Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Stick It To the Man -- DigiDownload Site That's More YOURSpace than Myspace

From 7Digital out the UK comes a DIY digital download site for indie bands that's actually usable. Indiestore.com allows bands and artists to create their own download store. According to the site, the "Starter" level includes:

Starter:

indiestore Starter is the free service level for artists just getting into the digital music revolution. The Starter features will warm you up to creating your artist presence online. Features include:

  • 70% revenue share
  • Up to 4 Track uploads
  • Multi-format downloads - No DRM
  • Free tracks
  • Pre Orders/Release Date
  • indiestore.com/yourchoice URL
  • Blog, Gallery, Events
  • User ratings and comments
  • Real-time reporting
  • Monthly Accounting
  • PayPal and Click & Buy payments
  • indiestore flashplayer
  • Last.fm - your music played & sold on Last.fm
The layout is clean and easy, and none of that Myspace mucking about with friends and too many stupid graphics. I'll rant about this later, but this dovetails right into my theories on extending the concept of a "band" to include people who have nothing to do with performing. To really do an end run around of the "MAN," the more people you have to take care of stuff like this, selling your music, updating your tour information, photos, blogs, etc., the more you can leave the flailing and confused old music industry in the dust.

I know, I know, there are many of these type of sites out there. I was just impressed with how this site looks and works. It "feels" very accessible. Bands and artists need to spend their time creating, not navigating the complexities of setting up an online store. Easy is as easy does.

If you're looking to sell your music online, you might also want to check out these:
http://www.digstation.com/
http://www.musicane.com/Home.aspx
http://www.snocap.com/

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