by Kenneth Brown

Created on: April 27, 2008   Last Updated: June 30, 2008

The internet is restoring the relationship between the composer, the musician, and the audience by allowing songwriters and musicians to connect directly with their audience, rather than going through the traditional middle-men of record labels and distributors. This is a win-win for all three groups, thanks to the internet. Songwriters can put their songs out on the internet to be heard by musicians who might be interested in recording them, musicians can be seen and heard by an audience that might never have had a chance to find them, and the audience can discover new music, listen to song samples for free, then purchase individual songs at lower cost via music downloads from iTunes or amazon.com.

My own bluegrass band, Rural Delivery, and its original singer/songwriter offshoot, the Porch Dogs, are perfect examples of this recent internet phenomenon. Traditionally, a bluegrass band from Fairbanks, Alaska would not stand a chance of being heard outside of . . . well, Fairbanks, Alaska. Thanks to the internet and websites such as CD Baby and iTunes, our songs can be heard and purchased around the world. The first copy of our CD, "Hardly a Town at All", sold on CD Baby was purchased by a listener in Spain who could listen to most of our album on the CD Baby website before making the decision to buy it.

Songs from Rural Delivery's CD can be heard around the world on internet radio stations such as Whole Wheat Radio (www.wholewheatradio.org), something that would have been unheard of a few years ago. Visitors to our MySpace website (www.myspace.com/ruraldeliveryband) can listen to six full songs or 18 song clips before purchasing individual songs for download via Snocap. A world map on our webpage shows where visitors to our MySpace page live around the world. We have had visitors from Europe, Japan, and other areas where a bluegrass band from Fairbanks, Alaska would traditionally have a hard time being heard.

Similarly, our Porch Dogs offshoot can be seen singing our original songs at a recent concert videotaped and uploaded to YouTube and other internet video sites. Other musicians can see and hear our original songs, songs they may be willing to pay copyright fees for in order to record on their own CDs. Based on airplay of our songs on internet stations, we can now book gigs outside of Fairbanks. While it is still a thrill to hear our CD played on a local radio station, it is even more exciting to know that a guy in Indonesia listens to us via Whole Wheat Radio, can find out more about us on the W.W.R. website, and contact us directly or purchase a CD by downloading it.

The internet has indeed restored the relationship between songwriters, musicians, and the listening audience. Our previously unknown bluegrass band in Fairbanks, Alaska is living proof that the internet can connect all three in a symbiotic relationship that works for all of us.

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