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Resources,for musicians,bands,independent artists, to help you get your music recorded and heard.

The Unsigned Guide UK Music industry news, industry contacts for how to get a gig at live music venues, send your demo to record labels, music managers, promoters, music publishers, music festivals and more. Comprehensive listings, news, UK information.
http://www.theunsignedguide.com

altsounds.com Comprehensive source for alternative bands and artists. Featuring free MP3 streams and downloads, music samples, artist information, download charts, sponsored record labels, and more.
http://www.altsounds.com

AMOnline.net AMOnline.net helps its members to quickly create a low cost professional web presence that includes real audio without any technical knowledge. These sites together with AMOnline.net’s robust collaborative tools create an online community promoting the exchange of ideas, contacts, and knowledge between music industry professionals of all skill levels.
http://www.amonline.net

Artistopia Artistopia is the place where the people that create the music will meet the people that make the music, that connect to the people that play the music. We are creating a more streamlined resource to get the up and coming artist heard by the music industry.
http://www.artistopia.com

Audio Amigo Home Recording Studio Independent Music Site Educating musicians and songwriters about home recording, studio design, digital audio recording, multitrack recording software, midi, soundcards, plugins, and independent music promotion online.
http://www.audioamigo.com

Band Radio “Band Radio the unsigned musician’s, artist’s, indie resource. Site for all that is the music business. Indie, Labels, radio, bands and more!” This is another time-sucker, folks. Be prepared!
http://www.bandradio.com

Barking Frog Music Independent music producer, publisher and operator of the virtual venues bfmg Cafe and bfmg World Tour 2008. A source for new songs. A showcase for new talent.
http://www.barkingfrogmusic.com

Bemuso DIY resource for starting your own music website in the UK.
http://www.bemuso.com

Broadjam Inc. Broadjam Inc. provides web-based technology, software and services for the music industry and independent musicians around the world. The company operates one of the world’s largest web communities for musicians and hosts a massive online database of searchable independent music. Broadjam.com”>

also offers artist services such as turnkey website hosting and desktop promotional tools.
broadjam.com

CDETA Indie Music Company. Whether you want to get signed or remain Indie. CDETA helps you get exposure for free. The best bands will be given the opportunity to join a CDETA sponsored tour to expand your fanbase. Visit CDETA.com”>

and register, Now.
http://www.cdeta.com

Decibel.ca Indie Artists: Sell your Cd’s online. Also free resouces such as buy and sell, musicians wanted, new gear, etc.
http://www.decibel.ca

DWP Music Services Offering free tools and resources for independent artists, songwriters, and musicians who want to manage and promote their career in the music business.
dwpmusic.com

Festival Network Online Listing more than 9,000 nationwide music festivals & events seeking performers from regional to national & international. Search by 23 different music genres, event attendance, zip code radius & more. Plug in festival dates with club dates… Go to the free demo of member services.
http://www.festivalnet.com

Freedohm Flyer Cultural Arts & Music Publication and resource guide.
http://www.freedohmflyer.com

Galaris Indie musicians The ultimate resource for independent musicians. Promotion, sell your CD online, Classifieds, calendar, chat….
http://www.galaris.com/indiemusic

Harmony Ridge Music Dedicated to and providing easy access to information about female vocalists & songwriters on and off the web.
http://www.rahul.net/hrmusic//index.html

Ideas for Marketing your Music from FourFront Media & Music Just what it says. Very useful information!
http://www.knab.com

Independent Music Solutions Need home recording reference material? We have a wide variety of reviews detailing recording software, as well as numerous articles explaining mastering, mixing, and recording.
http://www.home-studio-recording.com

Indie Music Trade Resources An ever-expanding list of resources for the indie musician compiled by music writer/reviewer Carol Wright.
http://www.rockisland.com~cwright/tradebks.htm

Indie World The Independent Musician’s Resource Directory.
indieworld.fireskyproductions.com

Indie-Music.com Indie-music is a comprehensive resource for songwriters/musicians marketing their own music. Links include “List your band” and “Sell your CD Online”. It is colorful and informative.
http://www.indie-music.com

Indiespace.com An archive for Independent Artists on the Internet. Has everything from movies to broadway to art and of course, music. Also features live chats every Thursday evening from 5-6 Pacific Standard Time. Independent musicians can sell their music here too.
http://www.kspace.com

IndieTrax Free Web Hosting for Independent Musicians
http://www.indietrax.com

INTIMATE AUDIO: Guitar 4 the Independent Artist Web site devoted to the discussion of intimate musical recordings and self-produced artists. Hosted by Dale Turner (West Coast Editor of Guitar One magazine, GIT instructor, and author). Free guitar lessons (with TAB and MP3) and message board, as well as loads of DIY music-related info.
http://www.intimateaudio.com

Kismana Music An Australian Independent Music Web Site. Original music (all genres) by Australian Independent Artists. CDs, Audio tapes, unpublished songs available. Free MP3 samples to download. Songwriting tips and resources. Subscribe to K.I.S., a newsletter for Keen Independent Songwriters.
http://www.kismana.com.au

KLÄNG KLÄNG is conceived as an ongoing series of compilations to present rarely heard sounds from all over the world and of all times.
http://www.klaeng.org

Magik Flute Artist Promotions Musicians, promote your music at MagikFlute.com”>

… get your own web page, e-mail, sell your cds and get great resources for a very low fee…and benefit the American Heart Association!
http://www.magikflute.com

MakeaStar.com Providing song reviews for unsigned bands. Submissions are reviewed by a prestigious and accredited panel of Industry Professionals in 7 categories. Song reviews are honest and confidential and for the sole benefit of the artists. Song Submissions with a review score of 7 or higher (out of maximum of 10) receive a $10 credit to compete in “Best Music” contests on http://www.SizzleFizzle.com”>

for cash prizes.
http://www.MakeaStar.com

Mary4Music’s Music Links and Reviews Linking Musician’s and Music Enthusiast’s to the best Indie & Blues resources on the Web
http://www.mary4music.com

MidwestBands.com”>

Listing Independent bands from the Midwest and Beyond! CD reviews, show promotions and classifieds for musicians seeking bands and bands seeking musicians. This is THE source in the Midwest for great Independent music!
http://www.midwestbands.com

Minstrels.com A great web site, though just beginning, for musicians to get their stuff heard by industry professionals.
http://www.minstrels.com

Music Host Network A music community for independent artists and fans.
http://www.musichostnetwork.com

Musicchief.com”>

We offer free promotion for independent bands along with very cheap reliable web hosting for your bands website.
http://www.musicchief.com

MusicCrunch Helping musicians succeed, offering unsigned artists, independent bands, local talent band profiles, publishing and promotion, plus free music contracts and much more.
http://www.musiccrunch.com

MusicPromotion.net Empowers independent artists everywhere through publications, FREE online tutorials, and informative articles.
MusicPromotion.net

Musicware Musicware is a database of all the best FREEWARE and SHAREWARE audio tools, utilities and programs, all reviewed with screenshots and up-to-date downloads.
http://www.musicware.dial.pipex.com

MyMusicStream Get exposure, earn money and manage you web presence with streaming music, video, online radio, artist profiles, charts, news blogs, gigs, MP3 music downloads, digital music sales, RSS feeds, production services, domain names and web hosting.
http://www.mymusicstream.com

Nashville Insider The DemoZone is where you can promote your songs to Music Industry Professionals worldwide. Your songs will be in the company of previous and future hits. A minimal fee applies.
http://www.nashvilleinsider.com

Pearson Music A site full of purchasing information on musical instruments & sound equipment, educational music resources & links and even a listing of Central North Carolina bands.
http://www.pearsonmusic.com

Rainmaker Music Publicity Top indie publicist works with unsigned bands and indie labels. Works tours nationally.
http://www.rainmakerpublicity.com

Song Sprouts An online community of musicians and fans. Free account setup for artists. Free mp3s for music fans.
http://www.songsprouts.com

SongCritic.com SongCritic.comis the place to get opinions from real music lovers! It’s where fans will download and listen to your songs (driving traffic to your site) and then post their “reviews” of your tunes. This is the opportunity to make your music better, give you much needed exposure (to the fans that really matter), and maybe just find out that you ARE ready for the “big time” (and maybe sell a CD or two)!
http://www.SongCritic.com

StarPolish StarPolish is dedicated to the educating and empowerment of independent musicians.
http://www.starpolish.com

The Bass Player Garage This site has it all for bassists! Websites, online instruction, books, software, videos, webrings, discussion boards, polls, players, makers, tabs and more! Also links for all musicians and songwriters.
http://www.angelfire.com/fl/boltman/bass.html

The Global Muse From promotion/marketing tips and techniques to CD and mp3 reviews to artist listings, we are dedicated in helping the Indie artist.
http://www.theglobalmuse.com

The Indie Connection Add your link. Post gigs. Submit news. Message board. Much much more. Real music for real people.
http://www.askhays.com

The Indie Link Exchange The Indie Link Exchange contains a list of music people who wish to exchange links with other music related sites. Everyone involved with Independent music is welcome! It’s FREE!
http://www.indielinkexchange.com

The Music Promotion Academy Music business news, articles, & tips on the topic of successfully promoting independent music on the internet.
http://www.rainmusic.com/promotion/academy.htm

The Musician’s Hit List: Do It Yourself Database Its more than a booking or venue bible. The Musician’s Hit List builds on the principle that to have a successful music career, a band needs to take a triple hit approach: cd/tour promotions and press, radio play, and gigs.
theunionrecords.net/index.php/DIY-Database.html

The Neonflame Store Music Business Software, Contracts, and Independent Record Company software.
http://www.neonflame.com/musicbiz

TheMusicSnob.com An innovative directory of music industry resources and insights. Driven by the music community, ANYONE can add information and edit the contributions of others. Musicians use TheMusicSnob.com to relate their experiences with online promotion, getting gigs, selling recordings, etc., and benefit from the shared insights of others in the industry. Businesses use the site to provide a unique glimpse of their services and reach out to more musicians. TheMusicSnob.com is quickly becoming a central source for finding better ways to promote your music.
http://www.themusicsnob.com

tinfoil.music A free resource for bands, musicians and the musically inclined. News, reviews, chats and faqs.
music.tinfoil.net

To The Bone music store On-line retail store for independent musicians. Free to join, friendly service, attention to detail, real audio
http://www.tothebone.com

Wholeteam Entertainment An online resource center that specializes in music distribution, webdesign, production, photography, graphic design, and more….
http://www.wholeteam.com/index2.htm

GotADemo A social network for musicians, singers, songwriters and producers. Users can record a demo in the GotADemo studio for $.99 and offer their music for sale for 100% of the profits.
http://www.gotademo.com

About.com (folk music) A great place to find out more about folk music – just about anything you wanted to know, actually. Your guide, Mark Horn, searches the web for you and finds the most amazing information.
http://www.folkmusic.miningco.com

About.com (musicians’ exchange) In the tradition of the About.com group of sites, this one is hosted by Nancy Price and contains just about everything you’d ever want to know about the music business, networking and the whole shebang. If you miss this one, you’ll kick yourself.
http://www.musicians.miningco.com

ALLMusicianNews ALLMusicianNews is a newsletter resource site for Musicians. Each issue includes a featured article, reviews of chosen Musical Instruments, Music Gears, Apps, VST/DX plugins, Audio Sample Libraries, Site of the Day and much more.
http://www.allmusiciannews.com

Ambient Music Resources An index of the best ambient/electronic/experimental mega sites for ambient music explorations plus related webrings and a special section on the Toronto ambient music scene.
http://www.dreamstate.to/links.htm

Americana Bluegrass and Gospel Music Your internet connection to the Sounds and Happenings in the wonderful world of Bluegrass and Gospel music.
http://www.AmericanaConnect.com

ArtistBlast Music artist community showcasing and promoting indie and unsigned music artists and bands. Free music artist pages, Free MP3 hosting, Music Artist news, charts. We focus on promoting artists to the music industry. Free!
http://www.artistblast.com

Artistopia Professional presentation of the music artist to the music industry, with comprehensive profile and press kit building tools, artist development, musician community and networking abilities and services.
http://www.artistopia.com

ArtistsHouseMusic.org A free, comprehensive, interactive online community providing expert advice—from some of the most successful music entrepreneurs, thinkers and educators in the country—on creating, recording, marketing, teaching and publishing music.
http://www.artistshousemusic.org

Bandguru.com Music Business Consultant
http://www.Bandguru.com

Beds 2 Reality Musicians Resource A really big bookmark of cool sites
http://www.go.to/beds2reality.com

Berklee Press Anything you need to navigate the music world, promote yourself, learn an instrument, and too much more to write down here. If you like music, you’ll find everything you need at Berklee Press!
http://www.berkleepress.com

bestmusicbooks.com bestmusicbooks.com offers HUNDREDS of music books catering to the needs of the Independent musician and songwriter.
http://www.bigmeteor.com/books

Blues Hotel Bar & Grill Not only is this site an irreverent and fun musician’s site, it has some great free information on how to market your band over the Internet. Check it out.
http://www.richardnorton.com

Book more gigs and save time on PowerGig PowerGig.com a service that helps performers book more gigs online. Performers receive an online media kit with links to their Web sites and MP3 sites, online booking tools, venue details and directions, and gig promotion. Talent buyers of all sorts can easily find performers and book them online. Performers can fill those empty tour dates by sending inquiries to venues.
http://www.PowerGig.com

CD E.T.A. CD E.T.A. showcases great independent musicians around the globe, specializing in helping artists that need and deserve exposure. New CD release information.
http://www.cdeta.com

Christian Music News Providing Christian rock, rap, pop, and gospel information.
http://www.christianmusictimes.com

Cleverjoe’s Musician’s Resource Centre Wow. This place is pretty incredible. For those of you Canadians that thought there were no musician resources for you (well, besides HERE of course. g) here’s a site that proves you wrong. Tons of information on guitars here as well as a listing of Canadian music magazines, a guide to the music industry in Canada and a guide to the college, university and community radio stations in Canada. Tons of personality, too.
http://www.cleverjoe.com/index.html

Sound Click get your own free or vip account, a great site, upload share MP3’s and meet the great people on the forum.
Sound Click

Home Studio Musicians Association Specifically oriented for the independent home studio musician! The Association will become a film and media resource for new original music! Send in photos of your studio and be featured in the Studio Showcase
Home Studio Musicians Association

Music Gorilla MusicGorilla.com was designed to provide artists with opportunities that will help make their goals and dreams a reality. We do this through film, TV submissions and by hosting live label showcases for our members.
Music Gorilla

Ash Street Music

StudioTraxx provides instant access to a vast global network of musicians-for-hire that are ready to work and collaborate via the web. As an online music production outsourcing solution, StudioTraxx aims to reduce recording costs while increasing song quality StudioTraxx

Country Music Makers The ultimate site for country music players, writers, and performers.
http://www.countrymusicmakers.com

Crossroads Describe themselves as, “a music industry organization guided by a single mission: to provide the finest information, promotion and networking resources available to the dedicated people who make, sell and broadcast folk, roots & world music.” The site also has a newsletter, a CD sampler (and information on how you can get involved in it) and an industry directory (which is why it’s included in this category rather than the Associations category).
http://www.xrm.com

DEMO: Digital & Electronic Music Organization, Inc. Online music sales certifications on a global scale, music news & advice, annual music tour & conference, thousands of music-related links!
http://www.d-e-m-o.com

ezFolk.com Free instructional website for folk guitar, clawhammer banjo, and bluegrass banjo.
http://www.ezfolk.com

CNN News

CNN Video

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A follower of 1960s cult leader Charles Manson has been freed from jail after serving nearly 34 years for trying to kill then-President Gerald Ford.

Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, 60, was convicted in 1975.

She was freed from the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, at about 0800 (1400BST) on Friday.

She was not involved in the 1969 Manson “family” murder of actress Sharon Tate. Manson himself is serving life for murdering Ms Tate and eight others.

Fromme received a life sentence for pointing a gun at Mr Ford at an event in Sacramento, California.

Secret service agents managed to restrain Fromme and Mr Ford was unhurt in the incident.

She was the first person to be convicted under a special federal law governing attempted assaults on US presidents, established after the 1963 assassination of President John F Kennedy.

In 1987, Fromme briefly escaped from the West Virginia prison where she was being held, saying she wanted to be closer to Manson.

From BBC News
Original story at:
Original story @ BBC News

US banknotes show cocaine traces of cocaine
Dollars
The US capital has the highest level of banknotes that have traces of cocaine.
The largest study of banknotes has found that 95% of dollar bills in Washington DC bear traces of the illegal drug cocaine.

The figure for the US capital is up 20% over two years.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth tested notes from more than 30 cities worldwide.

They say the rise observed in the US may be due to increased drug use caused by higher stress levels linked to the global economic downturn.

Bank notes can pick up traces of cocaine directly from users snorting it through rolled up bills or when cash is stacked together.

Stress factor?

Besides Washington, other big US cities such as Baltimore, Boston and Detroit had the highest average cocaine levels on their dollar bills.

Dr Yuegang Zuo, who led the research, said: “To my surprise, we’re finding more and more cocaine in banknotes.

“I’m not sure why we’ve seen this apparent increase, but it could be related to the economic downturn, with stressed people turning to cocaine.”

Other countries where notes were tested were Canada, Brazil, China and Japan.

China had the lowest rates, with only 12% of its bills contaminated.

In the US the cleanest bills were collected from Salt Lake City, home of the religious group, the Mormons
– From BBC News
Original story at BBC news

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Bolivia’s Uyuni salt flats hold half of the world’s reserves of lithium, a metal used in high energy density lithium batteries

As international carmakers scramble to find a suitable alternative to petrol vehicles, Bolivia hopes its lithium reserves could be harnessed to provide an energy source – and hold the key to new-found wealth and political influence. Peter Day has been to the Uyuni salt flats.

The sky is an infinite blue. The land is perfectly flat, and dazzlingly white, stretching to a line of distant volcanoes.

And here is the boss of a potentially huge project that Bolivia is pinning great hopes on, showing me his highly decorative chickens.

Twelve thousand feet (3,700m) up here in the high Andean plains of south western Bolivia, the subzero nights are bitingly cold, but the days are hot even in the middle of winter.

The unclouded sun is reflected upwards by the largest salt flats in the world, the Salar de Uyuni.

They are drawn to the salt flats by what lies metres below the ice-like crust of salt and mud

It is a spectacular desert. For decades now it has drawn young and hardy international backpackers to endure the dusty hours of jolting journeying by bus and train and 4×4 vehicles into a vast nowhere.

But now this arduous journey is being made by other people – engineers and businessmen from some of the world’s largest mining and chemical companies.

They are here every week. They are drawn to the salt flats by what lies metres below the ice-like crust of salt and mud.

Down there is a great reserve of brine, and contained in the salty liquid, the largest deposits in the world of the lightest metal, lithium.
Hole cut in salt flats to obtain brine
As is the case with fossil fuels, lithium is a limited resource

For years lithium has been used for specialist purposes such as ceramics, and pills for depression.

But suddenly there is a huge new potential demand.

Great expectations

Over the past few years I have driven or been driven in several rechargeable electric cars.

Vehicle manufacturers old and new are rushing to build substitutes for the internal combustion engine.

Great hopes are being placed on batteries with this very light lithium at their core, much quicker to charge and discharge power (so they say) than heavy conventional batteries.

So if plug-in cars catch on, lithium may be one of the vital raw materials for the auto revolution.

And here in the Salar de Uyuni the experts think that the difficult and poverty-stricken country of Bolivia holds 50% of the world’s total supplies of lithium, contained in these vast hidden lakes of brine.

That is why Marcelo Castro, the man with the chickens (and rabbits too, he wants to be self-sufficient in this desolate place) is building a pilot plant to learn how to get the lithium out of these salt flats, and then how to evaporate the brine and separate the precious metal from the salt.

Bolivian President Evo Morales
Evo Morales does not want lithium to be exploited by foreign companies

All this is raising great expectations in landlocked Bolivia.

To outsiders it is a very curious country, the second poorest state in South America after Guyana, a society riven by fault lines – great gaps between rich and poor, big geographical differences between the lush east and the towering Andes in the west, and sharp racial differences between successful former Europeans and a majority of indigenous peoples.

These last are the ones who voted the first indigenous president into office in 2006. Evo Morales has moved quickly to shift power in favour of the peoples he comes from.

State ambitions

He has nationalised the commanding heights of the economy including oil and natural gas. And he has moved to break up big land estates.

The president (with a kind of Beatles hairstyle) has also pronounced that the new windfall, raw material lithium, should not be exploited by predator overseas capitalist multinationals, but developed by the state for the benefit of Bolivia.

This brings great pride to a local campaigner I heard from in the town nearest the deposits.

Marcello Castro
Mr Castro says he is proud to be part of the pilot project

Wearing her characteristic native hat, based on the British bowler imported more than 100 years ago, Domitila Machaca told me how the local people had marched hundreds of miles to the capital La Paz in the 1990s to block the foreign exploitation of the salt flats; and she grinned toothily when she praised the Morales tactics of homemade development of these riches.

Later, still slowed down by the altitude, I wheezed slightly breathlessly in La Paz as I put it to the mining minister Luis Echazu that Bolivia was taking a big risk if it really wants to be (as some have said) “the Saudi Arabia of lithium”.

“Oh no,” he replied, “we want to go further than that – we don’t want merely to process the metal, we want to make the batteries from it as well.”

But that will take money and expertise, which Bolivia will have to import, and multinational companies are wary of socialist countries with big state ambitions.
map

Meanwhile, back at the salt flats, the plant construction manager Marcelo Castro gave me lunch – a vast egg sandwich made from one of the eggs from his chickens – delicious.

Despite the hardships, he was very proud, he said, to be taking part in this great Bolivian project.

If the world takes to the electric car, and if lithium really is the metal that will power it, and if the Bolivians can deliver, we may soon be hearing quite a lot more about the great Uyuni salt flats.

To say nothing of those fancy chickens
From BBC News
Original story at BBC News