The Changing Face of the Music Industry

When was the last time you paid $12 or more for a CD? For many, it has been years. It's really no wonder why so many people have stopped spending their hard earned money on overpriced CD's. People used to go out and buy a CD because they heard one song on the radio that they really liked, and a lot of times that CD would only have one or two hit songs on it.

The Internet has changed how music is delivered to the consumer, as well as how music is marketed. With unit sales from traditional record labels down over the past few years, it seems evident that most music delivery is coming from online sources. Given the trend in artists self-producing their own records and fans downloading free music online, it makes sense for companies to get into the business of offering top quality services to both the listener and the artist. One internet company that is well positioned to be on the cutting edge of the new trend in music downloads is SoundXposure.com (www.soundxposure.com)

For the music fan, the online radio at SoundXposure plays top rated music from a wide variety of genres. They will be able to browse through a variety of new collections, featured artists or just listen to the radio stations playing hits from the Underground Music Charts. If you're left a little broke at the end of the month because you got a little overzealous on one of the traditional download sites, don't worry, SoundXposure is a free music download site. You can download music legally and listen to top new rock songs, while you're checking out the underground music charts. With all of the legal issues that have happened in the past with downloading music on the internet, it can be a little confusing. You won't have to worry about any of that on SoundXposure. The artist has full control over whether to allow free downloads or not. Because most underground artists are looking for more exposure, it is usually in their best interest to spread their music far and wide by allowing free music downloads.

And what about the artist? If your old enough you have probably heard stories about bands that flooded every radio station and record label they could think of with demo recordings hoping to get "discovered". With good timing and some plain old dumb luck the demo might actually get listened to, but most likely would end up in the trash (electronic or otherwise). The fact is that it costs money to develop and market a new artist. The prudent thing for a major record label to do is to wait until the independent artist is on the verge of breaking through on their own, saving a lot of preparation work and money. It has been said that many newly signed artists are living on borrowed money, taking an advance on record sales that may or may not come about. Marketing expenses and other fees are taken out of the artists share leaving most newly signed artists in the hole financially, contractually bound to make more records with the same results.

One of the main things that online music sites such as SoundXposure can offer to the artist is the opportunity to develop a strong fan base by giving fans what they want to hear. When listeners take the time to download free music or just listen to the online radio, they have the ability to leave feedback by rating the song they listened to. Highly rated artists are listed on the Underground Music Charts, and therefore get more exposure to new listeners. Once the independent artist has a strong fan base, they open up many opportunities to be in control of their own music careers. They will have a stronger bargaining position with labels or if they choose, can simply market and distribute their music under their own independent label. Artists will also have the capacity to use the tools provided at SoundXposure to book their own tours and promote themselves online, including giving the artist the ability to create their own webpage for their band with Search Engine Optimization or SEO. SEO is simply a method of improving the rank of your webpage in the search engines. What this means for you is that when an individual does a search, for example, on rock musicians Texas, your webpage will be higher up on the list they see. Another example would be a search for "rock musicians Texas listen to free music" or whatever you feel your fans will be searching for. Your goal is to reach as many people as possible through your website and this will assist you in finding listeners all over the world. For a small fee, an artist can have SoundXposure assist them with promotional matters, as well.

The fact is the music industry has changed immensely since the development of the Internet and it provides another avenue in which an artist can promote music online and retain more control over their work. Independent artists are now able to spend a nominal amount of money and self-produce a high quality recording which they can then start marketing online. In the past, many artists succumbed to their marketing manager, tour manager and the record label. They simply followed directions from the band management. With this development, however, artists can book their own tours, get their music out to a larger audience, and maintain more control of how their music is marketed. With the tools provided at SoundXposure, the artist will not have to be an expert in these areas of management to do well. The Internet makes it that easy and SoundXposure is there to assist the artist on their way to the top.

Whether you're a listener interested in a free music download or an artist hoping for feedback, promotion, and a wider listener base, SoundXposure can provide you with what you need. Having kept up with the changing face of the music industry, SoundXposure is well worth checking out.