Friday, October 10, 2003

MusicianSoft

-- Discover New Music the site promises, and it keeps that promise. As a portal to artists in various genres on various online music sites it's a great launching point for your next expedition into the undiscovered, as well as a useful resource for the artist that wants to be discovered. Real artists. Real music. And, real cool.

Friday, August 22, 2003

Bard of Ely

-- As the wired world's quintessential Renaissance Man, Steve finds a way to blend music, poetry and herbal tidbits into a site that transcends the ordinary to become a cultural feast. Dig in.

Thursday, September 13, 2001

Referenda Records

-- What if a record label ran like a kibbutz, with everyone playing a vital part of the community process, and everyone would be contributing and sharing in the wealth? What if popular vote would help influence the artist to receive a non-exclusive CD deal the next month? Referenda Records is off to a good start at shaping the future of independent labels. Everyone has a voice. Now everyone can get it heard. Whether you sign up as an artist or an affiliate looking to profit off CD sales, the site looks like tomorrow -- and tomorrow is looking pretty sharp right now.

Monday, July 09, 2001

100% Unnatural

-- Know a place where synthpop never dies? Know a site where clever music, book and film critiques converge to make one of the finest free e-zines online? Of course not. It's not natural. And that's exactly the point. 100% Unnatural defies convention and pop culture to talk up some great up-and-coming indie artists along with anything else that crosses the mind of talented writer Emil Hyde. What would that be? Odds are, it will be completely unnatural!

Saturday, February 03, 2001

Jane Eliz

-- It's easy to believe that Jane Eliz has the voice of an angel. It's easy to believe that she can strum the guitar with her wings. From the majestic beauty of "Closer To You" to the groovy underpinnings of "In My Mind" the Australian songstress makes words and melodies come alive and twirl across the room. Part Jewel. Part Kate Bush. All Jane Eliz.

Monday, January 22, 2001

Johnny Asia

-- When's the last time you heard something the likes of which you had never heard before? When's the last time you called something a "true original" without sounding trite or cliche. Check out the guitar mastery of Johnny Asia. One might say he borrows from the best elements of acoustic flamenco, blues and rock, but it would miss the mark. Completely. Johnny doesn't borrow. He takes. He takes and he tosses it all into a blender and hits frappe. The ultimate blend is wholly unique. Johnny Asia is a great instrumentalist, a great innovative instrumentalist.

Friday, January 19, 2001

Women in Production

-- Kim and Shoshana have created a musical oasis of empowerment for female artists. Thorough and rich without ever resorting to swinging away with estrogen the site is a useful collection of opportunities no matter how your chromosones line up.

DotEasy -- The best deal on the Internet. With your domain registration -- which is as low as $15 a year -- you get a free banner-free 20 MB web site. No CGI if you want fancy programs but a great deal. It's where Liquid Stereo and Siteclopedia have been set up.

No Monthly Fees -- This is the dream deal for a demanding site. Rather than pay $20 or more a month for high-end website hosting, No Monthly Fees charges you just $200 for life. An amazing 200 MB of storage, full CGI-BIN, site stats, everything you will ever need. All you pay after that is $35 a year for the domain registration.

Commission Junction -- Even if the site is a labor of love, there is no reason why you can't hook up with affiliate programs that will pay you for sending traffic their way. This is where you can sign up for the likes of Tower Records and Listen.com. Hundreds more. They provide the banner or text links. You paste it on your site and collect the commissions. Absolutely free affiliate programs.

Cafe Press - Merchandising goes beyond your music. Cafe Press will help you go that next step. Put your photos and artwork on t-shirts, mugs, mousepads -- and let Cafe Press run the store. It's a free service and you will keep the mark-up on every single items sold.

Link Share - Like Commission Junction, this is another collection of online sites and merchants that will pay you for traffic and sales. Sites like Buy.com and Sony Music are here. It's pocket change, but it's your pocket change.