We live in a time when everybody and their sister can and does make their own music, and most major record labels are hesitate to invest their money and time developing, promoting, and marketing new music. Most labels in this day are looking for artists with established fan bases and independent record sales. My advice to you would be to try your music out on music fans like you solicit opinions from A&R’s. These talent scouts of the music business are always following tips they hear from their street connections. What I mean by that is, A&R’s have assistants most of the time interns that surf the web to find the next big thing. If an A&R hears about an independent artist that has great music, tour dates, radio spins, a huge fan base, and is independently selling their album, that A&R is going to look up that independent artists.  But remember, your music must truly stand out in some significant, original, dynamic, and creative way. 95% of the independently produced CDs out there contain ideas that were ripped off from some other more gifted musicians. Prove to the industry that ordinary music fans in your city love your music. You can find this out by giving away samples of your music on the street, online, or outside a music venue where an artist similar to your music style is playing. Be sure to have your contact information on the CD or mp3 download page. Also, put songs on your website, your MySpace page, or any of the newer social networking sites. Usually if people love something they let other people know about it and word of mouth can sell albums. So, you can find out quickly if your music has what it takes by bringing your music to the people. If you need assistance taking the steps of starting a promotional campaign for your music, leave a comment and I will have a record label A&R contact you FREE of charge.

Cd baby credit card swiper program offer independent musician the ability to accept credit card sales at there gigs while at the same time document CD sales through sound scan. How it work is as follow:

Sign up It’s FREE!

• There is a $30 security deposit on the swiping machine (plus $6.97 for shipping and handling), but you get the $30 security deposit back if/when you return the swiping unit.
• No hidden costs. No future costs.
• If you already have a credit card swiping machine through another company, but would rather run your sales through CD Baby, we can send you everything you need to do that FREE - no deposit needed.
• Keep the swiper terminal as long as you want. Return it to get your deposit back, or keep it forever. 

 They will mail you ALL the stuff you need.

• One very portable swiper terminal (No electricity or phone line needed.)
• All the supplies that you need for your first 25 transactions
• Pre-addressed envelopes for your credit card batches, which are computer coded to come back to CD Baby for processing
• Your envelopes will have your unique CD Baby Account number on them so that they know who to credit the sales to. All you need to do is fill out the rest of the information on the front of the envelope: Date of Sales and Event/Venue.
• Refill order forms for when you are running low on supplies. (Refills are FREE!)

Sell stuff at your shows.

• Write the dollar amount on the sales slip along with the item description
• Using the swiper terminal, get the imprint of the customer’s credit card
• Ask the customer to sign the sales slip and write down their phone number and/or email address.
• Give each customer the little yellow “thank you” card (important!) - reminding them that their credit card will be charged by “CD Baby Live Music Sale”
• Batch up each show’s sales slips into a one of our pre-addressed envelopes. As a backup, keep the carbon copies for yourself !
• Write the Date of Sales and the Event/Venue in the section printed on the front of your envelopes, this information is so that we can include it on your sales report and have it on file in case a customer is confused about a charge.

Mail us the slips and get paid

• When they receive your credit card batch, they process your sales right away, and add the money to your account
• You get paid for them in our every-Monday-night payments.
• If you sign up for Direct Deposit, this payment will go right into your bank account.

For more information please visit CDBaby.com

Here is a list of sites that can assist you on your journey to stardom in the music industry. If you know of any other music related social networking sites that may be of some assistance to your fellow musicians please leave a comment. Thank you for visiting and have a blessed day.

 AmieStreet.com - A social network and music marketplace for indie artists. They give the artists 70% of the sale.

AnyGig.com - A place for musicians to get listed for small gigs, or find venues to play at.

Artistopia.com - An online venue for performers to give themselves an online presence with a profile and display their work.

BandBuzz.com - A social network where artists can set up a profile, upload their music and get reviewed and recommended by users.

BandChemistry.com - A site for musicians to find new members for their group or form a whole new band.

Bandwagon.co.uk - A social network for lovers of indie music where the bands can sell mobile content such as ringtones and wallpapers.

ChampionSound.com - Free mailing list manager for artists, promoters, and venues.

Elisteningpost.com - A way for musicians to upload their music and sell it just about anywhere they want such as MySpace and Facebook.

FireGigs.com - A site with the aim of promoting unsigned bands by arranging to get their music to be played in the background at cafes, coffee shops and more. Also promote you through a Facebook app and MySpace widget.

Fuzz.com - Lets performers upload their music sell it, as well as manage mailing lists and more.

HumbleVoice.com - A place for all types of independent artists, including musicians, to upload their work and promote it.

iJamr.com - Indie musicians upload their music and bloggers can display your songs on their sites for free, and if a sale is made, they blogger gets a cut.

Indistr.com - A company letting independent artists sell their music directly to the public and the musicians receive 75% of the sale.

mTraks.com - An online marketplace and network for indie artists to promote and sell their music.

Mubito.com - Allows you to set up a band website easily and sell MP3s. Two levels of stores with one of them being free.

Musicane.com - Promote and sell your music and ringtones.

MusicNation.com - A community of musician profile pages that engage regularly in competition for various prizes.

Myspace

Panjea.com - Bring all yourclips from the web together and put them in to one player so they take up less space on your page, so you can promote all your music easily.

PocketFuzz.com - A place for musicians to sell ringtones of their works and notify their fans of news via mobiles.

Popfolio.net - A music widget provider for blogs that lets independent musicians upload their songs for inclusion, and possible sales.

PumpAudio.com - A service for indie artists to get their music licensed for television and film.

ReverbNation

Ripple9.com - A site to help bands promote themselves on mobile devices to their fans. New sign-ups are frozen while they are being purchased by Google.

Scriggleit.com - Software you can use on a laptop at your merchandise table so people can sign up for your mailing list.

SessionSound.com - A site for independent musicians to try to stay indie by selling their music online.

Sonicbids.com - Allows you to construct a low cost electronic press kit that can be constantly updated so the recipients always get the latest version.

Unsigned.com - A site for unsigned bands to put up a profile page and host a playlist of MP3s to attract new listeners.