In 1998, dataTV was still a new company in New Orleans designing websites. Around the same time, a new music label was debuting in the Crescent City armed with some of the brightest stars in the region.

The label was….and is… Basin Street Records.

The original Basin Street Records site was designed by the label’s CEO, Mark Samuels and was a plain, gray one page site loaded with information. It lacked the “jazzing” up necessary to make it feel like it represented New Orleans thriving jazz and blues music scene.

dataTV took over the site design in the Fall of 1998 and produced a site that matched the feel of New Orleans nightlife. In 2002, Basin Street wanted to go much further and dataTV listened. In doing so, a showpiece was presented using what was then innovative database-driven concepts in a Flash based environment. Years ahead of its time, the site launched in August 2002 and  received a Macromedia Site of the Day award…the first of three dataTV would be awarded.

As time progressed, the site continued to have its fans. However, the overall web marketplace changed as mobile became more prevalent and the site simply wouldn’t show up at all on an iPhone or iPad device.

As Basin Street had just signed Rebirth Brass Band to the label, the decision was made to redesign the site. The intentions were to create a new backend that made it easy for the client to insert content while also adding new e-commerce functionality directly through their Content Management System. The ability to blog on the site, instead of on a third party site like Blogspot or Blogger, was also important to keep eyes on the site longer. And at the same time, the label’s Twitter and Facebook feeds could be updated as soon as a new blog post went up on the site.

dataTV worked closely with the label on a new design that reflected the design of their annual “Festival Sampler” promotional CD. It also allowed the theme to be changed on the site without having to completely redesign the entire look and feel. A large cost savings in the long run.

A mobile themed design was created to allow for iOS and Android phone users to view the site in a compact environment. In turn, users of iPads got the website the way it appears on standard web browsers.

The site launched on May 26, 2011, just days prior to dataTV’s own website relaunch in celebration of their 15th Anniversary.