Electronic mainly.

For users of Acid & SoundForge software mainly, but open to all. Heavy trance/techno bent, as one might imagine. It's really a community site where you upload your music and get feedback.

The good: Nice site. Charts, message boards, the works. Allows deep linking.

The bad: Songs must be uploaded first in WMA format, not MP3 - an extra step. Those who don't use Acid products can't participate in forums. If you don't provide others with feedback, you may not get heard.

One-time $25 fee per CD. 3 60-second sound clips.

Details.

The good: Your own band page. They're eager for new independent artists. Not hugely popular yet, but do a Google on 'independent music artists' and AmazingCDs comes up right behind IUMA & CD Baby. Good search facility.

The bad: You create CD (no packaging requirements listed) and ship it.

Two ways to sell:

The Advantage Program is $29.95/year. (10/04 no longer free.) Amazon ships & provides customer service, and you get 45% of sales.

The Marketplace charges $0.99/sale (or a $39.99 monthly subscription fee for volume sellers), you ship & provide customer service, you get 85% of sales.

Yes.

No.

Note, however, that there is a Digital Music Network program where you may offer free downloads of your music as a promo tool. Upload FAQ.

The good: International, the most popular with MP3.com's demise. Easily searchable genres for buyers. Can feature your CD. 30-second streaming clips of a limited number of tracks available. Touring bands will be happy to know that Amazon can handle shipping -- you just replenish inventory. You may upload free full-length MP3s for publicity in the Digital Music Network, listing your music alongside major artists.

The bad: You may not be accepted into the Advantage program. Signing up takes 1-2 weeks. Cds must be professionally made, shrink-wrapped, bar-coded, the works. NO COVERS.

Charitable Indie Plan: Free.
Professional Indie Plan: $99.95 one-time fee.

Details.

Artistopia believes in aiding an artist with getting signed by a label and connecting with the music industry.

The good: Artistopia provides a professional presentation of the music artist to the music industry along with real-life artist development resources and tools to maximize an artist’s exposure. Artists not only display their talent via their profile, music, and experience listings, but can manage their careers and business relationships through their member console. Some of the productivity tools provided include personal member message boards, newsletter editor, press kit builder, fan base builder, online tutorials and lessons, and class ad postings. Plans to add radio (webcast) in 2005. Extensive promotion of site on part of OMD. Deep linking allowed.

The bad: An affiliate program for webmasters would be nice. :)

Write music@audiogalaxy.com to see about getting your band added.

The good: Music is distributed over networks including Rhapsody, which customers pay to use and pays the artist royalties. Ranks high in traffic on Google.

The bad: Not the most attractive site. You might easily be eclipsed by the big band names, I dunno.

Free: 3 songs.
$9.99/mo: 10 songs + features.
$14.99/mo: 50 songs + features.
$19.99/mo: 100 songs + features.

New indie music portal OMD as of Dec. 2003.

The good: Exposure, pretty complete artist page. Charts, gigs, etc. Lots of artists, seems to be a thriving community.

The bad: Some gaming apparent; 6/10 top artists on front page at time I reviewed it were DJ-Something-Or-Other. However, genres are quite full and I found some good music. As of March 2005 you can allow free previews and downloads but cannot sell anything (ie., services cannot yet pay for themselves). You can't get pricing on services till you sign up (a pain).

AUSTINTXMUSIC.COM also provides a database for Austin, Texas music-related businesses organized by the type of products or services provided.

The good: NO ADS ON ARTIST PAGES, EVER! Will help w/ ripping, uploading, and image adjustments if asked.

The bad: Well, it's for Austin, TX musicians only.

The good: Well, if you pay, you might get some exposure. Not sure on this one.

The bad: Charts. Only top 25 will list on search. You're basically persona non grata if you can't chart. Free accounts can't even get a link back to their own website even if they DO chart and are found.

Free!

CDs! Upload your music/art and they manufacture/sell the CDs.

You can also sell swag here - details.

One-time $35 setup fee per album. Four 2-minute clips are included in package. For an extra $20 per CD they'll digitize the entire CD for streams.

CD Baby is now allowing full streams of your music files.

Details.

Yes.They keep $4/sale; you set sell price. You create & ship CDs (this is consignment, as opposed to CDs-on-demand where an OMD creates your CDs for sale).

No.

Yes. CD Baby now has a Digital Distribution Program that can pay you 91% of the sale of your download. Sweeet. Details. (Take care -- it is an exclusive contract, meaning you must take care with how you sell it. Don't go sign ANOTHER digital distribution deal with ANOTHER company that will ALSO send your music to iTunes, Rhapsody, Sony Connect, Napster, etc. See partner companies.)

Highly recommended.

The good: International. Sell your own self-made CDs. Mail CdBaby 5 CDs to start. CdBaby creates your home page for their storefront. No pop-up advertising to bug the visitor. Can feature your CD. Articles for promotion. CdBaby offers a storefront with search capabilities and charts. Allows deep linking.

Also good: They have an affiliate program if you have a genre website promoting other artists like yourself. Good popularity -- CD Baby was once promoted by MP3.com.

The bad: You must create your own CDs for sale; homemade CDs acceptable if they look ok (ie, professional). CdBaby offers links to merchants who can do this for you. You do all promoting independent of site.

Free, or upgrade to paid subscription for $3.95/mo. Details.

Not sure how many songs you can upload (appears unlimited).

Highly recommended for exposure...

I rather like this site, though I'd like to see it revamped to be more friendly to the buyer and put less stress on just artists (and fix some bugs). It could experience a surge in popularity, but I predict higher costs to artists if it is to remain profitable. Though not the most easily navigable site, it has a nice search facility, MP3 streams & downloads. In thumbing through the site, I actually found some really good music!

The good: You can technically direct fans to the site to hear streams of your music and buy your CDs. It's organized well enough that I think users new to the site can find your music. Site users and artists can interact with each other, send messages, post to "blogs", etc. High Google ranking. Covers allowed. Allows deep linking, but deep linking is not recommended.

The bad: If a buyer happens to find your music here, he may have some trouble finding your official site or how to buy your music through the site. Well, at least I did -- the home site link is not well placed. There is a badly organized "Store" which features CDs & swag, but the CDs aren't categorized. I think this will change as more artists compile CDs for sale through the site. Easy Listening fans don't want to slog thru hip-hop (well, I assume).

$50, period. Upload as many songs & albums as you like.

Details.

For artists specializing in folk music, including Celtic, Country, Blues, etc.

The good: Targeted. Individual download sales permitted.

The bad: Though committed to their genre, they seem to have suffered financially, relying on memberships and donations. Not all bands will be accepted.

emusu.com

(Used to be musiccontrol.com)

New service based in the UK enables digital distribution from your own website.

The good: Facilitates easy distribution of royalties under a shared online license to labels, band members and royalty collection societies.

The bad: ? More will be available soon.

Free - 15MB.

Platinum Acct. - 500MB storage for MP3s for $4.95/mo.

Details.

Rather new artist interaction site. Open to all styles but has heavy techno/trance bent. It started out as an MP3.com artist chat board but has come a long way, very nicely done. Not hugely popular yet for hosting, but that could change, dunno. Allows deep linking.

This is an odd one.

Free, if you review other artists' music (15 to start), just for one upload. You can pay $19.99 per song and waive the need to review.

The good: Charts, though subgenres are weak. For every song you upload you must rate other artists' songs (15 to start), or you alternately can pay $19.99 per song (less if you've done some reviews). Promotes your music based on its merits only. Chance to be heard over Garage Band's partner networks.

The bad: Peer rating system seems to leave room for cheaters, might obscure some good music, though Garage Band assures us there are safety measures in place. Seems to be promoting peer review to get plays instead of seeking buying public. No covers.

Last.FM

(used to be music.download.com)

Free 50 MB.

Possibly a tiered paid program in the future.

FAQ.

This is old MP3.com after CNET bought it and closed it. The download version of the site is now open with a streaming version coming soon. (If you want your music to stream only without offering downloads, wait.)

The good: MP3.com, though technically dead since Dec. 2003, still comes up first in searches on music and forwards to music.download.com -- it's popular before it ever got going! This may still be THE place to put your music on the Internet because of sheer exposure; however, it's not fully functional yet, and there may be severe limitations in actually SELLING your music there ultimately. Possible "radio station" playlists available after streaming site becomes available (no date set yet). Non-exclusive.

The bad: Unlike old MP3.com, no CDs-on-demand. You may not sell your consignment CD directly on the service, but you may provide an off-site link to the site that does sell it. Like old MP3.com, there is an approval process you must go through that will delay your updating your artist page. Your songs must be encoded at 192 kbps and not the more usual 128 kbps -- better quality, but you do need to re-encode them.

NONE. Lulu charges 20% when your work sells. NON-EXCLUSIVE. Details.

Highly recommended for individual download sales.

Lulu.com is an on-demand publisher of books, music, and images.

The good: An inexpensive way to sell your tracks and CDs. Listeners may preview your work via streaming audio. Listeners may rate the quality of your work. You set the price for your download, all the way down to FREE. You may choose to allow other artists to include your work along with their own projects and receive full royalties. NON-EXCLUSIVE. No wait -- your content is available instantly.

The bad: Uploading custom album covers and art is a bit of a pain. You must use 'customize your storefront' in order to change song order -- another pain. Not good for CD sales that I can see, but you can sell individual downloads. Promotion must be done off-site, with your own website or other. Site is NOT a pure music portal, so its popularity among music seekers may be limited.

50 MB, all free. No paid accounts.

The good: Intended for users of Apple Computer's GarageBand software only, but it's really open to anyone, on Mac or PC. Paypal-based music store where you may sell your CDs. Might as well put your music here, it's more exposure.

The bad: NO COVERS, no obscene material.

Tiered hosting plans, including free.

Details.

The good: Link back to your website.

The bad: Search engine is weak, genres are too broad. Geared to dance, metal, rock, pop.

?

You keep $0.40/download, downloads sell for $0.99.

This new site shows promise in that it offers individual downloads for sale for $0.99. It proposes to be a complete service, offering multiple music file formats (MP3 or the secure WMA & RA formats), message boards, classifieds, webcasts, and more. I'll review it further when it becomes active.

The good: Sounds like a pretty complete service.

The bad: If it's designed to be more of a musician site and not a music-on-demand store, its listenership -- and your exposure -- could be very limited. But that's only speculation, as the site isn't up yet.

More information may be gotten by writing here.

Free for 5MB. Paid accounts get more storage on a sliding scale.

Details.

Yes.

Free at 5MB, reasonably priced up to label-sized accounts.

Details.

Nimbit

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Ten years ago we only dreamt of a fantastic service like this. Nimbit does not provide the ability for a fan to surf through music on its own site, but they've got something much better - the 2nd and 3rd membership tiers permit you to get your music on popular digital distributors like iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, and CDFreedom - which is a HUGE bonus. Nimbit also allows you to easily integrate its sales interface into social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, and blogs, and manage contact lists for mailing lists. Nimbit offers a one-stop shop for services like creating bulk discs, jewel boxes, CD cover art, posters, custom websites, t-shirts, and other merchandise. Nimbit membership also offers access to many helpful industry partners. If only Nimbit partnered with broadcast, satellite, and Internet radio stations they might be close to perfect.

The good: Several options for getting your music out there, digitally and through CD sales. COOL: Backdoor to music sites like iTunes, Rhapsody/RealNetworks, MusicMatch, Tiscali, MusicNet/AOL, Amazon/CDNow, and others!

The bad: Expensive if your CD or music doesn't have selling power. You create CDs (professional grade only, I suspect). Check around a bit -- I heard one musician's negative opinion, unfortunately.

Free to artist and listener. 20 meg artist page.

The good: EXPOSURE, CD sales, individual track sales. This internet radio station site accepts artist submissions online, and if the songs are up to standard, the songs will be included on the stations. Unacceptable songs are simply deleted from the site. RadioIndy.com promotes artists in their radio streams, in links to big-name artists, and on their front page, all for free. CD/download store is new, but promising. Charts include Top 40 of site, but no genre charts.

The bad: Genres are currently limited to acoustic, rock & pop. No genre charts.

Free to join, unlimited songs.

$10/year for Premium membership, which allows you to permit user downloads. Also allows you full access to analoguesamples.com.

Details.

ELECTRONIC only.

As of April 2004, site was still artist-only but had plans to open a listener site as well. You must currently be signed in (as an artist) to listen to any music, and you (as an artist) must pay for the Premium membership to permit user downloads.

The good: Nice community for electronic artists to give/get feedback, collaborate with other artists, learn about software/hardware. Genre charts. Radio station. Competitions with prizes. Industry message boards. Over 7500 members. Full access to analoguesamples.com with Premium membership, which is inexpensive. The main benefit is being able to upload 1 track that is considered the best representation of your work to “TalentEngine”, which is frequented by labels.

The bad: Not yet a listener site, so your exposure is limited to other artists here. No downloads for casual listeners just browsing through, since SectionZ currently prefers to reserve its bandwidth for its members. No deep linking. Covers are discouraged but allowed.

Free artist page. Unlimited songs (for now).

For $9.95/mo. you can deep-link from your own website and upload songs up to 320 kbps.

Yes.Optional E-commerce: Sell your CD thru SoundClick for $4.95/mo. You create CD, ship it, keep 100% of profits.

NOTE: Get your CD made by SoundClick as well!

No.

Highly recommended for exposure. I really like SoundClick, warts and all; it is quite popular.

The good: Your own artist page. Streaming or downloadable songs that listeners can purchase per download or CD. Charts. Unlimited MP3 space. Your own band radio. Zero-commission e-commerce. Stations are up as of August 2004; good promo tool!

The bad: Well, charts. There's some really awful stuff on SoundClick as well as some really great stuff, and the charts don't necessarily reflect consistent quality. Three songs at a time will chart in the overall genre, while other songs will chart in subgenres. If all your music is in one genre, your charting will still be limited. If you choose their e-Commerce option for CDs, you ship your own CDs, and that could be problem for touring bands. Alternately, you can keep your free account and link to a website that sells your CDs (your own, CD Baby, etc.), or avail yourself of the far more popular option of simply permitting listeners to buy per download.

Soundlift

(Used to be IC-Musicmedia.com)

Free: 10 songs.

Other packages up to €19.95/mo.

European site.

The good: Allows video uploads. 192kbps streams. Allows deep linking. Your own domain with paid package.

The bad: Charts are very broad.

SoundStation

(used to be SoundLoud)

Free-50 MB (appr. 12-15 tracks--PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY).
$9.95/mo.-100 MB (appr. 25-30 tracks);
$17.95/mo.-200 MB (appr. 50-60 tracks);
$24.95/mo.-300 MB (appr. 80-90 tracks).

Details.

As of Jan. 2005, current SoundStation artists will be moved to new SoundLoud.com site. SoundStation will become a digital music store for both major and indie artists.

The good: Nice enough layout, good genres. Individual download sales and digital CD sales permitted with a paid subscription -- all proceeds go to artist. Some strong artists on SoundStation. SoundLoud Radio coming soon. Don't known much else about this one yet. Not sure how much traffic this one gets. I uploaded one song and was immediately featured on my genre page -- that was nifty.

The bad: No deep linking that I can see, could be wrong. You must pay a minimum of $9.95/mo. for e-commerce (selling downloads, CDs). Albums sold on SoundStation are digital only.

$299.95/year
$5 to submit individual songs, $5-15 for CDs

Details.

Members advertising TAXI's services on their sites can earn you membership benefits.

Details.

Highly recommended for those seeking music industry WORK.

TAXI.com is an A&R company, not an OMD, that connects artists with industry execs seeking music for TV, film, records, video games, etc. TAXI members' tunes have turned up on Dawson's Creek, ER, The Sopranos, Jerry Springer Show, MTV's Undressed, and various cable movies. A&R company TAXI, which has approximately 6,000 members, claims about 40% of its members get their work forwarded in a year and about 6% of members actually cut a deal. Submit music, they make the connections. NOT a scam.

The good: Money-back guarantee.

The bad: Risk of being in the 60% who don't get work forwarded, or in the 94% who never cut a deal. But if you're serious about getting industry work, this is promotion directly to those who can employ you for real money.

Cost to Artist: $365.00/yr. includes:
48 minutes of radio air time (changing to 60 minutes in near future),
Website Profile page with access to a many sales opportunities,
500 Frequent Listener Incentive Points,
Listener Reviews,
Listener Recommendations,
Unlimited songs
Off site links for CD and merchandise sales.

Cost to Affiliate:
$325/mo plus the cost of music, includes:
Website Profile page,
Downloadable Mix Disc Promotion using Pre-purchased music;
Min/Max Artists: 10/20. Min/Max Pre-purchased downloads: 100/6,000. Custom jewel case cover.
Offsite links to merchandise pages with background music.

Cost to Industry Professional:
$99/mo Professional listing - Private Listing for Content Providers only.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for serious musicians seeking radio airplay especially.

Update September 2009:

ToneStac stands out from the competition because of its radio marketing effort; it's worth the yearly artist rate of $365.00. I have kept this list for years now, and my biggest complaint about OMDs was that the only people listening to the free ones tended to be only other musicians, and the quality of music was pretty dodgy. Tonestac is different.

Because AM radio covers a wide territory, your music gets lots of exposure. Of course we all know the limits of AM radio, mainly that the tight bandwidth makes it inappropriate for stereo. However, that limitation does NOT apply to the simulcast over the Internet, which does full spectrum stereo justice to your carefully crafted music. In just giving the station a brief listen, I heard some fantastic talent, all introduced by a live DJ. The casual listener will find lots of commercial-free high quality independent music that may be purchased directly from Tonestac. This radio broadcast is built into the cost, so your music is guaranteed radio play. You simply schedule it via the ToneStac website.

The good: Radio broadcast of your music, and the cost means that more serious musicians choose this route; for the radio listener, this means the quality of music found here is much higher than on sites that cost the musician nothing.

The bad: The price may be steep for the casual musician. WDSP AM 1280 isn't bundled with any Internet radio players (such as Windows Media Player), which is a shame as more people need to find this station! It is the only broadcast station affiliated as of 2009, but I expect that to change as more stations begin to understand that there is a good market seeking new music.

I sincerely hope Tonestac's model will encourage more cross-marketing of Internet radio, satellite radio, and broadcast radio so the market that is already hungry for high-quality new music can have an easier time finding it. This is the future of radio, and Tonestac is on the cutting edge.

15 MB free
50 MB $3.99/mo.
100 MB $4.99/mo.

Details.

The good: Forums, chat rooms for giving/receiving feedback. Stations that may be linked from outside sites -- good for promotion of your genre.

The bad: Limited genres; however, I still found some very good music!

Like Live365. Free to submit songs to broadcasters. Broadcasting packages as low as $12.95/mo.

Details.

Free site created by a former MP3.com employee. Very nice interface, new as of late March 2004, may grow into something promising in the future, but for now it's a free site where you might gain more exposure. Genre charts coming soon. There is some intention of stations (user-generated playlists similar to old MP3.com). 2009: Site no longer in music biz.

The good: Upload unlimited songs. No ads. Reasonable fees. They manufacture your CD. Word has it that you can optionally charge for downloads, up to 256kbps!

The bad: Well, it ain't free. But compare $94.99 one-time fee (and they give a discount if you pay all up front) to MP3.com's old $19.95/mo.!

2009: Site down, sorry.

Free artist page - 2 songs.

Subscription: $39.95 for 6 months/$59.95 for 1 year. Up to 30 songs.

Details about entire network that includes ArtistLaunch.

Yes, for Premium Stationmasters (see column at right) -- $3/signup (recurring per year too), and you may offer a discount for signups through your station.

Coming soon may be an affiliate program for CD sales; webmasters promoting a band or genre of bands may be able to get a commission on sales of those CDs.

Update 2009: Site regrettably no longer an OMD. RIP Artistlaunch, you had a great idea.

Highly recommended.

The good: $59.95 is pretty cheap for a year! Charts, genres. Search facility isn't as narrow as I'd like to see it, but it's quite navigable for buyers. Allows deep linking for all artists. Submitting your content to ArtistLaunch also simultaneously submits the same content to other network members, currently including FreeWorldRadio.com and YourPlayListClub.com; more members are coming. FreeWorldRadio and YourPlayListClub can be played from anywhere on the Web; opens in its own window. With YPLC you can create a "station" including your own music and that of other AL artists and stream it from your own web page! VERY cool.
Coming soon: individual download sales; artists keeps 80%--good deal. Though administration may be stretched thin, they have responded quickly to requests. AL updated servers, so plays are now fast and smooth.

May 2004: Stations available, similar to old MP3.com's. Stationmasters may choose a free or premium ($20/yr) option. Premium stationmasters may earn royalties when new artists sign up. Details.
December 2004: AL's own professionally produced radio show featuring its artists will be broadcast weekly on FM radio. Syndicated on 45 FM stations so far, expecting 100+ AM & FM by end of 2005. Not limited to the Internet. iPod users may utilize "Podcasting" (download shows to play).

The bad: Charting only available to subscribing artists. One person has accused AL of chart manipulation in the past, but the issue may be in semantics -- AL used to bump newer artists up in charting over older artists to keep charts "fresh" but stopped after some complaints from older artists.

The good: Sell CDs from your web page using this service. They provide HTML; you paste it on your site (HTML knowledge is handy though), and voila! instant cart. Sell thru their General Store as well. IF THIS WORKS, it could be worth it for getting your less professional CD to your buyer.

The bad: General Store offers no charts or search options for genres -- buyers will have trouble finding you through that source alone. And, well, there are bugs. The sample band that they used that supposedly sells CDs using AudioSurge had a sad site with no buy links anyway--URGH! HOWEVER, the site says: "Coming Soon: Separate artist pages, sound sample (mp3) hosting, and private labeled store hosting and design."

2009: Site no longer an OMD.

Starts at $29.99 per-product one-time fee for artist page, based on plans for 3 product sales. Up to 15MB of song storage (upgrade available) - use clips!

$34.95 one-time setup fee for co-branded shopping cart for your own website's basic e-commerce. Full e-commerce package available for $149.95.

Details.

Yes. You: 65%, them: 35%. Sliding scale varies with upgrade purchases. You choose whether CDStreet will ship or you will (they do it for free).

The good: After one-time setup fee, basically free (no sales, no cost). Sales generation is really up to your own site though! This is not meant to be a stand-alone storefront -- you should have your own website and some design skills (or a webmaster) so the cart system can be integrated.

The bad: No charts. You do all promotion on your own website. If you self-ship and tour, your shipments will obviously be delayed. CDStreet apparently hasn't had the best record of paying artists - see here for one musician's opinion. (At that link you will also find other resources for music distribution. Check it out.)

2009: No longer in service.

Free. #songs?

Corner Band's big thing is its partnership with Kazaa. You can pay $99.95 to start an account to list 1 song free for a month; $9.95/song/mo. after that. YOUR FILE IS ENCRYPTED in WMA format to protect against piracy. I'm not a big Kazaa supporter, obviously... but at least there's some promotional potential on Kazaa, the largest file-sharing network in existence. Don't know if Kazaa will beat the U.S. courts for its legality in the long run though.

2009: No longer an OMD.

Free: 2MB storage - 0 tracks but images/media ok.

Several packages up to $25/mo. Details.

ELECTRONIC only.

The good: Nice, full electronic genres.

The bad: Well, electronic only.

2009: Site down.

Free: 2 mp3s.
$7.99/mo: 25 mp3s.

Details.

2009: Site no longer an OMD.

Brand new site, open but still in beta stage.

The good: Exposure. Genre charts. Band reviews. Artist receives play on station. Allows deep linking for paid accounts. Mailing list, email account, custom webpage design, "Hire a Band," merchandising, music videos, forums.

The bad: Still in beta! Will update this as site progresses. Has great promise though!

IndieJukebox pays artists for song plays from splits on advertising revenues. Artists simply point their fan base to IndieJukebox for plays. No deep linking; songs play in IndieJukebox's own player, and listeners must be signed in to listen.

The good: Pay-for-play! Charts. Link back to site that sells your CDs.

The bad: Genres are pretty general. I didn't see "World" at all, but I suppose that could change if there was demand for it. No individual download sales.

2009: Site down.

The good: One of the oldest, most respected artist services on the Web. Sister site to Vitaminic.com.

The bad: They don't accept everybody who attempts to sign up. Streams on IUMA have been quite slow for me, although I am on DSL. Support is reportedly not currently good (Oct '04).

2009: Site down.

The good: Exposure is via Liquid.com and others (including Amazon.com, BestBuy, CDNOW, Sam Goody/Musicland and Yahoo!). Haven't researched this one too well...

The bad: Exposure via Liquid.com has a limited selection and is lacking in search capability (try and locate Celtic music).

2009: Site down.

New site doesn't really resemble old one for independent artists.

Dec. 2, 2003 No longer an OMD for indies.

Mperia is an online outlet for CDBaby. Uploading an album to CDBaby and accepting their exclusive digital distribution deal gets your tracks added to Mperia, where the individual digital tracks can be sold.

The good: Easily sell your tracks online. Promotion tools.

The bad: This is the exclusive CDBaby contract mentioned above; if you sell it using this channel, you must exercise caution in utilizing other sellers! However, you may sign up directly through Mperia and avoid that. You do all promotion off-site. CDBaby itself is not yet (IF it will) promoting Mperia on its well-known home-site. Site not yet well-known. Consumer needs Bit-Pass to buy tracks, a slight hassle. No charts, but browsable music database.

2009: Site down.

The good: German site servicing 239 countries is not a music portal but offers distribution technology for digital content -- you integrate their service into your own site to sell your music and pay only a commission per sale. Your MusicDock shop appears in the language and currency of your visitor's choice -- GREAT for international sales, and an advantage over Lulu.com. Non-exclusive.

The bad: You do all promotion off-site. If you don't have a strong web presence, listeners may not find you. No CD sales, only individual digital track sales. NOT a music portal (no charts, stations, artist pages, etc.), so consumers can't accidentally stumble upon you while browsing for other popular music.

2009: Site down.

$24.95 / 2 months

Details.

#1 Ranked MP3.com Promoter David Blumberg's (of Primetones.com) search engine submission service.
$24.95 gets you 2 months of weekly search engine placement submissions to over 70,000 Search Engines. Guaranteed improvement for the Search Engine visibility for a proven track star of Artist Promotion. He will also personally look over your site and make some search meta suggestions to help you too. Accepts Paypal. [My note: David's doing something right. Search for "MP3 ringtones" and Primetones.com is #1.]

2009: Site format appears to no longer be OMD.

$99/yr.

Details.

OEbase allows you to sell CDs and digital downloads directly from your site -- GREAT for touring bands.

The good: Listeners may listen to and buy your music in one place. This may be best for bands that already tour and have a fan base trying to find out where to buy. Flash MX technology guards against your music files being illegally copied. Music files are served on OEbase's servers, saving your own site's bandwidth. Flash is on 98% of computers already; listeners do not need to download a player.

The bad: If you don't have a strong web presence, listeners may not find you.

2009: Site down.

Free.

Details.

It was designed as a ringtones (for your cell phone) site, but it's accepting artists and providing them with artist pages. Individual download sales. Allows deep linking.

2009: Site down.

Free (max. 25 songs, NO SALES!) or Premium Service, which costs €50 (about $59 USD) and enables you to sell individual song downloads and Vitaminic-produced CDs.

Details.

Yes, if you sign up for Premium Service. You set the price.

The good: International; Europe's most popular. Easy to create own Vitaminic home page. Will translate your information for marketing in non-English-speaking European countries. Storefronts & charts, promotional programs. Individual download sales allowed for as little as $0.99 each with Premium Membership.

The bad: Premium members must upload at least 1 freely downloadable promo track; basic artists cannot charge for songs or CDs. FREE ARTISTS BEWARE: If you upload a song and have a free account, you MUST provide your songs FOR DOWNLOAD. Also, you cannot remove or change a song once it's uploaded (that was my experience with a free account, anyway). If you choose a basic account, it's for exposure of your own website. Not as well-known outside of Europe. Popup advertising is annoying but worth keeping it free to list your music. NO COVERS. Support is reportedly not currently good (Oct '04).

2009: Site down.

You: 70%. Carnie Digital donates 5% of sales to scholastic programs and music charities. $10 charge per incident for editing (not entirely sure what this covers).

Music made available for purchase at no cost to label or management.

Feb. 2004: Site appears to be down, maybe for good.

The good: Has its own search engine, MUSE, for users. Has its own P2P network for maximum indie exposure.

The bad: No electronic way to sign up -- you actually print a form and mail it along with your music, which they will encrypt for use.

BeSonic

Site has been down for several weeks as of December 2004. Not sure if it will continue.

European site.

The good: Charts, playlists for listeners, download option.

The bad: Lofi plays only. Popup ads are a pain. They don't accept all songs. Charts aren't as specific as I'd like.

Update 12-8-03: Doh! Site is down indefinitely. The message boards are about the only thing working right now. Not anymore...

The good: Free! Get featured on 1Sound Radio Stations. You'll need your own website for sales, or use CDBaby or CDStreet. Pure exposure. Allows deep linking.

The Bad: Relatively new, needs more exposure. Hey, help 1Sound get it. Not the most attractive or navigable site, but improving. No CD sales yet available thru 1Sound. Site has reportedly been down a lot.