As an independent artist trying to gain exposure for your project, create some awareness and enthusiasm for your band, but also trying to make a living with your music at the same time you may wonder “Is it is a good idea to provide a free download of one of your songs online for fans and/or potential fans?”

There are a couple different patterns of thought on this throughout the music industry. To some it still remains a controversial issue, others may tell you it is a no-brainer. Here is a brief summary of the pros and cons to allowing at least one of your songs from a full length or EP-CD, or a single to be downloaded online for free.

Pros to Allowing a Free Download:

• You are giving your current fan base a way to interact and spread the word about your music
• You are offering a gift of appreciation to your current fans
• You are providing an enticement for current fans and potential fans to purchase the entire album once they have had a taste of your single
• It can be a great promotional tool. You can get setup with promotional postcards to give away at shows which have a promotional code. The fan is directed to a website where they punch in the code and get their free download. This way they really feel like they are getting something of value for free.

Sure, you can always offer fully streaming music which allows fans to listen to entire songs without downloading it to their hard-drive or iPod, which will entice them but by giving them a free download you are actually offering them more of a token of appreciation and you are opening a lot of doors with new fans. Whether you know it or not, no matter how encrypted or non-downloadable you think a track may be, it does not take someone who is very tech-savvy to be able to clip it anyway.

Cons to Allowing a Free Download:

• You are losing revenue for each free download
• You are losing potential revenue for each person the original person who downloaded your song shares the file with
• That’s about the only con

So you have to weigh the two to figure out if it makes sense to offer a free song download. Obviously it does not make sense to offer an entire record for free download. Kind of defeats the purpose of trying to sell records, or does it?

I believe the greater majority of music industry labels, managers, and publicists, will tell you that it probably can’t hurt to offer a free download once in a while. You may want to offer it on a limited basis in the course of initial promotion so that you do not lose revenue on a consistent basis. The choice is ultimately yours of course – but again – once in a while should not hurt sales and could potentially increase them in the long run.

Selecting a favorite CD out of my music collection, I popped in the chosen disc and hit play. While the music cranked, I took the CD cover apart and looked closer at the contents of the case (also known as liner notes). Amongst the colorful artwork, band photos and track listings, were the lyrics for each song and of course, the credits for whoever had a hand in the creation of this CD.

Looking at an indie artist and bands profiles online, more often than not, this simple information is not available and even if that artist did most of the work him or herself, credit information clears the air. Lets take a closer look at music credits.

There once was a little band from Liverpool where songwriters John and Paul came to an agreement in their partnership to take shared credit in all their works, whether they were written alone or together, or one added more than the other, as Lennon/McCartney. This did work for a length of time with much success and royalties were evenly shared. There came a point where branching off and various other elements started tearing a riff in the duo. Some of these issues are still in discussion today, even though John Lennon has passed away.

It has been proven time and again to discuss legal issues with your collaborator(s), band or group before the first dollar is made on a CD or song sales begin and certainly before the hoped for record deal lands on your plate. Though it may be uncomfortable, you must tackle this subject to avoid problems long term. Not only discuss these issues but get it in writing. A letter of agreement signed by all parties involved on percentages on earnings, credits and name order is all you need and should cover every single song produced. Get ALL your bands issues with credits settled from the get go, covering all your bases. Also, work out what works best for you ALL if someone wants to do solo projects.

Those credits then should be applied online in your music Discography. Credits show upfront, in print, who owns and has rights to which parts of the song and/or music created. The listener will then know up front WHO to contact if they have a project in need of that persons contribution.

Music Discography your Album Credits:

Produced by, Arranged by, Recorded by

Recorded at

Mixed by, Mixed at

Distributed by

CD cover concept/artwork by, Photography by

Management

Special thanks to

What to include for Song Credits:

Written by

Vocals, Backing Vocals, Vocals recorded by

Published by, Produced by

Mixed by, Programmed by, Engineered by

Additional by, Assistant

Recorded at

Special thanks to or Courtesy of

List of instruments played with who played them

Things happen in bands, just as they do in marriages, jobs and living life. Members have disagreements, leave, go solo, start new projects, and sometimes tragedies happen. Credits establish acknowledgement, recognition, and ownership of the work done as wells as give thanks to those that helped get the job done. Its the professional way to do business.

Twin Atlantic is from Glasgow, Scotland, and their brand of music italicizes towards alternative.

http://www.myspace.com/twinatlantic

Each of the four members have been in other bands, Sam McTrusty who is the lead singer and plays guitar was in Arca Felix, that band had a punk, progressive and experimental base. Barry McKenna was in Think: Fire which had an Indie and rock sound and an alternative label stuck on them have since broken up, Barry plays guitar, cello and contributes background vocals.

Ross McNae was in LongStoryShort, they have a pop punk and alternative sound, Ross plays bass guitar, piano and helps with backing vocals in Twin Atlantic. The last member is Craig Kneale; he was in Ernest who played pop, rock and alternative music. Craig pounds the skins behind the rest of the guys. As you can see, when these four musicians got together they each had something different to bring to the amplifier.

They garnered a lot of attention with their first single titled “Audience And Audio” which was available through digital download, they released an EP titled “A Guidance From Colour” it became available for purchase through a CD format and digital download on January 14, 2008. Their next single was called “What Is Light? Where Is Laughter?” and it was a single deal with King Tuts Recordings.

Twin Atlantic have gone back into the studio and signed with Red Bull Records and plan to release a mini album, their producer is John Travis, and he has worked with heavy hitters such as Static-X, Monster Magnet and Kid Rock. If you want to catch Twin Atlantic on tour you will have to travel to the UK to see them. They have played in the states but unless you were hiding in their bearded faces you might have missed them.

Since Glasgow, Scotland is their home they have come from some familiar names in music like Mogwai. This band plays what is called math rock or art rock. The most recognizable name from Glasgow is Franz Ferdinand. Twin Atlantic has been known to play high octane Emo and their stage presence is commended because they play with a fire that has been missing from rock. A cello is heard on “A Guidance From Colour” showing that they can add more to a song than the standard four piece instruments require.

Musical exports like Twin Atlantic look for a fan base everywhere they go, currently they are limited by the embrace of those who haven’t heard these Scots cue up a song. While they are on tour in the UK you can catch them at The Download Festival in June and at The Futures Tent at T in the Park in July. The Sonisphere Festival will host them in August 2009.

To show that they love American music they have been known to play a cover tune such as “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper. They also will play “Fall at Your Feet” by Crowded House. Currently they are playing ten new songs that have not been released on a full length CD yet, some of those songs are called “Atlas Factory,” “Human After All,” and “Lights Out.” They have played a lot of music festivals to get noticed and the buzz is spreading about what a great live show they are. The lead singer McTrusty has been known to stage dive in order to create some great chemistry with the crowd. If you do catch them live and up front there may be a Sam coming at you.

http://www.myspace.com/twinatlantic

If there is one thing that everybody uses the Internet for its music. With less diversity on the radio and rising album prices, the Internet has become more popular, less expensive, and a much faster alternative in finding the music you love. In rural America most people have dial up for Internet making buying music online more of a pain then a convenience.

Now with Satellite Internet you can download all of your favorite music at speeds 30x faster then dial up. Satellite will give you all the advantages the Internet has to offer in rural America, as they do in the cities.

So whether rap or rock, jazz or country, indie or classical, no matter what your taste in music is Satellite Internet will make it easier than ever to find what you’re looking for. With new music being released everyday from a countless number of artists the Internet has been somewhat of a gold mind for new and old music. The Internet gives you options when it comes to your music. You don’t want to buy the whole album? No problem, just pick and choose the tracks you want to buy. Can’t find your favorite artist in stores? Just jump online and download their album. Wild Blue can turn your Internet into a stop shop for music. This should get you started.

Finding Music On The Internet

Music downloading services have made it easier then ever to find and listen to your favorite artist. These services offer millions of songs in almost every kind of genre you can think of. As far as finding the right music and finding it fast, the better downloading services let you search for music by artist, song title, or album. Best of all, songs are priced so that they don’t break the bank.

Listen Before You Buy

When you buy a CD at the store you don’t really know if you will like it. With music downloading services they allow you to preview part or sometimes all of a song. This is important to do. This also reassures you are buying the right song, version, or mix that you want.

Playing Your Music

Almost all of the downloading services have a built in music player and organizer. This makes downloading, playing and keeping track of you music very easy. Also if you have a portable music device like an iPod or Zune, you can transfer the downloaded music to your device to take with you in your car, to work, to the gym, or where ever you want to listen to music. This makes it convenient for when you’re on the move.

What Music Download Services Should Have

MP3 Music Selection

Downloading services should have a wide selection of music and artist across all genres. A 6 to 7 million-song library is considered average 8 million would be ideal.

Search Capabilities

A download service should give you the ability to find music fast and easy allowing you to search by artist, album, song title, and even genre. With out those search options it will be very hard to find what you’re looking for.

Features

You should look for a service that offers more then just a place to download. Some features to look for are things like a built in music player, song preview, album covers, and even detail info about the artist you are downloading.

Pricing

Buying an album in stores can set you back $15 bucks. Song prices online start at around 49 cents. 99 cents is the normal going rate when it comes to better downloading services and something you can land a discount when you buy the whole album at once. Anything more then 99cents, you should just go buy the album.

Best Downloading Services

iTunes

Has a great library of songs with more then 8 million available track for purchase. Awesome built in music player. Great features like song preview and a built in organizer for all your music. ITunes also has additional content like TV shows, movies, audiobooks, and more. Songs are to be used on an iPod only, but that’s ok considering the iPod is the number 1 MP3 player out there.

Napster

Has a solid library of songs with a little more then 7 million. Great search engine finding the right song even if you spell the title wrong. Has a built in music player, but it could be better. Songs are compatible with any portable device, great for people who don’t have iPods.

AmazonMP3

Their music library is a just ok having barely 6 million but they are adding new songs everyday. Search engine is somewhat lacking with a single search box giving the most relevant results. They do have compatibility with all portable devices and they are cheaper then other services with songs starting at .79 cents.

Rhapsody

They have a great search engine giving you suggestions on what to search for. Music downloads; player, and organizer are simple, fast, and easy to use. Where Rhapsody fails is their library. Rhapsody, originally a streaming service, has over 5 million song but only 3 million are available for download. The rest of the library is for streaming only.