Music is for Uploading - Top 5 sites to share your music online

Have you made some music in your home studio? I hope you have. Why not share it with the world? It's amazing these days: Free distribution worldwide is just a click away on the internet. Here are my top 5 picks for sharing your music online for free:

#1: Myspace.com Still the top website for distributing music for free online is Myspace.com . Sure, we all like Facebook for keeping up with our friends, but every musician should have a presence on Myspace. If you signup, make sure you click here and signup for a Band account so you can upload your music. The interface is easy and myspace is a great place to connect with other bands as well. Click here for a free article by Ty Cohen on 5 Ways to promote yourself on Myspace as well as a link for a special ebook full of myspace music secrets.

#2: Garageband.com This has no connection to the music software by the same name, but it is a great place to put your music into circulation and get feedback on your tunes. Enter the contest and work your way up the charts to fame and fortune! Well...at least fame.

#3: iSound.com A clean, music-only site makes this a nice stop for a hosting your mp3's. It's highly searchable by google. It's a good idea to get a place holder at a number of these sites even if you don't use them primarily for your music. You can see my own personal isound site here for an example: Jason Paul Johnston on iSound

#4: iLike.com You can give away your music or include a link for purchase. Listeners can use iLike to dedicate your song to people on facebook for some viral marketing of your music. Forget being big in Japan - how would you like to be big in Facebook?

#5: C|Net's Download.com It's not just for shareware and demo software anymore. Download.com features over 111,000 (legally) free mp3s for downloading from independant artists. And, with music being uploaded at 192Kbps, it offers a higher quality than most of the other sites.

So, don't let lack of opportunity keep you from sharing your music with the world. The internet is waiting for you! If you would like to learn more about Music Distribution in a Digital world, please attend my workshop at Revolution Audio on January 31st, 2009. Click here for more information or to signup. This is part of an entire month of classes we call Operation Indie Music :: Click here for info on all our Indie Music Month Classes

T-RackS 3 Mastering Software : Free 1 to 1 software until Dec 31st

The new T-RackS 3 Mastering software raises the bar again in high-end DAW mastering and mixing, with a suite of 9 analog modeled and digital Dynamics/EQ processors, an audio quality that is unmatched in software, and scores of new and unique features. Now available in Canada and shipping from Revolution Audio Canada!

IK Multimedia T-Racks3 Deluxe Click for more info and to purchase online	IK Multimedia T-Racks3 Crossgrade - save 40% Click for more info and to purchase online

Modular High-End Mastering/Mixing Suite of Dynamics and EQ processors, including:

* 9 processors comprised of 3 new analog and vintage emulations (including models based on the Fairchild 670 and the Pultec EQP-1A), 2 new digital processors as well the 4 classic, award-winning T-RackS processors
* New configurable mastering/mixing chain run up to 12 parallel/series processors
* New complete built-in metering section with Peak, Perceived Loudness, Phase, and RMS meters, plus a Spectrum analyzer with Peak, RMS and Averaging indicators
* New standalone and plug-in versions available in the same package for use in all the most popular native DAWs
* New high-fidelity oversampling with crystal clear transparency, for high quality audio processing throughout the entire signal path
* New SCC technology coupled with IK's unique DSM technology provides the most realistic software emulation of vintage gear to date
* Extremely easy to use, with style-based presets, full chain visualization, one-click single module or chain bypass, compare function, multiple audio processing in standalone mode and much more

Click here for more info on T-Racks3 and also some special video tutorials showing how to use T-RackS. And from now until December 31st 2008, every time you purchase an IK product you will receive one product of equal or lesser value free! If you purchase T-RackS 3 Deluxe, you can get one of the following for free:

AmpliTube 2
Ampeg SVX
AmpliTube Jimi Hendrix
AmpliTube Metal
Miroslav Philharmonik
Miroslav Philharmonik Classik Edition
SampleTank 2.5 XL
SampleTank 2.5 L
Sonik Synth 2
SampleTron
SampleMoog
Classik Studio Reverb (CSR)

I am mixing the new K-OS album - and you can too!

A new and exciting trend for home studios has arrived in music: Multi-track Fan remixes. Bands are giving away multi-track versions of their songs (also called stems) that the average home studio user can mix into something new. The first I had heard of this was Nine Inch Nails giving away their song "The Hand that Feeds" in a Garageband format back in 2005. Now at their site http://remix.nin.com they are allowing amatuer and professional engineers to remix their entire new album and upload the new creations for the world to hear. Radiohead had a similar contest going on with their song Reckoner earlier this year, although you had to purchase the stems through itunes. http://www.radioheadremix.com This is a great opportunity for any of us to get better at the art of mixing and producing. Now there is a site dedicated to the art. And right now until Feb 3 2009 you can download all the stems (mulitrack files) for the upcoming K-OS album for remixing. The cool part is, once you remix you can submit the final file for judging and for a potential place on the next K-OS album being distributed by Universal in the Spring of 2009. Click below for more info: http://www.indabamusic.com/studio_access/kos Here's how to do it: Once you sign up and enter the contest, you can then download all the stems for remixing. I would suggest looking for the "Advanced Audio Packs" which is a zip file containing all the tracks. Then load them into your software of choice (like Pro Tools, Cubase, Sonar, LIVE, etc.). Each package has a BPM number which you will want to set up as the tempo of your project for easy editing. The timing may not be perfectly on, so make sure you use your ears too. I did a test load into Pro Tools of one of the packages and it sounded almost dead on. Once in the new project, you can mix and remix until you have your finished product for uploading. I hope to have some fun remixing a couple of K-OS tunes in Pro Tools over the holidays. And, I have to say, I wouldn't mind a track credit on the next K-OS album. How about you?