Social Music & DIY Music Marketing Tools
If you're looking for ways to connect, develop and market your music projects this lens provides much of the research you're likely to need.
- Artists can explore specialized tools and services designed to promote, spread and sell their music products.
- Fans can find new ways to discover artists, recommend great music, and benefit from Artist partnerships.
Why Squidoo?
Well, it's a fast and fluid way to build an interactive clearinghouse on a single page. It also has the benefit of cutting-edge community tools and support. You can search the entire Squidoo network for interesting lenses with Squidoogle.
To participate simply log on or grab a free Squidoo membership to get started.
This is a living lens where the ink never dries and The Great Unsigned are free to roam. Decide for Yourself and start the adventure!
Unsigned Not Wasted concept and curation by David Holmes. Collective intelligence by The Tribe.

Dave's Imaginary Sound Store - Amazon store for related books and music products.
Lens image created with Wordle.net
This lens is twinned with...
-
The Music Matrix - Your Daily Music Discovery Mashboard
-
A music discovery mashboard you can use to explore social music sites, news, photos, videos, widgets and conversations. Some of the things you can do here: Start your adventures in the digital music landscape using the latest Music 2.0 apps. Surf...
Recommended Unsigned Acts
Share your unsigned or indie label artist links here and vote for your favorites.
1
Ours to Destroy
A unique juxtaposition of introspective folk with more...1 point
2
BEMIS - MySpace
MySpace music profile for BEMIS with tour dates, s more...1 point
3
The Union Records - DIY Database
Indie Record Label based in Portland, Oregon with more...1 point
4
INTERVURT - MySpace
A five piece from London, Uk. Likened to Muse, U2, more...0 points
5
Your Favorite Enemies - MySpace
A six piece Alternative Rock band from Montreal, C more...0 points
Twitter Unsigned
-
- youngkiko
- Just added myself to the http://wefollow.com twitter directory under: #rapper #producer #unsigned
-
- TheMusicMan81
- Rock Playlist #07 : Rebolt - Lemmy's Heart http://tinyurl.com/kwuzqx #music #rock #musicmonday #unsigned #no #sotd
-
- TheMusicMan81
- Rock Playlist #08: Black Snakes - It's Time http://tinyurl.com/ljdd7l #music #rock #musicmonday #indie #unsigned #no #sotd
-
- TheMusicMan81
- I have Discovered - @BlackSnakes. You should too!! http://tinyurl.com/lseq5w Rock/Punk Norway #music #rock #musicmonday #indie #unsigned #no
-
- RechargedRadio
- Love unsigned music? Recharged Radio is for you. Listen 2 the podcasts on itunes @ http://tinyurl.com/rechargedpodcast #podcast #unsigned
Dashboards
media aggregators, news, bookmarks
Today's Market Intelligence
Music research tools
Media dashboards for fast scouring of audio/music feeds, breaking news, market trends and social buzz.
1
Addictomatic: Inhale the Web
Searches the best live sites on the web for the la more...1 point
2
Mediaspheres Explorer
A powerful widget with aggregated news feeds, stre more...0 points
3
Dave's FeedRaider: Music Business
Aggregated media feeds in a choice of key topics w more...0 points
4
Alltop, Music
Music headlines pulled from around the web.0 points
5
Mediaor - music 2.0 news and views from across the web
Discussion and news covering the future of music d more...0 points
Techmeme Music Headlines
Online music business developments.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byBlogs Buzz
- BandCentral Launches Online Band Manager to Help Unsigned Bands ...
- BandCentral Launches Online Band Manager to Help Unsigned Bands Compete in Today's Music Industry BandCentral's Online Band Manager is set to Revloutionise.
- BandCentral Launches Online Band Manager to Help Unsigned Bands ...
- BandCentral's Online Band Manager is set to Revloutionise the way that Unsigned Bands Communicate, get Organised and Promote Themselves Online. (PRWeb Jul 6, 2009) Read the full story at ...
- Colorama's Dave Fletcher has died - Band Weblogs - The Music Blog ...
- Band Weblogs features a healthy mix of band blogs, music blogs, new releases, music news, band reviews, interviews, band press releases, videos, MP3s, guest music bloggers, indie, signed bands, unsigned bands, musicians and more. ...
- Unsigned bands to play at town festival (From The Northern Echo)
- A LINE-UP of young unsigned bands has been announced for a North-East festival next weekend.
Delicious Music
Mission Criteria
learn more about the UNW project
Unsigned Defined
General definitions for unsigned, indie and DIY artists
- Wikipedia - Unsigned artist
- Encyclopedia references referring to "Unsigned"
"An unsigned artist is a musical artist or group not attached or signed to a record label. Similarly, the contractual condition of any creative person or group."
"The term unsigned artist is used in the music industry to refer to a singer, songwriter, musician or band that has no affiliation with a record label. Many unsigned artists sell their music and music-related merchandise without the financial support of a record label, while often seeking a recording contract through the recording of demos. The difference between an unsigned artist and aspiring artist is that aspiring artists in most cases do not sell their music commercially."
Independent music
In popular music, independent music, often generally abbreviated as "indie", is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing.
Independent labels have been known to strive for minimal influence on the artist they represent, avoiding the artist-cultivating behavior of many major labels. Artists represented by Independent labels have been known to be focused more on producing music than becoming wealthy and/or well known.
Project Aims
How this lens can help you
- Aid new music discovery, distribution and promotion.
- Connect unsigned artists, managers and fans with the best Music 2.0 tools and resources.
- Explore new opportunities for artist/fan interaction.
- Help independent musicians prosper and profit from their creative work.
Do-it-Yourself
Why waste your talent being a puppet for The Man when you can follow your own direction, build your own fan base and foster the respect you deserve from the people that count? The DIY ethic can be applied to finding self-reliant solutions for music production and commerce using the growing Web 2.0 infrastructure. Many artists have already achieved success using self-promotional business techniques to build a fanbase.
Web 2.0
Successive waves of disruptive technologies continue to change the way we find, share and pay for music. The Social Web offers a multitude of ways to build brands, collaborate and spread ideas. New Open Business models are emerging built around openness, free services and free access. For musicians this represents an unparalleled opportunity to explore creativity, retain artistic control and exploit Long Tail economics.
Music Marketing Solutions
Unsigned Not Wasted helps independent artists find free to low-cost music marketing solutions. People can locate, track and share information about a range of DIY music tools including sites for collaboration, flexible music licensing, media distribution and artist promotion. Targetted web feeds deliver the unsigned buzz from blogs and social networks.
To learn more about this DIY medium of communication, and the shift in economic value of the web, see the videos below for a short introduction.
Contributions
Sharing information
Anyone can participate by adding artist and music resources to the interactive lists (plexos). These lists can be shared on webpages by grabbing the RSS feeds or widget codes.Vote for what you Value
Individual list items can be voted on to rank them up, as can the overall lens at the top of the page. If you want to help unsigned bands and promote music difficult to find using corporate media outlets, vote for what you believe in. Every vote counts!
This way we all get a say in developing the project and sharing cool stuff. Feel free to spread the Unsigned Not Wasted meme however you wish. Use the 'Contact Me' link on the left sidebar if you want to share media such as graphics, info etc. You can share messages with the wider web community in the comments area at the bottom of the lens.
Music 2.0
using the machine
About Web 2.0
By alluding to the version-numbers that commonly designate software upgrades, the phrase "Web 2.0" hints at an improved form of the World Wide Web; advocates suggest that technologies such as weblogs, social bookmarking, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds (and other forms of many-to-many publishing), social software, Web APIs, Web standards and online Web services imply a significant change in web usage. From Wikipedia - Web 2.0
1
Web 2.0 0 points
2
The Machine is Us/ing Us (Final Version) 0 points
Music 2.0 Resources
Directories, lists, groups and initiatives focusing on music and the web 2.0 platform.
1
ALL THINGS WEB 2.0 - Audio 2.0
A directory of audio and music related sites.0 points
2
EVERYTHING 2.0
Bob Stumpel provides many useful links in the cate more...0 points
3
JHerskowitz's music2.0 Bookmarks on Delicious
A growing archive of links to Music 2.0 web sites.0 points
4
Mediaor - Music 2.0 News and Discussion
Discussion and news covering the future of music d more...0 points
5
Music 2.0: A web native Music Industry, by Gerd Leonhard
A slideshow presentation on the future of the musi more...0 points
The Small Print
hosts, terms, conditions
Music Media Hosts
Reading the Small PrintThe creation and distribution of music has become widespread due to the abundance of Internet technologies and new online media services (Social Media/Web 2.0).
The sites used to host and distribute music online differ widely in their end user agreements and Terms of Service. Some sites are 'friendlier' than others for content creators, depending on how the creator/copyright holder permits the work to be used and whether or not they get paid.
It's important to recognize that many music sharing sites can sell or license uploaded works to third parties without financial compensation to the creator.
For people sharing free music under flexible licenses like Creative Commons this is extremely important because their choice of license is often determined by requirements involving pre-cleared authorization, user flexibility, and various copyright protections, including non-commercial use. These copyrights can be superceded or nullified by agreeing to the TOS of the music hosting service. Superceded terms may be perpetual, royalty-free, irrevocable and transferable so it's helpful to know what the user may be giving up before accepting the terms.
Most music sharing sites have some kind of involvement with commercial partners such as advertisers, licensees, sponsors, affiliates and the like. This includes aggregators and search engines that spider, index and offer music elsewhere.
When choosing a host it's often a case of finding a balance between the features on offer and the Terms of Service, especially in the grey area of non-commercial use licenses. When using a third-party hosting service it's worth remembering the role partnership deals play in the financing of their operations. It's wise to read the TOS, privacy policy and copyright policy first to determine the reputation and suitability of the service. An alternative is to host the files on your own server or use a suitable paid web hosting provider.
Opinion
The Royalty Scam
New York Times article by Billy Brag.
These crazy musicians still think they should get paid for recorded music Techcrunch's Michael Arrington riffs on the Billy Bragg article with interesting reader comments.
Record Label 'Infinges' Own Copyright, Site Pulled
Open Music
copyleft, creative commons, free culture
Open Music Tools
The shift to copyleft, creative networks
In music circles this type of Free Culture movement is known as Open Music because it applies the concept of Open Source computer software to music. The social web makes it possible for everyone to participate in the creation, distribution and promotion of Open Music.
Copyleft licensing enables the free circulation of pre-cleared media and derivative works on the Internet. A healthy Remix Culture is important for creative work that involves sampling, remixing, podcasting, and web-mashups.
The first decade of the twenty-first century has seen a steady growth in the use of CC licenses. New creative networks have emerged, circumventing the limitations "conventional" copyrights impose on digital information. Most notably the collaborative music community, ccMixter, the first free remix site designed for independent musicians using CC licenses. Magnatune was one of the first digital music labels to develop the Open Music approach and both services continue to innovate in this space today.
Below are some tools that make it easy to find similar free and legal media resources for your own projects.
- Open Music Search
- A Google custom search engine indexing dozens of key Open Music Resources. Use it to find Copyleft, Creative Commons, Open Source, and Public Domain works. Including media files, software, blogs, and creative networks. You can also grab the widget for your own web projects and Google startpages.
- Creative Commons Search
- Provides multiple engines for searching main Open Media hubs with the option to filter searches by desired source, media type, and Creative Commons license. Use it to find free music, videos, images, and other media.
- Open Media Directory | Ourmedia
- A free resource for finding legal, podsafe music and video. The hand picked resources are designed to help artists, podcasters, bands, DJs, remixers, music bloggers and creators of video content working with Copyleft, Creative Commons, and royalty-free licenses.
Open Music Hubs
Recommended sites and communities for copyleft and public domain music.
1
Funky Remixes
A Free and Legal Music Source... Rip, Remix, Retur more...8 points
2
Podsafe Resources from Podseek.net
Podsafe resources for podcasters looking to use mu more...5 points
3
Beats, loops, breaks, shots, packs and instrumental samples - iBeat.org
instrumentals beats loops shots - production music3 points
4
Jamendo : Open your ears
A community where artists share their music under more...2 points
5
Electrobel - Net Portals
Electrobel is a community for electronic music art more...1 point
P2P Content Distribution
Free network distribution using P2P, bittorent technologies.
1
LegalTorrents - Film, Music and Digital Media
An online community created to discover and distri more...0 points
2
Mininova Content Distribution
Exposure to more than 35 million people visiting M more...0 points
Opensonics Lens
-
Opensonics : Open Music Community News & Copyleft Media Resources
-
Focusing on news and developments within the Open Music community. Promoting awareness of copyleft music, open media services, and free software. Community buzz is delivered via a mashup of feeds from leading copyleft media networks including blogs,...
Knowledge
guides & gurus
Video: Music Business Models
Michael Masnick The Trent Reznor case study
Since completing his earlier major record label contract, musician Trent Reznor has been experimenting with a variety of new and unique business models for his band, Nine Inch Nails, to reach and connect with fans. This case study explores Reznor's experiments, examining what has worked and what has not - and why. Speaker: Michael Masnick (Editor/President & CEO, Techdirt Blog/Floor64)
Runtime: 15:46
41164 views
10 Comments:
Find Your Voice
By Seth Godin
The only way your organization is going to make an impact is to market in the way only you can. Not by following some expert's rules or following the herd, but by doing it in the way that works. For you. Don't worry about someone else's invented standards for new media, invent your own. Avoid obvious mistakes, don't follow obvious successes.
Find your voice, don't copy someone else's." From Seth's Blog
Imaginary Masterminds
A growing collection of interesting ideas from creative people. Exploring the Internet, creativity, longtail economics, open culture, copyright issues, and future media trends. Video playlist at Youtube/DISSmedia
1
How To Be Creative by Hugh MacLeod
MacLeod highlights the value of authenticity and h more...1 point
2
Wicked Whammy - Music Needs Management
Future of music industry and Internet music market more...1 point
3
How to Become a Creative Genius - Lifehack.org
Six tips for expanding your creativity.0 points
4
David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists and Megastars
Today's artists have surprising new ways to reach more...0 points
5
Kevin Kelly -- Better Than Free
Eight things that are better than free.0 points
Music Marketing Strategies
Promotional Tactics and Marketing Perspectives
A collection of useful blogs, case studies and individual processes you can use to execute your brand strategy. Including tips from musicians and music strategists. Covering digital identity, marketing campaigns, promotion, packaging, monetization, etc. Video playlist at YouTube/DISSmedia
1
The Viral Garden: Open letter to big labels/artists
A 4-point plan for getting a social media campaign more...0 points
2
Soup Greens by Lucas Gonze
Lucas shares some thoughts on the decision making more...0 points
3
28 Ways to Make Money with Your Website
A list divided into direct and indirect methods, e more...0 points
4
A Complete List of the Many Forms of Web Marketing for 2008
A useful overview of the major tools used for onli more...0 points
5
Severed Fifth
A music project designed to explore how far a musi more...0 points
DIY Music Survival Guides
Insight and ideas on how to survive in the changing music media revolution.
1
Music 2.0 - essays by Gerd Leonhard
Music & Media Futurist Gerd Leonhard's best es more...1 point
2
This Business of Music Marketing and Promotion, Revised and Updated Edition by Tad Lathrop
Details promotional skills, publicity plans, royal more...1 point
3
The Musician's Internet: Online Strategies for Success in the Music Industry (Music Business) by Peter Spellman
This hands-on guide is essential for any musician more...1 point
4
The Indie Band Survival Guide: The Complete Manual for the Do-It-Yourself Musician by Randy Chertkow, Jason Feehan
The ultimate resource for musicians looking to rec more...1 point
5
PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences by Deirdre Breakenridge
Insight and analysis covering social networking, b more...0 points
Communicating Effectively
Tips and analysis on the art of communicating using digital media.
How to Write in 140 Characters or Less - Stepcase Lifehack
Tips on good, concise writing for microblogging pl more...0 points
Who Needs Headlines? - A List Apart Article
A selection of conventional techniques for writing more...0 points
How Not to Display Your Artwork on the Web - Lines and Colors blog
A list of things you can do to drive visitors away more...0 points
Hardformat - Reaching for the sublime in music design.
A collection celebrating love of brilliant music-r more...0 points
Musicians Twitter Roadmap
Twitter is radically changing the way musicians ar more...0 points
Image Discovery and Graphic Design Resources
-
Image Conscious - Free Online Graphic Design Tools
-
Find, explore and share useful graphic design resources for building better blogs, social profiles and professional websites. Discover free online image applications and inspirational visual media you can use in your creative projects. The lens focu...
Music Books
Useful tips and professional knowledge
Recommended books on the art of sound and music creation including Music Technology, Philosophy and Aesthetics.
1
Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age by Steve Knopper
Chronicles the record industry's relentless rise t more...1 point
4
Digital Marketplaces
business, commerce, income
Artist Revenue & Music Sales
Revenue generating web services
E-commerce services where musicians and fans can buy and sell digital content. Musicians can generate revenue through sales of music products and merchandise. Including digital downloads, various media formats, advertising and other forms of monetization.
1
CollegeMusicRadio.com
A source for independent Music with streaming radi more...1 point
2
iJamr - Sell and Buy Music Online
A music social network for discovering artists and more...1 point
3
PLUGOLA - Social Indie Music Community & Marketplace
Indie artists can create a web presence, interact more...1 point
4
RippleAudio.com - Royalty-Free Music, Sound Effects & Audio For Media Production
Upload and sell your music to Media Producers arou more...1 point
Fan Revenue & Commissions
Fan partnerships and revenue sharing communities
Revenue sharing opportunities for content creators and music distributors. Business models that offer fans royalties and incentives for promoting artists' music.
1
Tagfoot - Revenue Sharing Bookmarks
A social bookmarking and blurb posting site that s more...1 point
2
Fandoodle - Music Distribution via Fans & Friends
Artists partner with fans who promote albums on t more...0 points
3
iJamr - Sell & Buy Music Online
Make money with your iJamr page by selling music f more...0 points
4
Popcuts - Buy music. Make money.
A music store where you have a stake in the music more...0 points
5
Qassia - Intelligence Engine
A tool for promoting your websites. It also shares more...0 points
Image Sharing Royalties
Revenue sharing image hosts
Sites that provide income streams for people sharing photos, illustrations, digital artwork, slideshows, etc.
1
fOTOGLIF : Share Slideshows
Upload photos and embed slideshows on web pages. s more...0 points
2
Shareapic - The pic sharing site that gives back!
A free image hosting and photo sharing service tha more...0 points
3
Demotix | The Street Wire
Demotix can broker your photos and videos to newsp more...0 points
4
ImageStamper - Stay copyright-safe
A free tool for keeping dated, independently verif more...0 points
Video Sharing Royalties
Revenue sharing video services
Video hosts that provide income streams for people sharing promo videos, viral video clips, podcast episodes, short movies, documentaries, etc.
1
Revver Video Sharing Network
A viral video network that shares ad revenue 50/50 more...1 point
2
Magnify - Community Video Platform
Lets you gather videos from across the web and bui more...1 point
3
blip.tv (beta)
A videoblogging, podcasting & video sharing se more...0 points
4
luluTV - The Home for Open Media
A socially networked media exchange that empowers more...0 points
5
uLinkx - Social Video Aggregator
Create playlists from videos hosted elsewhere &am more...0 points
Merchandise Sales
Online shops and merch distribution
Sites and support for managing online shops, product sales and distribution including: Apparel, CDs, posters and other goods.
1
Big Cartel » Bringing the Art to the Cart
For bands, labels, clothing designers, artists, cr more...0 points
2
Shopit - Shop, Buy, Build a Store & Sell
Your own shop for sharing and publishing products more...0 points
3
RedBubble - Art Gallery and Creative Community
Buy and sell framed prints, posters, canvas prints more...0 points
4
Flogd - Sell your stuff anywhere
Sell your CDs and merchandise by placing the code more...0 points
5
SmartClips: the best place to buy and sell digital content!
Sell your content through a free branded store hos more...0 points
































