When it comes to music, the internet is always looked upon as a necessary evil by emerging musicians. Often, the lack of funds and a desire for exposure drive them to release their music for free distribution online. In most cases, these music files come embedded with album artwork, lyrics and photographs of the instruments as well as the space used to create the album. Such a collection of audio-visual data adds a personal touch to the music and helps the artist connect in a better way with their audience. Fans who always want more can also satiate their thirst of getting closer to the musician by having an insider’s look at the madness that goes into production and creation of music.

Using any computer that has access to the web and can play media files, one can now download podcasts, or a series of digital media files that are released episodically online time and again. A blend of the words ‘pod’ from Apple’s iPod and ‘br­oa­dc­asting’, podcasting is carried out by various orga­nisations and people for different purposes. In the field of music, podcasts are rapidly turning out to be a viable replacement for live music audio streams. Streaming a live performance over the internet involves copious amounts of planning and meti­culous delivery, which is not always guaranteed.

Musicians such as Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn, who have thousands of followers and millions of views of the videos on their respective YouTube channels, have quit their day jobs to devote their time entirely to music and continue to make a living by selling their music directly to the public through iTunes. Introduced by Apple in January 2001, iTunes is a digital media playing application that also allows you to access the iTunes Store where you can buy and download songs. Indian bands such as Indian Ocean and The Raghu Dixit Project have made a mark in the international market by selling their music through iTunes. To have an edge over other audio books already out there, many authors are now giving them a soundtrack. One famous example is the breathtaking short story by Michel Faber titled Fahrenheit Twins made even more surreal and haunting with world-renowned ambient composer, Brian Eno’s music. The entire story can be purchased online from Eno’s official website.

It would indeed be scary to imagine a world without internet. Internet is a blessing in disguise for fans of music as it exposes one to so many artists whose existence we would never have been aware of had it not been for websites such as Myspace, ReverbNation, SoundCloud and many more which allow anyone to upload their tracks to be heard by all. It is indeed a fair and democratic platform that brings two people from different countries together. Now a guy sitting in India can collaborate on an album with another person from Pakistan or anywhere else in the world, thanks to the internet! Aisi azaadi aur kahaan?

aazaranis@mydigitalfc.com