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Musicians and distributors are tapping into
consumer anger to rewrite
rules of
music industry amid financial turmoil. GarageBand.com is one example. Once just a community of online musicians, it is now becoming
Internet's answer to a record label as well, one that leaves much of
power--and
selection process--in
hands of musicians.
So far,
digital music movement has been a double-edged sword for artists. Newcomers and struggling musicians find
Internet to be a revolutionary way to produce and distribute their own music, bypassing
major record labels. The Internet can provide what every musician needs to be successful--exposure. Without exposure, no one buys
CDs, attends
concerts or purchases
T-shirts, ball caps, beer mugs and posters sold by
artists.
On
other hand, some artists have reacted negatively to online music, fearing a drastic reduction in
royalty payments from CD sales and losses of other revenue.
Whether you support
idea of music downloading or not, there is no turning back. As of
end of 2004, 200 million songs were downloaded that year--a tenfold increase from
previous year. And
courts have ruled that file sharing software is NOT illegal, in and of itself.
While
major legitimate online music services like iTunes Music Store, EMusic, and Napster 2.0, with deals from major record labels, carry between 700,000 and 1 million songs, Internet upstarts like GarageBand.com already claim an expanding library of 1.8 million songs available for free.
Whether you use a subscription site and buy your tunes, or search out free music on
Web, there is no doubt that
entire music world has been radically changed by
Internet and
advent of digital music.
So get online, download your favorite tunes, turn up
volume, and "let
good times roll."

Larry Denton is a retired history teacher having taught 33 years at Hobson High in Hobson, Montana. He is currently V.P. of Elfin Enterprises, Inc., an Internet business providing valuable information on a variety of timely topics. For a recording studio full of information, resources and suggestions about music downloads, visit http://www.MusicDownloadHere.com