Digital Music Frontier

In my spare time, I am a singer-songwriter. And in early 2007, I finished recording a few of my own songs and readied to a release my first demo CD called The Walls EP. In the process of releasing this CD–currently, it is only available online–I ended up doing a lot of research on how music is being made and released right now.

As I did more and more research, it became clear to me that we are just now starting to see the beginning of a new frontier in music. It is not entirely clear what that frontier will look like–especially with it being in the hands of the RIAA–but that it will be very different from previous ones.

It is already clear, however, that the Internet has made it possible for just about anyone to get heard and seen, and that new digital technologies are making it ever easier (although, in many cases, more complicated!) to record and produce great music.

This new digital frontier in music also makes it easier for “consumers” (or “fans,” which is probably a better way to put it), to find and buy music at their own convenience.

There are already a number of great sources out there for artists and bands right now on how to get their music heard, and how to sell their music, many of which I will reference later. In addition, there are numerous places to see trends in “consumers” and the industry and to find new ways to listen to and buy new music. But these sources do not necessarily overlap.

This blog is an attempt to combine my ongoing experiences, both as a fledgling artist and as a fan and consumer of music, and to share my experiences on the new digital frontier in music with you.

Neal