Thursday, March 8, 2012

Expanding your Network as a musician


In the age of the Internet, it has become increasingly easy to share media to the world.  With websites like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and more allowing the everyday user to spread their message through audio and video, the saturation of the entertainment market has grown tremendously.  Although these are important sites, especially for a budding artist, collaboration seems to be the true name of the game for the music industry right now.  Kanye West and Jay-Z created an album together, Rihanna seems to be on every single that’s released, and the blend of genres you’d never think of are now becoming the norm.  Using the Internet as a tool has helped many musicians break out into the industry, and there are a couple great websites outside of the obvious that can help expand your network as a musician with others to share, gain feedback, and collaborate in ways like never before.

IndabaMusic.com is a great website that allows you to share your music with the world.  You create a profile, giving you the space to list your credentials and display your work.  It is free to search, look through, and listen to the music that musicians have posted.  It also tags your profile with people you have previously collaborated with, and it even gives you the opportunity to make some money by charging to help or work with other musicians.

Kompoz.com is similar to Indaba in many ways.  You create your own profile and display the projects that you are working on just like Indaba, but the multimedia aspect is a little different.  Podcasts and videos are also displayed, and there are also contests that are set up for those that want to display their work to the masses.  Tutorials can also be found here, which is nice for someone who is just getting started.

A third website to take a look at WeMix.com.  Although this site is currently under construction for upgrade purposes, when it’s up and running it is a great site to use.  It is considered a prime location to create music online and connects these musicians with user-created record labels.  It also connects musicians with big time artists, as many big musicians like to collaborate with the fans.

These are just a couple websites, but you should get the idea.  The technology we use every day can turn the average person into a composition master, and you can do it with the help of real professionals and others that have extensive knowledge.  I highly recommend any of these sites for all of the growing musicians in the world.