In today’s do it yourself (DIY) culture, more artists are taking control of their work, brining it from concept to distribution on their own terms.  On the plus side, this gives everyone a fair shot at doing what they love to do and a greater sense of accomplishment.  The drawback?  This gives anyone the opportunity to gain exposure. 

As much as people have become aware of how beneficial and empowering the DIY culture can be, even more people on the other side of the fence are figuring ways to take these do it yourselfers for every penny they can.  The internet is without a doubt the mainstay tool for finding valuable resources to completing your coveted project.  However, even though some of these websites could be your ticket to star-dom, just as many could be nothing but a hoax out to take you and your music for all it is worth.  

I had a friend once named Max who claimed he had the key to being a successful musician.  According to him, all one had to book a lot of shows and circulate self-recorded music all over the internet, for free. Max was a visionary, wake-and-bake kind of musician who practiced guitar as frequently as he did his laundry.  There was some sense to his philosophy, but in order for one to gain any kind of monetary reward for their music, they would have to be noticed and picked up by a significant label.  It’s obvious that any artist would want to gain recognition for their music.  You worked hard, so why not get paid for it? 

I investigated a number of music download sites where music is available to download for a fee.  This is what I found:

Napster.com

I go to Napster.com and see that before I am allowed to do anything at all I must first give them a credit card number.  Didn’t this used to be free?  For more information read, “Why Nobody Likes Me:  The Lars Ulrich Story.”