlisting Robert Goodale and Ron Roy in his nascent effort. The service first launched in the US,  on September 1st 1998, starting at a price of $19.95 a month. The UK soon followed at a price of £10.00. Users were granted a somewhat awkward email address of [email protected], along with 5MB of personal web hosting.  Connectivity was provided in partnership with established network companies, with Concentric Network Corp effectively offering a turnkey ISP service, and UltraStar handling the business and marketing side of things. It was, for a time, also possible to gain a free subscription by signing up for a BowieBanc credit card, a branded front end for a banking services run by USABancShares.com. At its peak, the service reached a total of 100,000 subscribers.

Bonuses included access to a network of chatrooms. The man himself was a user of the service, regularly popping into live chats, both scheduled and casually. He’d often wind up answering a deluge of fan questions on topics like upcoming albums and whether or not he drank tea. The operation was part ISP, part Bowie content farm, with users also able to access audio and video clips from Bowie himself. BowieNet subscribers were able to access exclusive tracks from the Earthling tour live album, LiveAndWell.com, gained early access to tickets, and could explore BowieWorld, a 3D interactive city environment. To some controversy, users of other ISPs had to stump up a $5.95 fee to access content on davidbowie.com, which drew some criticism at the time.

Bowienet relied heavily on the leading Internet technologies of the time. Audio and graphics were provided via RealAudio and Flash, standards that are unbelievably janky compared to those in common use today. A 56K modem was recommended for users wishing to make the most of the content on offer. New features were continually added to the service; Christmas 2004 saw users invited to send “BowieNet E-Cards,” and the same month saw the launch of BowieNet blogs for subscribers, too.

Bowie spoke to the BBC in 1999 about his belief in the power of the Internet.

BowieNet didn’t last forever. The full-package experience was, realistically, more than people expected even from one of the world’s biggest musicians. In May 2006, the ISP was quietly shutdown, with the BowieNet web presence slimmed down to a website and fanclub style experience. In 2012, this too came to an end, and DavidBowie.com was retooled to a more typical artist website of the modern era.

Ultimately, BowieNet was an interesting experiment in the burgeoning days of the consumer-focused Internet. The most appealing features of the service were really more about delivering exclusive content and providing a connection between fans and the artist himself. It eventually became clear that Bowie didn’t need to be branding the internet connection itself to provide that.

Still, we can dream of other artists getting involved in the utilities game, just for fun. Gagaphone would have been a slam dunk back in 2009. One suspects DojaGas perhaps wouldn’t have the same instant market penetration without some kind of hit single about clean burning fuels. Speculate freely in the comments.