Ask Texas' Lana Crowley what she's all about and she'll tell you she's a country singer/songwriter, a champion of independent music, an activist and one of the original members of the 1sound.com partnership (a site definitely worth a visit).

"I've been researching the online music business for going on three years now, with hopes of opening one of these things myself," she says. "But I thought maybe my efforts would be better served trying to help the ones that are already here, rather than adding another."

Here's Lana's take on how to make independant music distribution work for you >>>

Can independent artists make a mark in the real world without real world exposure?

I don't think it's possible. I've watched the Internet fill up with one site after another - filling up with the same artists, and going nowhere.

Walk into your neighborhood coffee shop or club and talk to people and you may find one person in the mix who's heard of any of the sites online that house independent musicians. You'll find a few who've heard of MP3.com but, it's usually in a bad way, and they think it's gone now.

Why hasn't this wonderful market of music been able to flourish? Well, I don't have the answer to this, but I think I have a few pretty good ideas on how it can still happen.

Firstly, I believe the most important reason is that after the fail of the .coms financially (MP3.com, mostly) investors don't want to take a chance on any site that has to do with music online. Had MP3.com not failed so miserably, more Online Music Distributors would have made, and would still be making, money.

Number Two, I believe the only way an internet site can flourish with music is to advertise and bring the traffic to the site. Once the traffic appears, the site needs to have something to keep them there.Music alone will not keep a visitor on the site for more than a week. Why? Well, you can easily listen to one complete genre of music in one day, you take that and move through each genre on most sites and it would take about seven to 10 days to completely listen to all the music on that site, especially when you factor in the 'unlistenable' music that's out there.Once a listener has completed the task, he or she will already have the songs they liked downloaded and will just double click and listen, meaning there's no reason to return to the site.

Number three, music sites that have been developed are mostly the work of artists who are trying to make a difference, which is a bad idea to start off. Why? Because artists already have an emotional attachment to what they're doing, and emotion won't work in a business environment - not to mention that most people who have tackled this enormous task don't know what it takes to start a business, which puts them at a disadvantage going in, and leads to eventual failure.

As I said in the beginning, I don't think I have all the answers, but I do believe I have a few ideas on what it would take to get there.

First, anyone wanting to have a successful business of any kind needs a partner or advisor who absolutely knows how to start a successful business.

Before anything moves forward, thorough planning and research is vital to make sure you have a sound business model. Once this is achieved, you should shop the idea around to some small investment firms and ask for any advice or help that you can get from them: this will make this investor a possible outlet for money by letting them know you're very interested in their opinion, and that you need help. And it'll test your business model in the arena it needs to be tested.

Take any criticism these investors give you seriously, and if possible make the changes suggested and then go back and ask for their help again. This solidifies a relationship with them and really shows your interest in their input.After you you've done this, call the firm and ask them if they feel your model is good enough to consider. Most of the time they'll give you a meeting.And I can tell you right now - without funding, you will most surely fail.

What do I feel are sound models? Well, when it comes to music, there are plenty around, but the biggest and best is radio.

Internet Radio will be the future of music and I think a successful radio model should be: 24/7 radio with live DJs and advertising - but not advertising such as we hear on mainstream radio, but advertising that's incorporated into the shows. This is how mainstream radio started back in the 1930s and it is how I feel internet radio should be approached today.

Artists should limit the amount of music they release from their CDs, and those releases should be played solely on Internet radio.This will not only lead to more CD sales but it will also make these acts more popular as the radio programs grow in popularity.

I think Internet streaming should be allowed, but music downloads should only be offered for a price.I also feel that when an artist releases a new CD, this should be the first thing the Internet user sees when they happen upon any music site.

Internet sites should hype up CD releases and make them a huge event.Radio shows should start advertising artists CD releases well in advance of this happening. Interviews with artists should be something that happens on the radio regularly.

Next, as I said earlier, music sites need to find a niche that keeps the visitor on the site and also coming back.

I really like what http://www.dmusic.com has incorporated into their model with the points system, but I think it needs to be expanded. I think fans should get these points and be able to use them for contest entries, and they should be able to use a portion of their points to make certain site purchases.

I think contests, and games that circle around music are a very good way to not only keep a visitor on the site, but also a way to keep them coming back.I also feel that if the site incorporates them into their radio shows, it's a way to keep your radio shows busy, which will make your advertisers happy, and will make the site money.

Since Radio advertising is not something you see a lot of as of yet, it'll be a hard sell, but if you go to the advertisers you have now, they would be the most probable advertisers, and once they see success from it, more advertisers will want in on it.

My last suggestion would be live performance; I feel that any successful site needs to host live events to showcase the artists housed on their sites. This is not only a way to get respect of the real world, it can also showcase the talent to the public, at the same time creating another revenue possibility.

This can easily be done by attracting sponsors. Advertisers who already advertise on your site would be the people to approach first. You should try this locally with flyers, advertising in the local papers, magazines and even on local radio stations, and so on. Sponsors would pay all of this. Once this is successful on a local level, move out regionally, then state by state. Before you know it, your site is making money not only by these live events but also by the fans that you have gained from them.

In conclusion, any successful site needs a very good marketing team. This team needs to do its homework, and needs to move forward and push any and all revenue possibilities it can find. There are a lot of them out there, and they're not as hard as you think to achieve.

I think anyone who has the drive can be successful - if they just do their homework and push to do things the way they really want to, and never settle for less.

Good article and your band sounds great. You have an excellent point, simply posting and selling a CD online isnt enough, it should only be a part of what a band does to make it. The problem is the riaa backed labels locking out the independants who wont sign, the 'net and Dmusic ease this quite a bit but I believe its 33% of the American population who's online and indepentant bands need to reach everyone. Handing out papers with your future appearances at current live shows should include Dmusic's addy (I think they'll even let ya use their logo) Promoting Dmusic In Real Life will help fans find you when youre in the next town.
My local guitar shoppe sells local independant band's Cds, the local record store doesnt. Try out these places in the cities you tour.
Find a tattoo artist to do artwork for your band and break into T-shirts sales. (will Dmusic help me sell my T-shirts?)
Im here as an amateur and even then more of an amateur recording engineer then an artist lol, but quite a few bands sound better then the same ol Mtv crapola I get shoved down my throat. Good luck everyone

That's quite a thoughtful article full of good tips and useful ideas.

Good Point on your Article,and would be best to
have investors with musical backgrounds as formal to their Business aspects in this music industry.
Part of the Problem is most investors are too criticle on not investing in an Artist without an "Industry" track record. This makes it in some cases too difficult for the Artist to get their Break in this Business of Music with too many options counted against them and confinding
the Artist to growth limitations.A "fickle"
sound for a "fickle Public" is a thing of the past for today's independent Artist,The industry is in need now for independent Artist to help and nurture music's ability to take our
spiritual being to the next level.However,The bussiness side should be a bit Pleasurable.I would rather sign to a label who has Great Pleasure in working with me.This is why a lot of
indie Artist love the music,but hate the business. Not because they don't know the bussiness,the bussiness is not sympathetic to the musical being.I'm only addressing an opinion here that the Entertainment Bussiness needs an "Overhaul"
and thats from the independent Artist.

GMANgerald

Very thoughtful and informative article.

I understand the reasoning behind making your songs streaming only, but whats your take on kazaa,winmx etc? Part of me wants to see our songs there being downloaded by people all over, in fact, I ran across someone a while back that had 4-5 songs from my old band in their collection and it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. The other part realises that it is prolly better business to hav the songs streamed from here and let em buy our cds.
On the whole the web has been pretty kind to us, we played 20+ weddings last summer and most of those came from our website.