Google Music has an Artists section that takes you through a fairly simple process for getting your songs on the site. Google takes 30% of the sales, you’re paid monthly, there’s a one-time setup fee of $25, you can upload unlimited tracks and unlimited albums and make unlimited changes and there is no annual fee.

You get an Artist page, to which you can link your YouTube account so you can sell directly from YouTube. Finally, a really nice feature of Google Music is that when someone buys music through it, they can give their followers on Google+ one free listen accompanied with a buy button. Found at YouTube from googlemusic.

Spotify is generating a lot of buzz, helped no doubt in no small part by it’s partnership with Facebook.

via iconoculture.com

On February 7, 1980, Pink Floyd kicked off The Wall concert tour with a three-night gig at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. This is the concert poster for the performances. Found at Pink Floyd on Facebook.

Pink Floyd - The Wall 1980 Concert Poster

Pink Floyd – The Wall Concert – (Nassau Coliseum February 27, 1980)

Pink Floyd performs The Wall concert on February 27, 1980 at the Nassau Coliseum in New York. Found at YouTube from lukusnet

Madonna, LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A. & Cee-Lo perform during the Super Bowl XLVI halftime. Found at YouTube from juryben.

Music videos for the 2012 Super Bowl XLVI halftime performers: Madonna, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A., LMFAO, and Cee Lo Green.

Give Me All Your Luvin’ by Madonna (Feat. M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj)

Found at YouTube from madonna.

Till The World Ends (Remix) by Nicki Minaj

Found at YouTube from OfficialNickiMinaj.

Bad Girls by M.I.A.

Found at YouTube from MIAVEVO.

Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO

Found at YouTube from LMFAOVEVO.

Anyway by Cee Lo Green

Found at YouTube from CeeLoGreen.

This is brilliant. The Dorothy collective is selling the Song Map, which is literally a map featuring songs that have street names like Penny Lane and Highway To Hell and songs with place names like Asbury Park.

via wearedorothy.com

via wearedorothy.com

via wearedorothy.com

Wake Forrest University neuroscientist Dwayne Godwin explains, and Piled High And Deeper cartoonist Jorge Cham illustrates how music affects the brain in this infographic:

via scientificamerican.com

The Clipart Covers blog takes requests from readers to re-mix album covers as clip art topped off with comic sans typography. Here are some awesome samples coupled with the originals and a video from the album.

Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd Clip Art Album Cover

via clipartcovers.tumblr.com

Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd Original Album Cover

via 3.bp.blogspot.com

Wish You Were Here Music Video by Pink Floyd

A fan-made music video for Pink Floyd’s classic song Wish You Were Here. Found at YouTube from GuitarxFighter.

Rain Dogs by Tom Waits Clip Art Album Cover

via clipartcovers.tumblr.com

Rain Dogs by Tom Waits Original Album Cover

via 4.bp.blogspot.com

9th & Hennepin Music Video by Tom Waits

From the movie Big Time. Found at YouTube from TombyStone.

The Chronic by Dr. Dre Clip Art Album Cover

via clipartcovers.tumblr.com

The Chronic by Dr. Dre Original Album Cover

via 3.bp.blogspot.com

Let Me Ride Music Video by Dr. Dre

Found at YouTube from streetsurfer031.

It’s a great idea to generate more exposure for your band: If you know visual or graphic artists–especially if they have large online networks–ask them to reinterpret your album covers. If your band has a large online following, you might want to ask them to remix your covers.

Callin' Oates - Hall & Oates Hit Song Hotline

Michael Selvidge, a communications manager at Twillo, used his company’s phone/text-to-app API to build a Hall & Oates hits hotline to satiate the musical thirst of fans of the 70s-era pop duo. Read the details at Twillo’s blog. Call 1-719-26-OATES and you’ll be prompted with a menu to choose one of four hit songs.

It’s a clever way to deliver music, one that I imagine could be used effectively to promote a new album release. Here’s a demo of Callin’ Oates:
Found at YouTube from jackpmoore.

Rich Girl by Hall & Oates (Live, 1977)

Found at YouTube from fritz51355.

The Financial Times reports Spotify’s growth is accelerating:

After hitting 2.5m subscribers in November, the Anglo-Swedish digital music service has now reached 3m, with more than 20 per cent of its active user base paying every month to banish advertisements or listen on smartphones.

That ratio is up from 15 per cent in March last year, when Spotify crossed 1m subscribers. The latest figures mean it’s added another million since September’s 2m milestone, suggesting its growth rate is accelerating.

The service’s partnership with Facebook certainly has a lot to do with Spotify’s growth and has turned the service into a growing venue for music discovery. As a user of the service, I think it is a superb tool for finding new music and, used through Facebook, I get to better learn my friends’ musical tastes to boot.

Isn’t that a big part of the joy of music–discovering and sharing new bands/musicians with your friends?

Given Spotify’s growing popularity, the question musicians must answer is whether or not to make their music available on the service. GigaOm has pointed out that indie labels have pulled their catalogs from the service due to Spotify’s low royalty payments.

I think it comes down to where you are in your musical career. Do you need exposure for yourself or your band or do you have enough name recognition where royalty concerns trump publicity?