Recently I was fortunate to chat with Peter Hook famously from Joy Division and New Order about indie music and his own history as a DIY musician.

http://www.myspace.com/peterhookneworder

Peter’s irrepressible energy and on going love for music makes him a prominent figure in the industry with an enthusiam and drive not even God himself could curb.

Hi Peter, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to have a chat. Let’s do what I always like to do in interviews and go back to your beginnings…

Back in the days of Joy Division before you had a manager or record deal what was the driving force for the band? Was it a passion for making and performing music or was it a desire to get famous?

It was music! That fame and money thing was an unknown quantity luckily.

Is it true Joy Division released an E.P called “An ideal for living” in 1978 on their own label Enigma Records prior to any involvement with Tony Wilson and Factory?

Yes.

As a fledgling post punk indie band how did you fund this release?

Ian got a loan, Barney did the artwork we co-ordinated the whole thing and folded the sleeves ourselves.

As Joy Division your first album “Unknown Pleasures” and the single “Love will tear us apart”, produced by Martin Hannett, put you on the map. However it’s a documented story that you hated its sound and what Martin did to the music. Would you say a producer is an integral part of any bands sound and its success?

Sometimes depends on the producer and the band, generally I’d say if they agree you’d get an inferior product!

Anyone who is familiar with the story of Joy Division and New Order will know how important a role Rob Gretton had as your manager. Would you say that these days a manager is just as important for bands?

Good ones are hard to get, I still don’t have one. Rob was a very interesting manager but I’d say with two bands like us you couldn’t go wrong!

How instrumental would you say that Tony Wilson was in propelling bands in front of the masses be it gigs, on TV or Radio?

He loved punk rock with a passion and he used his positio to champion it! God bless him, VITAL!

Would Joy Division, New Order and Factory Records work in today’s society with its mp3s, file sharing and constant stream of manufactured pop bands?

Good music works on every level, BRING IT ON!

Factory Records granted you total freedom as Joy Division and New Order. Is this freedom important to musicians and their development?

VITAL!

If you could do it all again would you change anything?

No.

What advice would you give to today’s indie musicians?

Wrote great songs.

You’ve been very busy lately with FAC 251. How are things progressing and what can we expect?

The unexpected, it’s going very well fingers crossed.

Will we be seeing you at Creamfields this year?

Hopefully Ha Ha!

Thanks for taking the time to chat to BrandNewMusicUK.com Peter and the best of luck with your projects and especially FAC251 – we’ll see you there soon.

http://www.myspace.com/peterhookneworder

The computer revolution of the last ten years has radically changed the tools available for individual content creators. I recently spent an hour talking to Vicki Silbert of Bittybox, who recorded much of her indie album “Smalltime” in her home studio. I wanted to know what can really be accomplished these days with home recording, and can an indie project come anywhere close to the quality big budget recordings?

http://www.myspace.com/bittyboxdotcom

Just to set the groundwork for this discussion, maybe you should tell us briefly about the Bittybox project?

Sure… I had been through the whole band experience in the 1980’s. We played the Los Angeles club scene for 6 years, but we never had much opportunity to record. Years later I was making my living on the Macintosh computer and it occurred to me that maybe there was software for recording music. So I looked into that and sure enough there was! This was the start of Bittybox, I made a decision to learn about digital audio recording software and finally record an album.

So you had no previous experience recording?

Well, my band had been in the studio a couple of times. We recorded a pretty good single, and another time we spent way too much money to record a bad demo, but that was in the days of 24 track tape. We also did some 4 track cassette recording with a Fostex X-15. Don’t know if you’re old enough to remember those? Strangely enough we were happier with the X-15 recordings than when we paid a bunch of money to record with a producer. I guess it was partly that experience that led me try home recording. But no, I had no previous experience with recording on the computer, and I was certainly not an engineer. I didn’t even know what midi was at the time!

How did you get started?

I got on the internet and researched the different programs for audio recording. When you’re totally new to something it can be pretty confusing, and you don’t really have much to base a decision on. Ultimately I chose Digital Performer Software, mainly because of the Motu-Mac Mailing List. It’s a mailing list of Digital Performer users who network and help each other with the program. It looked like a great resource, which is what it turned out to be!

At that early stage did you think you would record a project for commercial release, or were you just experiementing?

I always had the idea that I would record the album I had always wanted to release. I was actually way over-optimistic about how long it would take me to finish. I thought I would have a CD to release in 6 months, but it actually took me years!

How many years?

Don’t ask! I think I made pretty much every mistake in the book that home recordists make. I was working primarily with samplers and didn’t really know what was possible. So I spent endless hours programming drum tracks, all of which got thrown away in the end. Also the recording software is very deep and there are endless technical challenges and a huge learning curve. You have no idea when you start, what you’re getting into. Truthfully if I had any clue I probably wouldn’t have even tried!

All the drum tracks got thrown out! How much of the stuff you recorded at home got used in the final album?

I think maybe about half of my programmed tracks got used. We kept all the keyboard parts. Most of the programmed horn parts are still there under the one real horn part, there’s some programmed cello under what Novi Novog played on viola, one or two of the programmed bass parts got used, and some of the scratch vocals I recorded at home got used. Also a couple of my guitar parts made it onto the final CD but mostly it’s Ken Lasaine on guitar.

Was this because the parts weren’t good enough or the recording quality wasn’t good enough?

I really didn’t understand to what degree getting some live players would contribute to the final sound of the CD until after I started down that path. What really turned me away from trying to finish by myself was how long it was taking me. I started trying to record guitar parts, and realized that at the rate I was working the album would never get finished. I had played guitar back when I had my band, but hadn’t really kept up with it, so it was really a struggle for me. Once I got into the studio with some session players, it was like a huge weight lifted.

So what do you think about the question of whether a home recording can stand up to the big budget projects?

I’m sure there are people out there who have the skills that would allow them to do that successfully. It would be different for a band that just wants to make a record of the songs they play live, as opposed to a solo project like mine where all the parts had to be created from scratch. But unless someone involved has an audio engineering background it would be pretty hard to do a completely professional job in a home studio.

At least in my case, the decision to use some session players and an engineer in a real studio made a huge difference in the final outcome. And even so there are things that could have been better, but at some point you have to stick a fork in it…both because of the expense and because you totally burn out after a while. You just want to be done with it!

So in the end my “Smalltime” CD is about half home recording with samplers and half in the studio with real players. At least in this case that turned out to be a nice balance.

Well thanks for taking the time to chat about the project!

Yeah, you bet! Thanks for writing about it!

http://www.myspace.com/bittyboxdotcom

Let me preface this by saying that I have the utmost respect and admiration for songwriters who can write song after song. Those very talented individuals who, while they are sitting on the plane, in the bathroom, or at a dining table, grab a napkin, the roll of toilet paper, the safety guide on the airplane, or whatever may be handy and start frantically writing. While I have had this inspiration once in a while, its not a fluent talent. So my hats are off to you!

The statistics were very interesting and I hope not conclusive of what is going on in the music industry right now, although I suspect they are indicative of it. I have never looked at charts or believed in numbers. When I was growing up, I was always told about the statistics and had them thrown in my face with statements like the following: Dont bother, only 2% get the jobs and out of those 2% only a very limited few make a paycheck. Get a real job. Well of course I would get a real job to support me, but who came up with that stupid figure anyway!

QUESTION #1: What is your gender, male or female?

So lets get down to what the survey said. The results of the first question showed that 70% of the writers who took the survey were males. This was an eye opener for me. I have many female friends who are writers. Why was the ratio so off balance? I thought maybe it was just this particular survey. But then I looked at my first demo album and then my real freshman album, and found that the majority of the writers were male. In fact, more then 70%! I couldnt believe it! I hadnt planned it that way or picked the songs based on who wrote them. I picked the songs purely on my likes and dislikes. I had always heard that the entertainment industry was male dominated in every field, but its 2001! It just couldnt be.

I went back to take a look at the demo tapes, which I still had, to see how many of the writers were male and how many were female. Some very well known publishers had submitted the songs to me, so there should have been a variety. To my surprise, 92% were males and only 8% were female. Why was that? Are we still in a society that does not encourage women to excel at anything and everything they want? Or are men simply more prolific in writing music then women? That might be an interesting study in and of itself.

QUESTION # 5: What are the categories that best describe the music that you write?

One of the other statistics that I found interesting was the category that best describes your music. At first I didnt think much about it, with Pop, Rock, and Country being the highest rated. But then I started thinking about the Hip Hop/Rap genres. Dont Hip Hop and Rap writers/artists make the most money? Dont they really smash up the charts and arent they everywhere? Even Jennifer Lopez changed her name to J. Lo, seemingly to me to fit more into the Hip Hop/Rap world. Yet only 2% of those surveyed were writers of Hip Hop music. Does only 2% of the writing population for this survey write most of the popular Hip Hop music, and are they cornering the market of profit for their genre of music?

It would be interesting to find out what percentage of the writing population is making money writing which types of music. This might give the writers and the artists an exact pulse on the pop music of today. Pop music of course was #1 on this question, with the highest percentage of people writing for it. But then I thought about that statement. Pop music is whatever is popular at that time. So maybe the Hip Hop writers really voted under the Pop category. Another interesting question might be how many women write for each category of music, and how many of them make money at it.

QUESTION #6: How would you describe your current status as a songwriter?

The saddest statistic of all to me, and one I can relate too, was #6, describe your current status as a songwriter. The results were not unexpected: 58% of the writers did not make any money at all from their work. The purists will say that they dont write to make money and they dont care if they do or dont make any money off their work. But the practical side, which may never be known to the public, is Why cant I make money when my stuff is so good and that song I just heard on the radio is so. wellbleck?! What is the answer to this problem? How can a writer or any of us in the entertainment industry make money?

I believe the key is education (now theres a new one, and how many times have you heard that before?!) and diversity. I am not only talking about a college education, although I believe that is so very important and should never be given up at any cost!

I grew up very poor; no one talked to me about college. I didnt have the money and my grades werent good enough to begin with. But once I found out about grants and scholarships, I went to someone in my school (I wont name names, lets just say that my normal high school counselor was not around.) I was told that college was not for someone like me and that I didnt have a chance for a grant or a scholarship. They also told me that my hopes should not stray beyond a regular job and maybe someday I would be able to marry someone who could support me.

No joke! Whats really bad is that I believed them for two years! Finally, I got off my duff and went to Junior College and surprise, surprise!!!! I was on the Deans list and Honor Roll! I havent been able to finish, but I have plans too. The lesson I learned from that experience and that I have pretty much held onto, sometimes much to my detriment, is that the word no means, Oh YEAH!!!! Just watch me! (People usually think of me as very tenacious.) Okay, enough about me for now and back to the subject of education.

Education is very important as I have stated many times, and I am not just talking to the 15 year olds! I am speaking to those people who think they are too old to go to College, 24 – 129! I just read about a homecoming queen/head cheerleader who graduated with honors. She was 41 when all these things took place. She had two children and a husband! Youre never too old! If you cant go to college right now and get your degree or finish it, educating yourself in the business aspect of your chosen profession by reading, watching, and asking questions is really important and obtainable.

Get your finger on the pulse of whats happening through education and knowledge, just like you do when you are writing a song. A staggering 40% of the people taking the survey are relying on record labels and publishers to sell their music instead of themselves. I hope everyone will rethink his or her position on this. Instead, rely on your ability and talent to get you to the place where you dont need the labels and the publishers. The key is to not need those people in high places. Once you dont need them, they will come running.

The people who make the real money are the people in charge. The head of Sony Records is the one who makes the money. The managers and booking agents make the real money. The publishers make money. The heads of studios and the producers of TV shows, records, films, etc., they are the ones that will make the money. They are in charge. You need to be in charge, too.

Network with people and diversify. Some of you may be thinking, what do you mean diversify? I can only write Country/Pop or Rock or Jazz. I cant write them all! Thats not what I am speaking of. What I am talking about is finding other parts of the industry that interest you and go for them! That will not only get you into the right places, but it will also help you to meet the right people. Maybe Whitney Houston or Faith Hill will be at one of the places you are and you will be able to strike up a conversation.

You find out they are looking for new material, they find out you’re a writer and boom! Youve got your music in their hands! Or maybe representatives of a famous publisher that you have always wanted to submit your material to is also at the same place as you. You strike up a conversation with them and they ask if they can listen to some of your music. Viola Right place at the right time. A lot of those right places at the right time came from careful and strategic planning, so start planning your moment, too!

Back to the original point. Find something else to do IN the industry; not a waitperson, an executive assistant in some unrelated field, or the head of a company that you hate getting up in the morning for. (But, dont give up your current job until you find another one in the industry that you love and will support you.) Start your own publishing company that not only handles your songs, but also the songs of other writers.

I always believe it is best to help others when you are helping yourself. How can you do this? Ask the advice of those already in the game. Give them a call and ask them how they started and where you should go to network with them. The people at the top, when they have the time, are usually more then willing to talk to you and point you in the right direction.

Start managing a group or an artist, then you will really have an in for someone to record your music. Look at Shania Twain and her husband! You may want to use a publishing house or publisher to get you in the door initially, get connections, and the chance to prove yourself. But in the end, you may want to become the publisher so you can garner more of the profits in your pocket.

If those jobs dont suit your taste, get a job as an assistant at Warner Brothers Records or a job in the film industry as someone who listens to the music for film scoring. Become an editor for music in films and TV. Become a writer of a daily column! You are already a writer after all! There are literally thousands of jobs for the taking in the industry you love. All you have to do is start applying. Those jobs will eventually get you to whom you need to see to get your music noticed!

I am a singer, do I make all of my money singing? NO! Sure, I tour around the world, I have a web site, and my CDs are in selected stores. But most of my money, believe it or not, comes from my book sales or sales of my articles. I went from waiting for someone to give me a break throughout my teens, to taking charge of my own career to make it happen! I am not in the same league as acts like Dream or N Sync yet (and I stress that YET part), but I am holding my own. I am not saying that I havent had help and that I dont accept help. Of course I have and will! But in the same respect, I have not waited for that help to find me. The odds of that are like throwing up a tiny single piece of sand on a beach in Honolulu and expecting to find that very same piece again. RIGHT! You have to make your own waves if you want to hit the crest of that wave! So diversify and educate yourself.

Where do you go for the job leads? You can find that information in my article, A Helping Hand on http://www.MusicDish.com, and in my book, Indies Guide To Music Success and Contact Info, which is available for sale through http://www.MusicDish.com. Here are some examples that will get you started:

Show Biz Jobs: http://www.showbizjobs.com/jobserch.cfm

Electronic Library: wwws.elibrary.com/id/238/222/search.cgi?query=country+music+news&src-mags=1&src-news=1&src-tvrad=1&src-pics=1&src-books=1

Film Biz: http://www.filmbiz.com/

The Globe: globelists.theglobe.com/arts/acting/acting_uk-L/list.taf

Gebbie Press: http://www.gebbieinc.com/radintro.htm.

QUESTION #8: Do you feel that you have been adequately compensated for the use of your work?

My next and my last point on the survey is this. On survey question #8, only 15% of the people responding to the survey believed that they were being adequately compensated for their work. I am not sure where the writers believe they arent being fairly compensated for their work.

QUESTION #12: Has Napster had an impact on your songwriting career?

However, on question #12, only 5% said that Napster has had a negative impact on their career. I think Napster has its pros and cons, and I am not necessarily against Napster or those who use its services. But here are the pros and cons for me, in simple form: Pro being that people who cant afford and cant find the music they want on CD are able to get it. Freedom of Information act and all that. The Cons are that writers and performers arent getting their cut and as a performer, I can tell you from an artists standpoint, that that cut is very slim to begin with.

So, the statistical conflict between #8 and #12 confuses me. Dont get me wrong. I pay all of my writers up front, in cash, as soon as I press my CDs, even if they dont ask me too. I want the writers to get their money! But lets look at numbers.

A writer gets 7.55 cents in royalties per song under 5 minutes and an additional 1.45 cents for every minute or fraction of a minute thereafter. The typical Indie artist presses 1000 CDs. The standard procedure is submission of the packing slip from the pressing plant to the Harry Fox Agency or a similar agency that collects mechanical royalties. The artist is then charged by Harry Fox Agency for writer royalties according to how many CDs were pressed (this is of course after you have applied for a mechanical license). So for 1000 CDs, the writer will be paid $75.50 in mechanical royalties by the Harry Fox Agency or its equivalent. In addition to that, the writers will also get royalties from radio airplay and karaoke sales, which are performance royalties. These royalties are collected by the Performing Rights Organizations, such as ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.

In most cases, the writer did not pay for the production, marketing, distribution, and advertising costs of the CD their songs are on, so eventually this will be money in the bank, after the writer recoups the costs of the initial demo he or she created to pitch to the artist or label. Thats the writers side. Now lets look at the artists side.

Artists, except in the United Kingdom, do not get paid for the performance of a song on the radio as the writers do. We artists must pay to get your songs and ourselves promoted. A typical CD recorded in a master recording studio, with pressing, royalties and promotion costs, will be around $14,000.00. How does an artist recoup that amount? By touring and CD sales, right? Sure they do.

If an artists gets booked into a venue and makes $500 in CD sales and $500 for the venue, that gives the artist a $1000 right? I wont do the math for you here, there is a lot more detail in my book, Indies Guide To Music Success and Contact Info, but out of the $1000, the booking agent gets 10%, the manager gets 10%, the IRS gets 33 1/3 %, the venue gets a percentage, and the artist still must pay for the promotion and marketing costs as well as staff. All of those people take it off the top, meaning out of the $1000. Their percentages are based on the gross amount from the CD sales and the performance.

After the artist pays everyone their share, the artist is then left with the negative amount of $53.33. At this point, the artist hasnt even paid for the band members, the travel expenses or food costs, let alone paid a salary to himself or herself, and the artist is already in the hole for the amount of $53.33. Meanwhile, the songwriter has $75.50 in the bank for each song on my CD!

So what am I trying to say? That the writers should be happy they arent the artists, LOL (unless of course they are artists also)! No really, what I am trying to show the writers is that artists dont make as much money as the writers do, even at the low rate the writers get per song. And that of course, the grass is always greener on the other side.

I wish that I had the talent to write prolifically as everyone in the writing community does. Then I would get some of the royalties off of my album sales and I would be less in the hole financially. But this again proves my point that you must diversify. Sure I get to do what I love most and that is awesome, but its not what supports me. I have chosen other paths in the music industry to support me and I have worked hard at them.

The majority of beginning artists arent in charge of their own lives musically, and they owe a lot of money to their label. Sure I would love a major recording deal, because there are so many advantages to it. But, I would want it with good terms, meaning a lot of points and a great distribution & marketing deal.

Now you can see both sides of the coin, for those who hadnt seen or known it yet. So when 85% of the writers think they are not being fairly compensated, I would hope they are not talking about the royalties they receive off of a record pressing from an artist, although 48% of you said thats where the majority of your royalties/income came from.

CONCLUSION

The lesson to be learned is that you will do much better in this business or any business if you are in charge of your own career, and you have the knowledge to make wise choices and keep track of the bottom line.

A little side note to writers: please make sure that you get the mechanical license to the artists. Dont just assume the artist will take care of the business side or you may end up without a royalty payment. And artists: make sure you obtain mechanical licenses BEFORE you record a song. If you do not do this, there are some very stiff fines and penalties and the publisher has the right to have your product pulled off the market. So make sure you do the business side first before the music side. Again, the point made is to educate yourself about the business side, too.

In the end, it really is all about music and our love of music, which is the universal language of Humans and animals. I believe if we work together, educate ourselves, and diversify what we can do, we will be much better off and a much stronger unit, whether youre a songwriter or an artist, a publisher or a record label. The key to all of our success is education, business savvy, being in the right place at the right time on purpose, and diversity. These should be all of our goals.

A point a very famous publisher made to writers as a quote in my book, “The Indie Guide To Music, Marketing and Money ISBN 978-0-9746229-4-1 was (in paraphrase): Write and re-write and then write again every song. And when you think youve got it perfect and its a hit, write it over again.

Times are changing. Digital music is accessible music and the industry is changing fast. Here, you’ll find extraordinary selection of services and sites where you can explore and find interesting sounds (and video) to pep up your iPod. The message is simple: if you’re hungry for music but don’t want to break the law, there are numerous legal alternatives to file sharing.

MySpace

MySpace has emerged as the leading destination for musicians and fans to meet, with 106 million users worldwide and it’s free to join, all it requires is that you fill in a registration form and create a profile. Once you’ve published your own page on MySpace, you can explore other pages and get connected to people and musicians you like by asking to be added to their collection of friends.

If you come across a band that you like, you just need to hit the ‘Add’ button in the clearly marked ‘Contact’ box, which is generally situated under the main profile description. When you submit a friend request, the other party receives a message telling them you want to get connected, so they can vet and approve you.

You will also receive the same message when others try to befriend you. You can expand your network quickly by leaving comments on your friends’ sites, thanking them for allowing the connection it’s good MySpace etiquette, and what you write may attract new friends to you. As your network grows, you will find it increasingly easy to find new, talented musicians.

MySpace also integrates ways users can recommend artists they like, for example, any page can host background music chosen by the page owner. When you navigate to a website playing music that you’d like to promote, you can choose to have that track play automatically when others visit your page.

You simply need to use the ‘Add’ button beneath the selected song. You’ll then be asked if you want to add the song to your page answer ‘Yes’ and the job is done. Personal users can only have one such streamed track on their site, while bands can carry two to four songs. Bands can choose to make their tracks available for free download, or just for streaming.

MySpace alternatives

While MySpace is the clear market leader in terms of users and activity, there are other social sites offering free and legal music downloads that will work with iPods.

GarageBand

Around since 1999, this music website hosts pages for independent bands. You can subscribe to fanlists, contact bands, find out about releases and gig dates, and speak with other fans. Site visitors can review music they find which can help casual browsers find some sounds they may like. Musicians decide whether to make music available only for streaming, or for free download.

SoundClick

With 3 million members and almost 2 million songs, SoundClick is a free community-based site focused on musicians. It offers tracks and information from thousands of unsigned acts, with music split into categories (Metal, Alternative, Pop, and so on). You can listen to streamed music, and some bands offer tracks in MP3 format for download. Bands can also choose to sell songs through this service.

Bebo

This social-networking site recently introduced its Bebo Bands service. While you can use the site to find new acts, it doesn’t yet offer music for download, but you can add tracks you like to your playlist on your own profile page. These songs only stream when you visit the site.

Pandora

This streaming service can help you find new artists, but doesn’t offer music downloads. It’s based on the Music Genome Project, which analyses every detail of songs to accurately recommend and play tracks based on a user’s taste. You set up channels Happy Mondays, for example and the service will stream tracks it thinks are similar. It’s a nice way to find new acts you may like, which you can then look for elsewhere.

Bands websites

Most bands these days have their own dedicated websites, some personally run by the act. Some offer free music downloads for fans, while others offer their own music stores where fans can buy tracks.

Legal music sales at low prices

Newly launched, the web-based eMusic subscription service offers a catalogue of 1.4 million tracks from indie labels. Songs cost as little as 17p. Unlike other subscription-based services, you can download and keep the music you choose. The site trusts its customers.

Songs are sold in MP3 format (encoded at 192k) and are free of any digital rights management technology. You can use your eMusic purchases on any system or any player (naturally including iPods and iTunes). You are allowed to burn your music to as many CDs as you like, and host your collection on as many machines as you want.

There are three subscription packages: Basic, 40 downloads per month for 8.99 per month; Plus, 65 downloads per month for 11.99 per month; and Premium, 90 downloads per month for 14.99 per month.

eMusic’s site navigation isn’t as slick as iTunes, but it does offer a wealth of information about the music it sells. It also publishes charts based on sales, so you can easily find the hottest new acts. Music is split into genres, such as ‘Alternative’, ‘Jazz’ or ‘Hip Hop’. Each genre is further divided into the sub-genres that exist.

You are encouraged to create your own playlists, which others can take a look at to help you find a band you might enjoy. You can also rate and review tracks.

Downloading tracks isn’t as straightforward as in iTunes as you need to install a software called the ‘eMusic Download Manager’ for both Mac or Windows (www.emusic.com/dlm/download.html).

Once you find a track you want to buy, click on the download link beside it. A file is then downloaded to your desktop. If you’ve set up your browser to automatically open downloaded files in the correct application, the Download Manager will open the file and begin downloading the track(s) to a folder, ‘My eMusic’, which the software creates on your desktop.

Once you have the music you can drag and drop it into your iTunes library (iTunes will import it, and file it just like any other track in its collection), or, in iTunes, select ‘File—Add To Library’ and navigate to the downloaded music in the eMusic folder on your desktop.

Other music services

While eMusic is the cheapest, most smaller music services have begun offering music in MP3 formats. It makes sense for digital services to do this, as Apples iPod is by far the most popular player and songs sold in other protected formats wont work on iPods. Process tends to be about the same or slightly higher than iTunes. The following services may be worth watching checking out.

Wippit

One of the oldest UK download services, Wippit offers a broad catalogue of music, though only minority of its catalogue will work with an iPod or iTunes. Tracks cost from 29p. The service also sells video, comedy and ring tones.

7 Digital

This service offers limited selection of music in the iPod-friendly AAC format. Songs are encoded at 192k (better than iTunes) and cost 77p. This service also offers video for iPods. The company also runs websites for bands and offers a service that lets unsigned acts sell their tracks.

TuneTribe

Most of TuneTribes major label catalogue is incompatible with iPods as its sold in Windows Media format. Some tracks mainly from indie artists are available as MP3s. Albums cost 7.99, while singles cost 89p. The site also offers articles written by working music journalists.

Trax2burn

This service offers a wide catalogue of dance music tracks at varying prices, approximately 1.49 per track. For that you get the music in MP3 format. Because its a service for working DJs, songs are encoded at 320k, which is approaching CD quality.

On the Blog

Theres a wealth of clued-up music-focused websites that legally distribute music (usually in MP3 format) for free. These are promotional tracks, which are made available to drum up interest in a band. The following sites are recommended to get you started exploring this alternate online music universe.

Epitonic

Epitonic has been around since 1999. Its mission is to switch music lovers onto new sounds and acts. Site features include a streaming radio station, reviews, features and band profiles. You can search the site for particular artists and navigation is easy. Some bands allow Epitonic to offer songs in MP3 format for free download, others just allow the site to stream songs so users can decide if they like the band.

The site also features a helpful recommendation system, listing similar artists on every individual artist page. Sadly, this service seems to be on its last legs staffs have revealed no future plans to update content, indicating it may be removed at some point. The site is still worth exploring if you are looking to boost your collection of avant-garde and indie music, and has an audience of dedicated users.

The Wire

This venerable international magazine focuses on non-mainstream experimental music across multiple genres. Because of its unique place in the hearts of music-makers, over the years it has gathered a substantial collection of free and legal MP3s, many of which it makes available for download. These include tracks from many top-flight musicians. (www.thewire.co.uk/web/mp3.php)

Knobtweakers

Knobtweakers promotes electronic music. The site offers a regular weekly podcast featuring the best underground electronic music talent from around the globe. It also hosts or links to tracks in MP3 format that are being made available legitimately with permission from the artists. Occasionally updated, the site also offers in-depth reviews and features covering emerging artists, so its an invaluable resource for fans of the genre. (www.knobtweakers.net)

Oddio Overplay

Dedicated to odd, obscure and out-of-print music, this site offers an extensive index of free and legal music downloads being made available across the internet. It also offers an extensive links section, and information that will be useful to independent musicians seeking outlets. The primary purpose of this site is to connect artists and audiences.

EC Brown

Artist Erik Brown hosts his creations on this website, including photographs of work he has made, links to web projects he has been involved with. For iPod users hungry for new music, Erik also hosts a page of MP3 links, which he describes as a personal log of MP3 links in various genres. Youll find links there to many more sites offering legitimate music downloads. (www.kittyspit.net/erik)

TofuHut

This site is a bloggers attempt to let readers know about the latest new MP3s as they reach the web. You should be aware that some of the tracks it suggests arent being made available legitimately, but many tracks are actually legal to download. The site also offers an extensive list of links to similar blogs, which are available at http://tinyurl.com/ae4ko
(http://tofuhut.blogspot.com)

TourDates

This UK-based site acts as a gig listings website for all types of bands (signed and unsigned), DJs and other musical performers. It offers dedicated pages where musicians can tell audiences what they do, and also has a wide selection of free promotional MP3s from a host of independent acts. Theres also a forum where users can discuss the music they hear.

Net labels

Net labels distribute music exclusively in MP3 format. They are a little like more traditional labels in that they aim to promote albums or projects and build a profile of artists. However, these shoestring operations are managed by enthusiasts attempting to build careers outside the corporate music industry.

Net labels are particularly supportive of the notion of free downloads, and many of their releases are made available under licenses, such as Creative Commons License, that encourage sharing. Copyright remains with the artists, who tend to be electronic and computer music makers. Net label sites tend to link to others, so its a nice way to find some avant-garde musical gems.

Net labels releases

This yahoo groups site is maintained by net labels themselves. Label owners submit details of new releases as they happen, news updates and newsletters. Its not a conversational site, but remains an essential stop for anyone looking to explore new music from the scene. (http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/netlabels)

Netlabels.org

This site is a huge index of the worlds net label sites. Youll find information on new labels as they appear, the latest releases, and lots of helpful advice for others hoping to start their own online music brand. There are also monthly updated charts detailing the most popular releases.

Beatpod

Another net label portal, Beatpod offers news and information about new releases, and also hosts a forum where music fans can rate and review these new releases. Theres also a built-in music player on the site, as well as the ability to download tracks to your Mac or PC. An extensive links section and links to other net labels completes the offering.

Internet Archive: Audio Archive

Founded in 1996, the Internet Archive is a non-profit organisation that collects and maintains a huge historical archive of digital creative products. Its well known for holding a huge collection of website images you can see Apples home page in different years, for example.

It also maintains a huge audio collection, in which net labels are well presented. The collection includes alternative news shows, Grateful Dead concerts, old radio shows, book and poetry recordings, and a huge assemblage of original music contributed by users. Its a tremendous historical collection of sounds. (www.archive.org/details/audio)

More than music

Some iPods will play and store video, and can be used to play back your video collection on some TVs. Apple doesnt sell TV shows in the UK yet, but does offer short Pixar movies and music videos. But where else can you go to find and download new and free videos for your iPod? YouTube and Google Video are first stops youll find personal movies, bits of TV shows and other delights on these sites.

Google Video

Googles video service offers a range of clips, as well as some material for sale (available only in the US). In some ways, tracking down the best clips is challenging, unless you know exactly what you are looking for. If you are searching for something specific, then its as effective as any other Google search if it exists, youll find it.

Google has made it easy for viewers to download clips they want to keep. To the right-hand side of movies that can be downloaded is a Download button. To the right of that button theres a drop-down menu where you can decide whether to download it for Mac/Windows, iPod or PSP. Once you have downloaded the clip, you simply need to open iTunes and select File→Add File to Library to import the clip to the media browser, after which it will be synced to your video iPod next time you connect it to your Mac.

YouTube

Its little more complicated with YouTube. While the site has grown astonishingly popular, eclipsing Google and others in terms of the number of users it interacts, it doesnt make it easy t download clips. The most straightforward way to download a YouTube clip for your iPod is to use the excellent KeepVid service (http://keepvid.com).

When you come across a YouTube clip you want, just enter the URL into the green box at the top of the KeepVid page, hit submit and a few moments later youll be given a download link.

Unfortunately, files are downloaded in the iPod-incompatible Flash video (.flv) format. You need to convert the clip using a conversion utility such as iSquint (www.isquint.org), which is free and extremely easy to use. You just need to drag the file into iSquint, select Optimize for iPod and press Start.

BBC Creative Archives

UK users should take a look at the BBcs Creative Archives, a collection of video footage thats free for UK residents to download for use in their own projects, or to rip to a format thats suitable for iPods and iTunes. The library of available material is frequently updated, and now features clips from the BBC, Channel 4, Open University, British Film Institute and Teachers TV.

Once youve downloaded a clip, you can convert it into iTunes/iPod-friendly format using iSquint or directly within iTunes. (http://creativearchive.bbc.co.uk)

BrandNewMusicUK.com recently caught up with Rowetta, X-Factor finalist and more important to me a member of the Happy Mondays. A fabulous lady who helped put the MAD in Madchester and an independent musical trooper with distinct and powerful voice.

http://www.myspace.com/rowetta

Hi Rowetta, thanks for taking time out to have a chat with the readers of BrandNewMusicUK.com. As I always like to start my interviews, let’s go back to the start:

When did you realise you had a musical gift?

I started singing properly in my teens, in talent competitions. I didn’t realise I had a real gift until I was around 13, even though I loved to sing, but that’s when people started saying “Wow” and I started winning a lot of competitions.

Did you get a lot of encouragement from those around you?

I didn’t get much encouragement as a young kid, in fact one music teacher almost put me off, by saying my voice was too distinctive to be in the choir. My mum encouraged me as a teenager, and then a drama teacher called Mrs Roache, really gave me confidence, by putting on musicals around me, and that would specifically suit my voice.

You’ve worked with Simply Red, Inner City, Vanilla Sound Corp and the Happy Mondays to name a few. What would you say has been the highlight of your career so far?

There have been so many. With the Mondays probably my first Top Of The Pops, my first gig at Gmex, Rock In Rio, Glastonbury, Barrowlands and supporting Oasis at Wembley Stadium, but there are many more. As a solo artist, obviously working with Simon Cowell was a great experience and singing live at the BBC’s Children In Need and I love singing at Manchester Pride every year.

Did you musically really call it a day in 2000 or did you find yourself constantly being dragged back into it all?

I never really called it a day, I was always writing and collaborating with people, I just needed some time with my kids sometimes, for some normality, after the madness. Then there we relived the madness when I was asked to be part of Michael Winterbottom’s movie about Tony Wilson and the whole Factory story.

Was it an interesting experience playing yourself in the film “24 Hour Party People”?

It was such an amazing time. We all had a ball for the 8 weeks making it. The actors in the movie were brilliant as were the makers, and I made many new friends, and we got to sing as the Mondays at the Cannes Film Festival. It was wonderful.

You auditioned for X-Factor in 2004 and got through to the finals. I would imagine this was an experience and a half. Do you hold fond memories of this time?

I do, because I really enjoyed working with Simon and the support I got during the show was mindblowing.

There is a present culture for people wanting to be famous for the sake of being famous. Do you feel X-Factor encourages this?

I think it’s just the way this country is now. Magazines, reality shows. I can’t knock them, as I watch the majority, but I do hate the fact that people with no talent just dream of fame, for fame’s sake, and many succeed. X Factor is cool because it is looking for talent. I know some make it on there without talent, but it also gives a lot of people of all ages a much need break, and that’s a good thing.

Your skills are very versatile, recently co hosting your own radio show “The Terry and Ro Show” on Manchester’s Gaydio radio station. Any plans to continue this when the station goes full time?

Definitely. I love presenting on radio, and feel at home doing it. Terry and I love doing our show, and we are great friends so it’s easy for us. The only difficulty is time, as Terry runs hairdressing salon and I have a lot of singing work, but we will be doing as much as we can, and I was delighted when we (Gaydio) got the full time license. The first gay station to get a full time FM license, and I’m proud to be involved. The gay community have welcomed me with open arms, and I like to do as much as I can to help the community.

Is it true you’re the secret voice on the Black Eyed Peas hit “Boom Boom Pow”?

It is true. They sampled a track of mine called Reach Out, that I wrote and sang on with Sweet Mercy. It has been sampled a lot. This year it was sampled at the beginning of Show Me Love by Steve Angello and Robin S, and Reach Out was the number 1 dance download around the world for 3 week’s at the end of 2008. I was thrilled that the Black Eyed Peas chose to sample my voice. A huge compliment.

Finally, in one sentence, what one piece of advice would you give to anyone pursuing a career in rock and pop music?

Never give up.

http://www.myspace.com/rowetta

Thanks again for taking the time to chat with BrandNewMusicUK.com Rowetta. We wish you all the luck for the future and look forward to your next release. We’ll be sure to plug it for you