The MsBehaviour Files: New Music Ideas

My first mp3 player was a little black box that barely held four tracks, which was given to me as a wedding present. It would play enough music for my cycle ride to work, but I'd have to listen to the same tracks on the way back. Eight years later and my media player now stores days worth of music, it records audio and can play videos. With the holidays coming up I have been looking for some fresh tunes to listen to at the beach, and have found some great new music ideas for both fans and artists.Become a music mogul with the Next Big Sound, where you can listen to the demos of unsigned acts and sign the ones you think will become famous to your own record label. It has elements of a game as you get points if your artists have hits, a bit like a fantasy sports league. A similar idea is Sellaband, which gets fans to invest in their favourite artists and then take a share of their future income for supporting them early on. Jamendo has around 14,000 free albums, with nearly half a million members and an active community of both fans and artists. They encourage payment through direct donation to the artists and the most recent donations are shown on the site sidebar, with most donations between 5 and 10 Euros (NZ$12 - 24).

Cherry Peel offers free music in a constantly changing chart, with clean navigation and the simple option to vote each song up or down like social news sites Digg & Reddit. The music at the upper end of the Cherry Peel charts is both high quality and original, and it's a great place to start for finding new music. The Hype Machine aggregates content from a large number of music blogs, so you get a mix of mainstream and indie artists. Make sure you take care here, as not all of the music referenced is copyright free.

Legal Torrents uses bittorrent technology to host Creative Commons content. As well as music you can find books, films and tv clips. There's not much there at the moment which means that it is an ideal time to add your music and stand out as a hip early adopter. There's no money to be made, but you will find plenty of new fans for your music. Popcuts offers an incentive to trendspotters, as you get a small cut of any further sales made of a song that you have bought yourself. A business model that gives money back to the fans as well as the band is certainly original, and recognises the hard work fans often do in spreading the word about artists. It's like paying an army of loyal fans instead of an advertising agency. I know what I'd rather do with my money.

Pump Audio say that they license more indie music to film, television and advertising than anyone else. All music submitted must be of commercial quality and undergo a reasonably strict greenlight procedure to make sure the quality is high and no copyrights are infringed. Once accepted they offer all genres of music for commercial licensing. They split profits 50/50 and you retain 100% ownership of your music, which seems to be the standard new music model. HD Fest also finds music for independent films and produce high-def film festivals all over the world.

Ultimate band is a music matchmaking matchmaking service that sounds like a great idea. First you post a music project for free, and then musicians can contact you for an audition. The service lets you chat and add your MP3s to a shared workspace, making it easier than ever before to find and work with talented artists from around the globe.

Related Links:

Making Music Connections

Indie Music

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