Music Lunge – Social Network For Indie Musicians & Performers

MusicLunge

Name: Music Lunge
URL: http://www.musiclunge.com

Music Lunge is a new social networking site for musicians. Although the title of this post suggests indie performers are the ones that would get the most out of it, the truth is that this network is also going to be of help to all majors who want to promote their art.

On Music Lunge, just anybody can create a profile and become discovered both by the public and by other performers. What’s more, those who use the site can find music industry professionals that much faster. This includes not only managers and music editors, but also attorneys and promotion agents. Continue reading

Mixest – The Best Way To Discover Indie Bands As They Surface

Mixest

Name: Mixest
URL: http://www.mixest.com

By now, you probably have your favorite sites for finding independent talent. Maybe you resort to this one, or maybe you have bookmarked some other website that serves that purpose. There are enough of these spread all over the WWW to keep everybody happy. And you can argue whether or not the one I am reviewing now is indeed “the best way to discover indie bands” as I say in the title. But I frankly don’t think there is one which  is as easy to get to grips with as Mixest. When you land on its homepage a clip will start playing automatically for you to enjoy. When that song finishes, another will begin playing. And so on. You aren’t required to input anything or hit a single key if you don’t want to. You can head straight to the site and leave it open as you go your merry way. When (and if) something that has you tapping your feet and/or banging your head starts playing it is a mere matter of clicking on the window again to see who it is, and make a mental note.

But the best parts of the whole service are unearthed only when you are willing to interact a little with the service, of course. You can favorite each single track that you like, and you can even use a “Block” button in order to prevent someone who is as tuneful as The Vibrators ever coming through again.

In order to favorite anything you must first create your own account. That costs nothing – just pick a username and a password and you will become a Mixest user as quickly and sure as night follows day. From then on, you will be ready to start building a library of indie artists of its very own.

G2 – Simplifying The Way Bands Are Booked

G2.fm

Name: G2
URL: http://www.g2.fm

This site was created by a group of musicians who felt frustrated with the process in which bands are traditionally booked. If anything, G2 makes everything clear from the word go – the artists and the managers of venues know what they are getting at all times.

That is possible because the site lets everybody have a profile in which everything is clearly set down. If you are a performer, you let everybody know which kind of music you can play, and you do that in the most representative fashion you could imagine – you upload a video of your band in action. In that way, managers of venues get to listen and see you as you rock out.

On the other hand, if you have a club you can not only browse through the pages of artists but actually create a calendar showcasing which slots you have to fill. Interested bands can approach you in a bid to get the gig. Continue reading

YouTube Launches A Partner Program For Musicians In The United States

Musicians Wanted

The power of viral video is something that can’t be downplayed. We all know that careers like Suzan Boyle’s or Justin Bieber’s would never have happened without it, nor would a musician like Butch Walker have played live with Taylor Swift at the Grammy Awards weren’t it for the exposure that YouTube implies.

Aware that people are more willing than ever to join in the action, YouTube has just released a partner program. Named “Musicians Wanted” it was announced at SXSW, and for the time being it is open only to those in American soil. Obviously, that is something which is bound to change over time provided it catches on – something not that implausible or unthinkable.

So, those of you who make original music and live in the States can learn more about it here. The rest of us will have to sit back and wait… but I bet that not for long.

Feeder – Share Your Music On Facebook

Feeder

Name: Feeder
URL:  http://www.feeder.fm

I have already covered some services that let you share your music on Twitter, and now I feel it is only fair to have a look at the other side and see what can be done on Facebook, the mammoth of a social network that has had such an impact that a movie is going to be made about it. Starring Jesse Eisenberg (the guy from Zombieland) as Mark Zuckerberg and Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker (the one who co-founded Napster) it is either going to be highly enlightening or an absolute mishmash, but one thing is for certain: everybody is going to watch it.

So, as a way to highlight some music-sharing capabilities of the network I have chosen to cover some apps and tool. This is the first I will introduce you to. Named Feedr, it will let you take a song and have it automatically posted on your Facebook profile. This will be certainly interesting for those who want to promote their own work. Continue reading

Jamendo – Where Music Is Shared For Free

Jamendo

Name: Jamendo
URL: http://www.jamendo.com

As a musician, you have the right to decide how people will experience your work. You might feel like charging for it, and you might feel like uploading it at no cost. Both options are equally valid to me. Just because you are asking a price it does not mean that you are a despot with dollar signs rolling in your eyes. And just because you are giving it away without charging anything it does not mean that you are giving it away for nothing. The exposure is worth more than anything in the long run. And if you agree with that, I think this site will appeal to you. Continue reading

Twt.fm – Sharing Music With Everybody On Twitter

Twtfm

Name: Twt.fm
URL: http://www.twt.fm

Services for posting your music to Twitter are proliferating, and I think that is something that was to be expected. It has recently been reported by sites like Mashable and TechCrunch that Twitter’s stateside growth has somehow stopped, yet its numbers for international growth have begun showing some interesting patterns. I have already covered a service for tweeting out music, and another one won’t hurt given that this might as well be the year when Twitter will make headlines in every country in the world.

Twt.fm is a characteristic Twitter site even its name, which is short and abbreviated keeping in with the “micro” concept that defines the social sharing platform. The way you use it is easy enough, as all you have to do is login using both your Twitter username and your pass. Once you are in, you have to carry a search based on an artist’s name and the song you want to listen. A preview will be generated, and after listening to it you can generate a track page. This is what you will tweet to all your friends. Continue reading

Ooizit – A Social Networking Site For Musicians In The United Kingdom

Ooizit

Name: Ooizit
URL: http://www.ooizit.com

You might wonder why are new social networks for musicians still being released when we have resources like MySpace available, and you have a point. But you must understand that to people located in specific parts of the world, the idea of networking locally is attractive by definition. That is, if they know the ones who are found within a given network share at least a certain geographical proximity, it is all the more enticing. The WWW has brought a whole elasticity when it comes to collaborating with others, yet if we were given the choice of collaborating over the Internet and doing it face to face then we all know which way we’d go. Continue reading

Songstall – An Online Marketplace For Unsigned Musicians

Songstall

Name: Songstall
URL:  http://www.songstall.com

Every musician knows that the Internet is akin to a freeway of opportunities when it comes to promoting his art and getting through to others. But it is a freeway that has some hazards along the way. While it is true that it is a superb platform for self-promotion and selling your music, it is also true that many sites that act as online marketplaces have a series of inherent limitations that make the experience a somehow diluted one. For starters, many of these sites do charge fees that end up making the actual transaction negligible. And a vast majority of sites letting artists put up their music for sale make the artist undergo a lengthy approval process for his tunes to be listed.

If you are looking for a way of getting around these shortcomings, then I think a site like this one could be worth a gander. Named Songstall (and recently launched, by the way), it will let any unsigned artist sell his compositions without having to pay any over-the-top fee, nor having to sit through a lengthy process in order to have his music listed online. Artists will be charged only when a sale is made. Continue reading

Tweet My Song – Share & Promote Your Music Using Twitter

Tweet My Song

Name: Tweet My Song
URL: http://www.tweetmysong.com

As everybody knows, Twitter is a messaging platform that lets people connect instantly via short messages that go by the name of “tweets”. Since it has an incredible flexible API, a lot of apps see release on a daily basis. This particular one caught my fancy since it is 100 % geared towards musicians.

As you can guess by glancing at its name, it will let you share your own music with everybody using Twitter. That is, you upload your song as an attachment to your tweet and then send both (the tune and the message) out at the same time. It is even possible to upload you own artwork, and once the message is out you are provided with a tracking tool to see who downloaded your song and so on. Continue reading