Oh, untold hoards of loving readers, I guess this is sort of like goodbye. After five years of life in the sticky, smoky trenches of music journalism, I’m hanging up my hat and paddling my canoe in the direction of uncharted waters. Enough banal metaphor usage for you? Ya, for me, too.

I know that I don’t have to worry about you once I’m gone, loving readers. The webosphere is so full of smart, eloquent folks writing about music that I know you won’t suffer from any shortage of information or half-baked ranting. I am, on the other hand, a bit concerned about what’s going to happen to the music industry once my back is turned.

State of the Tune-ion

Things are looking a bit shaky these days. While I’ve enjoyed guiding you through the collapse of the major label-dominated music industry, the glittering digital phoenix that has risen from its ashes isn’t exactly everything it’s promised to be.

While professional-grade recording equipment has become accessible to all, it’s also created a production scene ripe for manipulation by middlemen who promise much to aspiring artists, but deliver little.

While the Internet offers unprecedented levels of access to promotional tools and global fan bases, it also creates a fertile breeding ground for mediocrity, and for a new kind of anonymity, bred not by obscurity, but by dearth of access.

The indie music website, Mixest.com, is all about the music and nothing more. The site’s mission is to “maximize your exposure to new indie music.”

The look of the site is simple with a streaming music player and three commands including pause, next, and more obscure. The ‘more obscure’ option allows users to skip that song indefinitely.

Verbicide Select Mixtape Volume 6 is now available as a free download. The mix tape is a collection of the best and most popular tracks featured on VerbicideMagazine.com in the past couple months, alongside a few special, previously unreleased tracks.

The website’s newest mixtape features a wide variety of music that ranges from folk (Mountain Man), to hip-hop (Central Services), to metal (Howl), to indie rock and garage rock (The Dead Weather, School of Seven Bells). It also features tracks by Mike Patton, Yacht, Stripmall Architecture, and more!

If you’d ever like one of your tracks to be considered for inclusion on their download page — and to possibly be included (at their discretion) on a future Verbicide Select Mixtape — email your MP3 submissions to jackson@verbicidemagazine.com. Required materials include a web address to link to an MP3 hosted on your site, a band bio, and a press photo.

Featured Blog:
The Music Critic
http://www.themusiccritic.co.uk/

At The Music Critic, they are passionate about music. They review all types of music whether a new release or a re-issue and give it a honest, unbiased and independent review. As such, you may or may not agree with the review. If you have an opinion on a review, then leave a comment.

Featured Podcast:
Double Shot Radio
http://www.doubleshotradio.com

Indie band Boy on the Roof, which is made up of not one, but five south London boys, is shaking up the local music scene with their unique dark alternative/pop sound. With catchy-riffs and deep vocals, this quintet offers a unique sound for the underground music scene.

Having grown up along the same bus route, these childhood friends formed their band back in 2006. Band members credit their musical influences that include artists such as David Bowie, The Pixies, The Cure, The Clash and The Doors. The name of the band originates from a night when the friends were all on a roof together.

Featured Blog:
Fern TV
http://www.ferntv.ca

FERNTV is the only website on the planet that combines the beautiful world of entertainment with that of the environment.   As this website features the exciting world of music, movies, fashion, and festivals, it will also help spread the awareness of the environment.  The bottom line is that FERNTV gives you quality air time!

Featured Podcast:
The Great Unknowns Presents
http://greatunknownspresents.com/

Featured Blog:

Oliver Di Place
http://oliverdiplace.blogspot.com/

Oliver di Place is a music MP3 blog based out of New Jersey that reviews many styles of music. Darius posts MP3s with his CD and music reviews if he is granted permission to do so. Darius also writes for Star Maker Machine Blog at http://sixsongs.blogspot.com/

Featured Podcast:

Artists Exposed With Tym Moss
http://www.facebook.com/people/Tym-Moss/

Tym Moss is Singer, songwriter, actor, internet radio prod/host. and his Podcast Artists Exposed goes in depth with artists. Tim also works in film and stage, internet. Independent artist helping other independent artists.

Hit Records Nightlife Video
http://www.hitrecordstv.com/

A local  NYC video show that airs several times a week in New York City, Brooklyn, and The Bronx.   It airs NYC Tuesdays channel 56 at 2 PM. Brooklyn Saturday at 11PM and in the Bronx at Wednesday at 10 PM and in CT on Comcast on Friday and Saturday at 11 PM.

Finland’s indie art-pop collective Rubik are returning to the US in June for a full tour in support of their second album and US debut – Dada Bandits.

Released stateside this past fall on Fullsteam/Paper Tiger AV, the album was met with critical praise and found the Finnish collective doing a handful of US dates including a show at CMJ Music Marathon in NYC as well as session for KEXP.

Rubik, now a staple on the European indie-music scene, started playing out live in 2003.  In 2005, the band released their debut EP People Go Missing and in 2007 they released their first studio full-length Bad Conscience Patrol on Fullsteam Records.

Featured Blog:
Boom Boom Chik
http://boomboomchik.com

Daily reviews and artist spotlights of independent artists.

Featured Podcast:
Indie Soup Runner
http://www.indiesouprunner.com/

The Energetic Indie Music Podcast to power your workout.

How to find jobs, collaborators, and co-conspirators.

To begin, a shameless bit of self-promotion: If you’ve been hanging around GigHive for a while, then you know we’re all about creating connections throughout the indie music community. Instead of spending valuable time trying to get the attention of a struggling major label, why not get onboard with us, and connect with producers, songwriters, designers – whatever you need to take your career to the next level – through our artist’s directory.

On the other hand, if you’re looking to earn cold, hard cash, somewhere in the area of right now, check out these resources dedicated to helping musicians and artists sell their talented butts to the highest bidder.

CreativeAllies

Brought to you by the band marketing wiz kids over at MusicAllies, CreativeAllies is a place where musicians can go to look for art, and where artists can go to get paid for creating album covers, logos, apparel designs, and concert posters for bands, musicians, music festivals, and rock n’ roll brands of all types.

The new website features a fairly competitive scene. Musicians post jobs at a fixed price (usually between $200 and $500) and then artists can submit their work to be judged. So it’s pretty much an art contest website – winner gets paid, and gets their art published.

CreativeAllies is also open to writing jobs, web design, photography – pretty much any type of collateral a band might need – although at this point, most categories are empty.

Featured Blog:

Gulf Coast Music Review
http://gcmusic.tmblr.net/

Gulf Coast Music review blog features objective, independent music reviews from a variety of genres. It was created to review music by new or established artists and allow visitors to rate sample tracks. This way the artists can have feedback on their latest efforts.

Featured Podcast:

When people ask me what Google Buzz is, I simply say it’s a hybrid of Facebook and Twitter. You apply live updates to your profile for your followers, similar to Twitter, and then add links or photos. You also have the ability to make your updates public or private.

Why should indie bands or artists use Google Buzz?

It is another excellent way to gain exposure for your band or project. You can apply custom links and have your profile showcased during Google searches of your project’s name.

Having a link back to your Web site is a solid reason to create a Google profile. Google also gives you the ability to add multiple links to your other social media sites, store, blog, etc. For instance, I currently have five links on my profile to the sites I want my followers to visit.