Internet Music Promotion: Online Opportunites For Artists, Bands, Performers
Today, the Internet provides unprecedented opportunities for autarkical penalization to find an audience. Unsigned bands and solo singers can today build a fan base that will not only listen to their music, but to buy MP3 downloads.
The Internet’s Grassroots Movement
It’s indisputable that the Web has created a paradigm shift in the way we live our lives. We’ve come to depend on the Internet for communications, information gathering, shopping, and so much more. With the advent of what is widely famous as Web 2.0, the Internet has once again shifted into what could best be summed up by one word: democratization. For example, journalists are no longer affiliated with mainstream media outlets; they’re researching, blogging, and breaking some of the top news stories of the day. Experts no longer sit in their ivory towers and publish papers in academic journals; your family members, neighbors, and co-workers are constantly refining the compendium of expertise famous as Wikipedia. Throw in MySpace, YouTube, and other social networking sites, and the top-down information structure is tossed out the window, replaced by a bottom-up, grassroots movement.
The Music Industry is Reeling
Nowhere is this revolution more apparent than in the music industry. The Internet hasn’t sent the industry rockin’ and rollin’ - it’s sent it reeling. Napster, the progenitor of penalization sharing on the Web, is today viewed as ancient history, but the insurrection lives on. While iTunes is here to stay, some major record labels continue to resist the opportunities that the Internet provides, instead opting to distribute penalization only through traditional sources.
During the prototypal part of October, these dinosaurs faced another challenge to their survival when Radiohead released their much-anticipated \”In Rainbows\” on the band’s website. The kicker? Fans could get online downloads for free, or pay as much or as little as they wanted. So much for the business model that the music industry has traditionally employed.
How Independent Music Finds a Voice
Prior to the widespread use of the Internet, musicians and singers had to pound the pavement, sending demos to music labels and radio stations in the hope of breaking through to the big time. Today, however, autarkical music can take a page from Radiohead’s playbook, and speak directly to potential listeners and fans. Indeed, specialized music sites have sprung up to showcase autarkical music, and to provide musicians, performers, artists, and bands a platform for promoting their work. These sites offer MP3 downloads for less than the cost of an iTune, while supporting artists’ work by giving them a 50-50 split of the proceeds. This is in start contrast to the deals that penalization labels provide even the hottest bands, which typically receive only most 20 percent of the revenue generated by their music.
The Music Aficionado’s Advantage
From the perspective of the music fan, autarkical music sites are a dream come true. In the music mainstream, a large amount of talent is overlooked by labels in favor of \”packaged\” acts that are perceived to be revenue generators. Now, thanks to the Internet, music fans from around the world can hear and experience songs that might otherwise never have found an audience.
- Artist Management
- Online Music Promotion
- Cheap Graphic Design
- Music Marketing Blog
- Youtube Promotions
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