CreateSpace

Things keep getting better for independent artists who want to promote their music from their living rooms. Amazon.com is increasing their influence in the arena through their CreateSpace website. Through CreateSpace, artists can set up an area online where they sell their MP3′s and where they will be listed on Amazon.com’s MP3 store.

The really nice thing for artists is that there are no set-up fees. And artists get to retain the rights to their music. That is a huge deal to an artist, especially an up and coming artist. In the past, most artists would sign away their rights to a song for a nice chunk of up-front change. They would go buy Bentley’s and cribs, but be broke a few years later when the record labels were banking on their success.

Another important feature here is Amazon’s clout. Right now if I go to Amazon.com’s MP3 page, they offer me a number of suggestions based upon artists I have searched for in the past. Just imagine Amazon’s influence in this arena if they suggest your music to consumers who liked similar artists. The music discovery aspect of this is great, and it could lead to a nice, and immediate profit.

As I have written in the past, artists need to careful to pick and choose the websites they join carefully. Too much exposure could be a killer, and not enough won’t get you very far. The CreateSpace site seems like a safe bet.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com