Musician vs P2P vs Major lable vs ............

The advent of p2p file sharing, social networking
sites, and web 2.0 in general has definitely changed
the way people listen to and share music, amongst
other things. Personally as a musician and a lover of
music, I am, in way, torn between empathy towards the
musicians who really work their tail off to make good
music, and freedom for fans who now have more choice
over a variety of music which they can access free of
charge.
You may argue that it's not fair for someone to take
someone else' work without paying for it, you could
also argue that p2p file sharing has taken the middle
man (major labels) out of the picture, which now
gives musicians direct access to their fans. Anyway,
whichever side of the fence you're on I think it's
imperative as an artist, especially an up-and-coming
artist, to get web savvy.
P2p file sharing helps you spread your music, social
networking sites help you reach more people etc.
These tools are important to the modern musician, if
fully explored they can be beneficial rather than
harmful. Most 'big name' musicians(The Rolling
Stones, Jay-Z, Madonna, 50 cent,and the like) make
most of their money not through direct sales of
CD s(or downloads) but by spreading their brand and
monetizing in other ways, It's all in the brand!.
Basically what 'am trying to say is that the days of
just concentrating on the art and hoping to get a
record deal(if you're lucky that is) are really over.
But even if you're already signed, ignoring market
trends can be harmful if you want to make a living
out of your music, that is, make money through your
music.
I'll be featuring important software, social
networks, interesting sites and other relevant stuff
to help you better position yourself in this changing
market, So please stay in touch. You can also
subscribe (for free, of course !) to my blog and get
updates without visiting the site at all, bookmark me
all the same! :)