Alternative ways of selling your music

1,700 Bands, Rocking as the CD Industry Reels – New York Times
Musicians make the trek even though discovering a local band from another town or another country is just a few clicks away. That spread of information opens new career paths, from tours stoked by blog buzz to recognition for a song tucked into [...]

Musicians using the Internet

1,700 Bands, Rocking as the CD Industry Reels – New York Times
Major labels used to help create stars through promotion and publicity, but their role has been shrinking. Multimillion-selling musicians who have fulfilled their major-label contracts — Radiohead, the Eagles, Nine Inch Nails — are deserting those companies, choosing to be free agents rather [...]

Lou Reed on record labels

1,700 Bands, Rocking as the CD Industry Reels – New York Times
South by Southwest has insisted, ever since it started in 1987 as a gathering for independent and regional musicians, that major-label contracts have never been a musician’s only chance. Musicians who have had contracts are lucky if they recoup their advances through [...]