3 Great Services For Independent Artists

3 Great Services For Independent Artists
Get Your Music To The Masses Without Major Label Budgets
Jan 24, 2010 Charles Zuspan
There are thousands of websites on the Internet geared toward indie musicians. We took a look at 3 of these sites, and how they'll turn you into a rock star.

There are plenty of services online for struggling musicians: from sites that allow musicians to bid on session prices, look for bands needing space filled, or hundreds of sites wanting to sell/warehouse CDs for your independent band. Here are 3 sites designed to turn unknown artists into indie rockstars:

One of the main sitres is 2010hiphop.info this is where you can go to get information on how to get a record deal and make money with your music online.
Bandcamp Provides A Free Place To Host Your Digital Album
The creators of Bandcamp are sick of seeing bands offer digital downloads only to see their sites crashing because of the amount of traffic coming through. What's worse, though, is that half of that traffic may not even be legit. Some of those downloads are probably from friends of legitimate purchasers who've passed the link on for free.
Bandcamp offers to take care of hosting, and selling, files. The service isn't exactly free, but the model is a good one. They'll freely host files for any band, and only want paid if the files sell. They take care of everything, and all they ask is that they can take a cut from the sales.
Plenty of sites do this same thing, but most (like CD Baby) want bands/artists to pay a processing fee just to set up a page. Granted, they're offering digital sales as a part of a larger package, but some bands don't need that. If the band already has a website, but wants to sell music online without the hassle, Bandcamp is a great way to go.
DMusic.com Offers A Wide Variety Of Services For Bands
Another great choice for up and coming artists is dmusic.com, who provide everything from hosting and legal assistance, to digital (and physical) sales and sound production. They even offer web design, art design, and copyright assistance if it's needed.
None of this is free, but a band won't likely find any of these services for cheaper. Examples of artwork are available on the site, and they even offer to assist in legal matters when an artist is accused of copyright infringement, or to help an artist who feels their property has been wrongfully used.
Easy Digital Distribution With RouteNote
Yet another site offering digital distribution of music, RouteNote offers to host files, sell them, and only asks for a 10% cut. This may sound high, but there are plenty of sites out there that would ask for more. RouteNote doesn't offer any other services at this time, but they have plans to add consulting services in the future.
RouteNote, like most every other digital distribution service, is non-exclusive. Bands are free to use more than one distributor, but some of the destinations (like iTunes) don't allow the same group to have more than one submission. So if a band is going with multiple distributors, they'd do well to ensure they have some say over where the company distributes their music.
Independent Music, Record Sales, And Advertisement
Thousands of other services exist online, and no two are exactly alike. It all comes down to what a band's preference is regarding online presence. Some are content with doing everything themselves, while others need assistance when it comes to sales, advertisement, or legal issues. Whatever the case, there's something for everybody. This is just a taste of the services being offered to indie musicians online. Some may offer low-rate (or free) advertisement, while others allow bands to put together their own street-teams instead. Others offer digital distribution, while still more (like CD Baby) offer warehousing services in addition to online sales.
Whatever the need, there's a site online right now catering to it. It may take some searching, but in the end if the band needs it, they'll find it. And if they can't find it, maybe they'll make it to help others in their situation like the founders of Bandcamp.